Kavadarci, 7 September 2024 (MIA) — One of the top priorities of the previous government was supporting wine growers, and this government should continue the support so the country can develop its wine tourism, attract more visitors and promote Macedonian wines worldwide, former agriculture minister and SDSM MP Ljupcho Nikolovski said Saturday at the annual Tikvesh Grape Harvest celebration in Kavadarci.

At the event, Nikolovski was joined with SDSM's agriculture committee members and local government councilors from the ranks of his party.

In his remarks, he said the previous government had solved many wine growers' problems and introduced important legal changes. He also recalled they had provided grants to family wineries and increased subsidies in times of crisis. 

"This year we passed the new, modern and European, Law on Wine," Nikolovski said, adding that it would set a legally guaranteed purchase price for grapes for the first time.

"The law regulates the system of protected designation of origin and wine producers organizations where growers will have key influence," he said, adding that from 70 registered wineries prior to the 2019 Law on Wine and the simplified regulations for registering family wineries, now there were over 260 small wine producers, offering more than 1,000 labels. 

He also said that 140 small family wineries were given EUR 10,000 grants to purchase equipment and hire experts.

The former agriculture minister said the country was first in the region and 13th in the world in wine exports. "The exports of bottled wines and their prices are growing, which was our key objective. The export of bottled wine in 2016 was EUR 22 million and in 2023, it is EUR 38 million. The value of a liter of exported bottled wine was 1 euro in 2020 and 2.11 euros in 2023," he said.

Nikolovski said exports were expected to reach close to EUR 60 million this year and urged the current government to continue supporting small wineries so they could develop further, contributing to the country's wine and rural tourism and the promotion of Macedonian wines on the global market. mr/