Polish Business Euro Club ltd


FINE MOLDOWAN WINES

Tomas Lankutis: founder of Imperia UK Ltd

Moldowan Wines

Lithuanian born Tomas Lankutis moved to the UK less than a decade ago.  Although he started with nothing, in the short time he has been here he has used his astute business mind to find a realistic business opportunity.

Originally finding work as a demolition labourer but with nowhere to live he spent the first ten days of his residency sleeping in his car, when he finally found accommodation he had to bath three times before he was anywhere near clean.

As an intelligent and hardworking individual with the ability to speak, read and write in English, Tomas was promoted after only two days to a supervisory role, from there to foreman and finally became a Health and Safety Administrator.  Always ready for a challenge Tomas began to notice that there was a real gap in the UK market for Eastern European food products.  He had also been disappointed by the quality of the Moldovan wine available and realised there was real potential for quality wines from Moldova to be introduced to the British wine loving public. 

Tomas went straight to Moldova to talk to the Moldovan wine producers, he was welcomed into their secret cellars, regaled with their stories and experienced first hand their famous hospitality.  His love for the country, the people and the wine making tradition in the Country fuelled his desire to introduce the UK to one of the Queen’s favourite wines.

Although Tomas has no formal wine training he has a genuine love for the grape and an ambition that has already seen him succeed in so many areas.  He is determined that the British public should be exposed to the real, hidden, quality Moldovan wines.

A Brief History of Moldova

The Republic of Moldova occupies most of what has been known as Bessarabia. An Eastern European country, it lies land-locked between The Ukraine and Romania. Moldova's location has made it a historic passageway between Asia and Southern Europe. Throughout its troubled history it has been the victim of frequent, vicious warfare; Greeks, Romans, Huns, and Bulgars have all invaded the area.

Moldova's Latin origins can be traced to the period of Roman occupation of nearby Dacia (in present-day Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia), ca. A.D. 105-270, when a culture was formed from the intermingling of Roman colonists and the local population. After the Roman Empire and its influence waned its troops left the region in A.D. 271, a number of groups passed through the area, often violently: Huns, Ostrogoths, and Antes (who were Slavs). The Bulgarian Empire, the Magyars, the Pechenegs, and the Golden Horde (Mongols) also held sway temporarily.

In the thirteenth century, Hungary expanded into the area and established a line of fortifications in Moldova near the Siretul River (in present-day Romania) and beyond. The region came under Hungarian control until an independent Moldovan principality was established by Prince Bogdan in 1349. Originally called Bogdania, the principality stretched from the Carpathian Mountains to the Nistru River and was later renamed Moldova, after the Moldova River in present-day Romania.

An independent Moldovan state emerged briefly in the 14th century under celebrated leader Stefan the Great but subsequently fell under Ottoman Turkish rule in the 16th century. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-12, the eastern half of Moldova (Bessarabia) was ceded to Russia, while Romanian Moldavia (west of the Prut) remained with the Turks. Romania, which gained independence in 1878, took control of Russian-ruled Bessarabia in 1918.

In 1940, Romania was forced to cede Bessarabia to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), which established the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic by merging the autonomous republic east of the Dniester and the annexed Bessarabian portion. Stalin also stripped the three southern counties along the Black Sea coast from Moldova and incorporated them in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

In September 1990, the Supreme Soviet elected Mircea Snegur as President of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova. A former Communist Party official, he endorsed independence from the Soviet Union and actively sought Western recognition. On May 23, 1991, the Supreme Soviet renamed itself the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, which subsequently declared its independence from the U.S.S.R.

In August 1991, Moldova's transition to democracy initially had been impeded by an ineffective Parliament, the lack of a new constitution, a separatist movement led by the Gagauz (Christian Turkic) minority in the south, and unrest in the Transnistria region on the left bank of the Nistru/Dniester River, where a separatist movement declared a "Transdniester Moldovan Republic" in September 1990. The Russian 14th Army intervened to stem widespread violence and support the Transnistrian regime which is led by supporters of the 1991 coup attempt in Moscow. In 1992, the government negotiated a cease-fire arrangement with Russian and Transnistrian officials, although tensions continue, and negotiations are ongoing.

In February 1994, new legislative elections were held, and the ineffective Parliament that had been elected in 1990 to a 5-year term was replaced. A new constitution was adopted in July 1994. The conflict with the Gagauz minority was defused by the granting of local autonomy in 1994.

Moldova remains one of the poorest countries in Europe despite recent progress from its small economic base. It enjoys a favourable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits. As a result, the economy depends heavily on agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco.


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Contact:

maciej@pbec.eu, mobile: +44 7707 233 101

tomas@imperia-uk.com, mobile: +44 7595 697 604, Tomas Lankutis




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