Moldova says Russian ban on its wines threatens economy

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• published: 30 Jul 2015
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Vilnius, Lithuania - 14 April, 2006 1. Dancing youngsters 2. Dancing girls 3. Protesters 4. Slogan saying "Putin take off Georgian and Moldovan wines" 5. Russian embassy 6. Set up shot of Georgy Gerdikashvili 7. Hand changing wine bottles 8. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Georgy Gerdikashvili, Georgian Consul to the Baltic states: "It is wonderful initiative. They prove that if they don''t want Georgian wine Lithuanians or Europeans will drink it with pleasure. This action will be continued in other countries." Telavi, Georgia - 13 April, 2006 9. Wine factory distillery branch 10. Wine bottling 11. Transporter carrying bottled wine 12. Wine depository 13. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Levan Chkhaidze, Production manager, Teliani Valley wine factory: "We export from thirty to thirty five percent of our product into Russia. We do not have problems with exports into other countries. I think that this are false accusations, because I can state that our wine is of very high quality." 14. Wine barrels Tbilisi, Georgia - 13 April 2006, 14. Pan of table-talk 15. Restaurant visitor 16. Visitor trying glass of wine 17. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Giorgi Khutsishvili, restaurant visitor: "For me it is an artificial campaign on Georgian wine. I think that politics stands behind of it because they always liked good Georgian wine". 17. Georgian folk dance STORYLINE: Around one hundred Georgians living in Lithuania gathered at the Russian embassy in Vilnius on Friday to protest against a recent ban on Georgian wine imports. Russia moved to ban wine imports from Moldova and Georgia on March 27 saying it needed to protect consumers from poor quality wine. Russian authorities said wines from Georgia and Moldova contain dangerous pesticides. However, analysts say the measure was political and retaliatory, and has nothing to do with the quality of Georgian wine, which is considered countries trade mark. "For me it is an artificial campaign on Georgian wine. I think that politics stands behind of it because they always liked good Georgian wine", said Giorgi Khutsishvili, visitor to a restaurant, in Tbilisi. While the Georgian government is trying to boost sales of Georgian wine in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and even in China, Georgian wine producers have experienced heavy losses after Russia, its biggest market, halted imports. Last year wine accounted for between 11 and 12 percent of Georgia''s export, bringing in about 90 (m) million US dollars. "We export from thirty to thirty five percent of our product into Russia. We do not have problems with exports into other countries. I think that this are false accusations, because I can state that our wine is of very high quality," said Levan Chkhaidze, Production manager, at Teliani Valley wine factory. Georgia exports wine to 33 countries, but its main market is Russia, exporting about 42 (m) million bottles of wine there in 2005. Keyword-economy You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/7ee564e8cd995ab62386bfce29bcf1d2 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork