Moldovan premier wants to discuss wine imports with Medvedev
CHISINAU. Oct 29 (Interfax) - Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca hopes to meet with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on November 20 and discuss Moldovan wine deliveries to Russia.
The meeting is possible on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg meeting of CIS prime ministers, he said in a television interview.
"Hopefully, Russia will respond to our expectations by then and reasons for the wine export ban will become clear. I also hope that their attitude will change before [November] 20, I mean the attitude toward the problems with wine deliveries. There are no problems with the other exports. I am not naive but I hope we will be able to resume wine exports to the Russian market," Leanca said.
"We need an active dialogue. We also have to balance the interests of Russia and Moldova, and the national interests of the country. We need a mature and constructive relationship. We have to defend our interests and understand that we need friends both in the West and in the East," the Moldovan prime minister said.
The Federal Service for Control in the Sphere of Protection Consumers' Rights and Well-Being of Humans (Rospotrebnadzor) suspended the imports of Moldovan wine under the pretext of poor quality complaints on September 11.