Moldova.
It is squeezed between Ukraine and Romania; takes about 10 hours to drive from one end to the other; has its own breakaway “state” Transnistria; they speak Romanian a bit like Scots speak English; and I like it.
The population is about 2.5m with another 1.5m working outside, half of those in Russia. Until recently it was the poorest European country but tough times in Ukraine mean they now hold the title. It doesn’t feel poor, although in the country you do see families trotting along in a horse cart and the old ladies have peasant-type scarfs over their heads. I think there is still a lot of family supporting other members, and remittances from those working overseas are a major economic factor. I haven’t seen more than a few beggars and little evidence of anyone sleeping rough.
The Ag Correspondent would love it – huge big paddocks with fertile black soil being cultivated by very large tractors, some of which were green. I gather in the chaos after getting out of the Soviet Union in 1990 land was cheap and gathered up by what are now large businesses. The biggest crops seen were sunflowers and corn. All the houses in the country have a garden full of food. But the best known crop is grapes and wine is the 4th biggest export. (Strangely a list I just looked up ranked insulated wire top).
And that is the reason I visited Moldova. I organised a three day wine tour and discovered this place makes what must be the best value, good quality wines I have ever come across . On my last night there, in the capital Chisinau (pronounced Kooshinow), I finished my wine tour off by buying a superb bottle of chardonnay in a restaurant for NZ$40, at home it would easily have been more than double that. The excellent meal I had with it was rabbit in a mustard sauce, with braised asparagus, and creme bruleè to finish and it cost $30. The only problem with going out at night is there are no street lights and getting back to one’s hotel after a glass too much is problematical as the footpaths are variable in height and construction. I managed perfectly.
They have a way with merlot that makes that usually unexciting variety into something quite racy, well, at least in the wineries I visited. I went to a small family one called Et Cetera where I stayed in their smart little hotel, and had a great time, ending up with the staff sitting around a bonfire late at night. There was another guy doing the tasting with me and the owner, he was apparently a wine writer doing a book on east European wines. He certainly had all the descriptive words and found things to say about the wines that left me for dead. During our dinner, after the tasting, he introduced me a man he knew from the USA who told me his occupation was a “miracle maker”. After listening to his rather tedious spiel for a while I asked if he could miracle Trump away with a bullet or two. It turned out he was a big Trump fan, which made sense.
I also went to a few other wineries we would regard as big which were more touristy. Not that there are a lot of tourists here, certainly no hordes of Chinese. The last one was all underground in limestone which had been excavated and tunnelled for the purpose of winemaking in the Soviet era. It had 120 kms of tunnels and a hell of a lot of wine stored there . Not coincidentally there was a jail nearby that supplied the labour for the construction.
Moldova’s exports of wine all used to go to Russia until a few years ago, but in 2013 the Russians decided they weren’t going to buy anymore and threw a very big spanner into the presses. Not only were new markets required but wine styles had to change. The Russians like sweet red and not many others want that. I gather China is now the biggest customer.
The relationship between Moldova and Russia is just a bit complicated. There was an election earlier this year which I heard described as a revolution. A coalition of parties favourable to Europe won, but the Russian-leaning government refused to hand over, saying the election was illegal. I gather a fair bit of international pressure was applied and after a few weeks the defeated left their offices and two governments reduced to one. The oligarch who was the real power behind that government disappeared, it is assumed to the USA, where he can play golf with his mate the president. This man had bought off everyone he needed to and the government did as he wanted. Unsurprisingly, he was the richest guy in the country and Moldova was pretty high in the corruption lists. Reports say the corruption is endemic. Of course the new government is going to change all that and a few ex-ministers are in jail, but whether they will actually clean the place up is yet to be seen. My driver said the police don’t often take bribes now and maybe that is an indication. Apparently they use body cameras and you can look up incidents.
Then there is Transnistria, this is a sliver of Moldova on the eastern border area that fought not to be part of Moldova when it got independence. It is supported by Russia, possibly because there is a huge weapons dump in the area. The majority of the population are Russian-speaking Ukrainians and the country is run for the benefit of, and by, two ex secret service gentlemen whose company owns everything from telecoms to the football team and a compliant political party. And guess who went there very briefly ? My driver and l walked over a dam to Transnistria on a quiet Sunday morning without any police or soldiers being seen. He was very surprised, but the relations between Moldova and it’s orphan are peaceful, so maybe we were not all that clever.
That was as adventurous as it got. It’s a country of people getting on with their lives and making the most of what they have. I didn’t see any of the visible gangster types you see in other ex-Soviet places. This is maybe because they keep a low profile, and there did seem to be a lot of Porsch Cayennes for a poor place. My driver, Marcel, is 47 and spent 2 years working illegally in Italy before getting a proper job driving for the US army in Baghdad for another 2 years. From this he bought two apartments and is still married to his doctor wife, while now driving locally in his own vehicle. He told me Moldova is famous for two things – good wine and beautiful women. Of course I was concentrating on the former, but did pay a bit more attention to the later so I could tell him he was dreaming. But I think there may have been a grain of truth in his claim.
I am now in Romania and very pleased Kay is not with me here in my hotel by the railway station in Bucharest. It was late when I arrived and I went out to buy a sandwich – given the behaviour of the night people out in the streets I suspect this is not a nice middle-class area. I got my food and water and scuttled rapidly back to the Hello Hotel, which isn’t quite as couth as the photos indicated. But I am sure all will be well in the morning.
Dennis.