October 2003

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Wine Festival in Moldova
For the second time the Wine Festival was held all over Moldova in mid-October under the auspices of President Vladimir Voronin. Since time immemorial the population of present-day Moldova celebrated the end of the grape harvest and the birth of the young wine with festival activities. In Moldova young wine is called “tulburel”. It contains plenty of vigor and joy. As usual in autumn the courtyards of village houses are transformed into miniature wineries. The freshly picked grapes are placed in the wine press and squeezed. The “ravac”, that is the first juice of unfermented wine to be squeezed out of the grapes, is poured into the waiting casks. All villagers have a cellar in or near their house in which a cask or two are kept for guests. As soon as the young wine had settled, the wine-maker invites his friends and neighbors to taste it. This is the time when one can fully appreciate the meaning of the traditional toast “Noroc”, which has a lot of meanings including hello, good luck, health, may your wishes come true, etc. Continued >>>

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Ethno-Jazz Movement Spreads all over the World
In the Republic of Moldova the folk-jazz movement that is becoming very popular in today's Europe is represented by the Trigon trio: manager Anatol Stefanet (violin), Oleg Baltaga (drums) and Alexander Murzac (bass guitar). Continued >>>

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CIS Free Trade
Setting up a CIS Free Trade Zone has been on the agenda for quite some time, although practically none of the former Soviet republics can actually afford this today. The CIS countries are economically unprepared to quickly adopt a new kind of cooperation in free trade without restrictions and exceptions. And Russia is impending the process, insisting on Moscow-run Customs Union and Euro-Atlantic Economic Community as integral components. The Free Trade Zone documents were expected to be signed at the CIS summit in Yalta (Ukraine) held in September this year. However, only a joint statement of the CIS heads of state was adopted indicating that the creation and successful functioning of the free trade zone is a main priority for the CIS member countries. The agreement on setting up a single economic space including four countries such as Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan was concluded in the course of the Yalta summit. The new formation will probably give a fresh impetus to the free trade zone project taking into consideration the fact that Moldova, Georgia, Tajikistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan announced their intention to join the agreement. Continued >>>

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The Honorable Game in Moldova
In late June, 2003, the Golf Association of the Republic of Moldova made a presentation of its project to establish the first Moldovan Golf Club with a golf course consisting of 18 holes. The organizers of the event presented a scale model with a detailed description of the golf course and an open-air country-seat museum that is to be constructed on the territory of the Golf Club in a specially allotted archeological area. Continued >>>