Cabinet approves support scheme for wine industry

Cabinet on Friday approved a €900,000 support scheme for the wine sector to help overcome a plunge in consumption as a result of the lockdown.

The support scheme, submitted by Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis, aims to mitigate the significant impact of the pandemic which has led wineries to build up large quantities of unsold stock from last year, restricting their capacity to make wine from this year’s harvest.

According to the ministry, by July 31 last year, stocks were 50 per cent higher than usual because of limited demand, with the problem believed to have become even more acute in the months that followed.

To manage this year’s wine-producing grapes, the ministry implemented the EU-financed ‘green harvest’ programme which allowed vine growers to restrict this year’s crop and minimise loss of income.

The support scheme approved on Friday offers wineries incentives to manufacture wine from the crop of 2021-2021, thereby safeguarding the vine growers’ income, it added.

Details will be announced once the support scheme secures the approval of the European Commission, it concluded.