Consequences of United Kingdom's Withdrawal from the European Union on the Romanian Wine Export

• Author: Barbulescu O.
• Position: Transilvania University of Brasov
• Pages: 137-142

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşo v

Series V: Economic Sciences • Vol. 12 (61) No. 1 – 2019

https://doi.org/10.31926/but.es.2019.12.61.1.18

CONSEQUENCES OF UNITED KINGDOM’s

WITHDRAWAL FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION

ON THE ROMANIAN WINE EXPORT

Oana BĂRBULESCU1

Abstract: Although in the recent years the Romanian wine producers have

been more oriented towards the domestic market, which has been steadily

increasing, they are aware that the export, even relatively small as a share of

the total turnover, brings stability to the company especially in the moments

of decline of the internal market. Considering that about 20% of the volume

of wine exported by Romania is sold in the United Kingdom, it is

understandable the concern of the Romanian producers about the

implications of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. The multiple

effects of Brexit will also shake the imports of this country, affecting the

market of many products, including wine. The paper aims to highlight the

opinions of the managers of wine producing companies in Romania

regarding the consequences of Brexit on the export of Romanian wine. The

conclusions of the qualitative research show that the Romanian wine

producers do not have a strategy to offset a possible decline in export sales.

Keywords: export, Brexit, trading agreements, wine price, wine market

1. Introduction

The Romanian wine market is limited. Although there has been a significant increase in

recent years, wine demand on the domestic m arket is growing much slower than supply.

The emergence of more and more producers generates increased competition and

automatically reduces wine prices, which will affect producers' profits by lowering profit

margins. Romanian producers have begun to realize that export is the only viable, long-

term solution for profit growth.

According to the APEV data (Wine Exporters and Producers Association), the first of

the top ten wine-importing countries from Romania is the United Kingdom, followed by

Germany, China, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, the USA, Slovakia, Estonia and Canada.

These countries buy 88% of the wine exported by Romania.

The United Kingdom is a key player in wine-trade circle, as it has always accounted for

1 Transilvania University of Braşov, oana.barbulescu@unitbv.ro