At least 15 wine companies from all the regions of the Republic of Moldova will benefit from the WESA program that offers grants of up to 800,000 lei to support wineries in their efforts to become visible internationally. The WESA Grants Program, which was launched today, aims at increasing exports by 15-20 percent and marketing budgets by 60 percent annually, IPN reports.
Present at the launch, Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bolea, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry, said that such programs are a significant support for farmers in the Republic of Moldova. “Producing is a maximum of half of the path to success, but you must be able to promote your product, to be present on the market and this is an extremely complicated task for many producers in Moldova, even if they have quality products. Through such programs, I’m firmly convinced that the vast majority of wine producers will be able to access these grants in order to be able to present their wines,” stated the minister.
Head of the Coordination Council of the National Office of Vine and Wine Sergiu Pîslaru said that this program represents a significant step towards supporting wine producers. Wine is the only food product with such export success and visibility. “I must mention that the marketing budgets of our wineries are tens and perhaps even hundreds of times smaller compared to those of other wine regions in the world, which are intensely promoted... This grant comes to help our companies and the Office. This effort will increase the positive perception of our wines on international markets,” stated Sergiu Pîslaru.
Diana Lazar, director of the Wine Industry component of the USAID-funded Rural Competitiveness and Resilience Activity, said that a support program for strategic marketing is launched today under the umbrella of the Wine of Moldova country brand, with a total value of 8 million lei. “The targets of this program are impressive because we want to achieve an increase in marketing budgets of over 2/3 and t an impact on the increase in value,” stated Diana Lazăr.
Thus, small producers, new generation wineries and export champion wine companies with an active presence on international markets will be able to benefit from non-reimbursable financial support ranging between 300,000 and 800,000 lei, with a different rate of their own contribution depending on the category they belong to. The period for consultation and submission of files is July 12 - August 5.
