Bulgaria exported a total of 57 million liters of wine in 2008, and nearly all of those – 56 million liters – went to Russia, Belarus, and Moldova.

This was announced by Bulgaria’s Minister of Agriculture and Foods, Valeri Tzvetanov, as he opened Wednesday morning “Vinaria 2009”, the international exhibition of vine-growing, and wine producing, which is taking place in the southern city of Plovdiv.

Tzvetanov also said his Bulgaria was preparing to open up a wine-tasting center in Moscow as a preventive measure against the gray economy network of Russian wine distributors, who sell cheap and bad-quality wines.

The Vinaria 2009 expo is organized by the International Fair Plovdiv, and is co-organized by Bulgaria’s National Vine and Wine Chamber.

313 businesses from 19 countries are taking part in the seventeenth annual edition of Vinaria in order to advertise their products, establish business connections, and research the latest trends in the industry.

The Bulgarian participants at the Vinaria expo are 149. 67 Italian, 53 French, and 14 German firms are also represented.

Vinaria 2009 also includes a Wine Festival, and a ball entitled “Wine and Love, Love and Wine”.