October 1 2008, 12:36

Ukraine: grape to lose its value

Ukrainian grape loses its value for Ukrainian wine-makers. Large amounts of raw material will be imported to Ukraine after the decrease of the import duty, but Ukrainian produce is not able to compete due to lower quality and higher prices, reported Novyi Region-Crimea.

The current season is very favorable for Ukrainian grape-growers due to fine weather.

According to data of Sergei Petrenko, the head of the Association of grape-growers and wine-makers, this fall the farms can possibly harvest about 280.000 tonnes of grape, up 20 – 30 % compared to the last year.

The grape harvest increased because of high yield of the crop and extension of the areas under grape. The grape yield in some farms totals more than 40 c/ha compared to the average index , 25 - 30 c/ha.

But this year, the situation is likely to change. Ukraine had to decrease the import duties for wine and wine-materials due to its joining to WTO. The import duty was decreased from the level of 3 to 0.3 euro/l.