* The company is currently running advertising campaigns in Japan, USA and Great Britain

Domestic wine maker "Senator Wine" is now focusing on expanding its activity to the premium segment, said George Neacşu, the manager of the company. He said that the company is currently producing "wines for the average consumer and will now tackle the premium market".

In order to achieve this goal, the company plans to modernize its production centers, by renovating the wine cellar in the county of Vrancea, as well as by building a new wine cellar in Însurăţei, in the county of Brăila. The works will be co-financed using European grants. Two projects worth 4 million Euros each, submitted by "Senator Wine" for the absorption of European funds have been approved. The first project, which is currently accessing funding, will be completed in about a year, according to Mr. Neacşu, who said that the second project, which is intended to help expand the company"s production capabilities, will begin after the first one is completed. Headquartered in Focşani, "Senator Wine" currently produces around 5-6 million liters of wine a year, and exploits 850 million hectares of vine.

The company has also tapped into European funds for promoting its wines abroad. The company"s director said that "Senator Wine" is currently running a promotional program in Japan, which is worth about 380,000 Euros. The project was launched last year and will last until the end of 2012.

"We have a partnership with a Japanese company which is handling the implementation of the program, which involves various marketing actions, such as wine tastings, participating in wine shows, promoting the wines in various specialized store chains, etc. The marketing activities will be different from one year to the next, according to the proposed marketing plan", said George Neacşu, who stressed that the Ja