China looks forward to Bulgarian wines

            China looks forward to Bulgarian wines, the crisis will not make the
            Bulgarian forget the taste of good wine, experts believe.
            White wines have grown up to the significance of the red ones.
            Leveling the rates of consumption of red and white wines is one of
            the tendencies that will become obvious at Vinaria exhibition. The
            traditional exhibition within Plovdiv Fair opens today and will give
            floor to 319 companies from 19 countries to show their best wines as
            well as new technologies, equipment and materials for winemaking and
            vine growing. The Bulgarian cellars at the exhibition are 146, of
            the foreign participants Italy's presence is the strongest - with 67
            companies, followed by France (53) and Germany (14). The crisis will
            not seriously affect wine's domestic market, traders expect. They
            even believe in growth of the industry of 2 or 3% as it has been
            over the last few years. Wine is a product that is tolerant to
            ageing and can be sold over the years if demand is reduced.
            Bulgarian wines' major rivals are the wines from Chile and
            Argentina, especially in restaurants. Producers think this is just a
            question of temporary fashion that will soon die out.
            What will happen to the export of Bulgarian wine in the crisis in
            2009, is the main topic of discussion for experts in the sphere. For
            the time being most specialists believe export will decrease and
            Bulgarian wine producers will have to look for new markets. The
            export shrinking tendencies became clear as early as 2008 when the
            export sank by 17% in the first half of the year. The main reason
            for the decrease was the collapse of the export for Russia which
            draws between 65% and 70% of Bulgaria's wine export. The share of
            Bulgarian wines sold in Russia will decrease by about 40 or 50% this
            year, believes the head of the Bulgarian National Wine and Vine
            Chamber, Plamen Mollov.
            As a whole the cheaper products as well as the wine on the tap will
            have better chances. In Europe the demand for Bulgarian wines
            remains stable. Some shrinking of consumption may occur but
            insignificant because in times of crisis the consumption of
            beverages does not change. If there is change in consumers'
            preferences it is more to the direction of buying cheaper products.
            The traditional markets for Bulgarian wines remain the Great
            Britain, Germany, Sweden and Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands as
            well as Poland. The whole of the Asiatic market provides great
            opportunities. China even is expected to demand wines of higher
            class. "The Bulgarian producers do not use to whole potential of the
            Asian markets," says Mollov. Export to China, Korea and Singapore
            does exist but the contracts in these markets are single phenomena
            still. The weak dollar which influences the price of wine makes
            export to the USA and Canada unprofitable, experts say.