MOSCOW. ( RIA Novosti economic correspondent Oleg Mityayev) -Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref has made a revolutionary breakthrough - Moldovan wine supplies to Russia will be resumed before the end of the year.
The main reason behind such a quick settlement of the Russian-Moldovan wine crisis is obvious - a wine ban is preventing Russia from entering the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In the spring of 2006, Rospotrebnadzor, Russian trade and sanitary inspection authority, banned supplies of all wines from Moldova for sanitary reasons. But in August of the same year Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Moldovan counterpart Vladimir Voronin agreed in principle that Moldovan wine and brandy would return to Russia in exchange for Moldova's promise not to obstruct Russia's WTO entry. Moldova is a member of the WTO, which upholds the principle of "free trade."
As a result of this agreement, Rospotrebnadzor started checking compliance of Moldovan wine and brandy producers with Russian sanitary standards. But in late August, the Russian-Moldovan wine problem exacerbated again - Moldova accused Rospotrebnadzor of a biased approach, blaming it on the personal economic interests of its executives.
Emotions aside, statements by Voronin and spokesmen for Moldova-Vin, the Moldovan state agro-industrial agency, contained specific criticism of the Russian inspection authority and its heads. Thus, Moldova-Vin pointed out that Rospotrebnadzor issued export permits only to the few companies which are fully controlled by Russian capital, and that one of its deputy heads is simultaneously the president of the Association of the Participants in the Alcohol Market of Russia (AURA).
It was pointless to argue with the Russian authority without trump cards, which Moldova had finally pulled out. President Voronin announced that he had talked with his Russian counterpart and they both agreed that it was not appropriate to trade in this manner.
To redress the situation, Gref arrived in Moldova on August 28. After meetings with Voronin and Moldovan Prime Minister Vasily Tarlev, he declared on the same day that only technical issues were still outstanding as regards wine supplies to Russia and that Russians will celebrate the New Year with "champagne and wines from the Cricovo and other Moldovan cellars."
Now that the Russian leaders are doing all they can for Russia's WTO entry, the Moldovan-Russian wine problem should be resolved as soon as possible. The WTO's principle of free trade should prevail over the state's excessive interference in the economy in general, and in Russian-Moldovan relations in particular. "It is essential to remove political and bureaucratic barriers as soon as possible. Let investors come on stage," said Gref in Moldova.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
