En el fondo de una antigua mina del este de Ucrania, a tan sólo unos kilómetros de la línea del frente, cientos de miles de botellas de vino espumoso aguardan en un laberinto de túneles y bodegas, reseña AFP.
“Es un refugio antibombas natural de 25 hectáreas”, afirma Rafail Nasirov, un empleado de Artwinery, uno de los principales productores de vinos espumosos de Europa del Este, que exporta principalmente a Alemania y a China.
Las bodegas se hallan a 26 km de la línea de demarcación entre el ejército ucraniano y los separatistas prorrusos que luchan desde hace tres años y medio en el este de Ucrania.
La guerra ha causado más de 10.000 muertos y sigue habiendo escaramuzas pese a los acuerdos de paz firmados en Minsk en 2015, que las dos partes se acusan de no respetar.
Desde su cierre antes de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, esta antigua mina se usa para conservar vino. En 1950 se creó en ella una fábrica de vinos espumosos llamada Artiomovski que en 2016 cambió de nombre por el de Artwinery.
En el verano de 2014, la fábrica estuvo bajo control separatista durante un mes y fue blanco de disparos de obuses. Luego Kiev reconquistó el área. Artwinery nunca interrumpió la producción.
Los túneles de 72 metros de profundidad de la antigua mina de espejuelo (de donde se extrae el yeso) sirve de refugio para los empleados y reúne condiciones para la producción de vinos espumosos con técnicas parecidas a las empleadas para el champán.
– Microclima bajo tierra –
Un microclima único bajo tierra convenció a las autoridades soviéticas para producir vino espumoso en una región sin viñedos. “Según una versión, fue el propio Iósif Stalin quien, después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, ordenó por decreto que se hiciera champán aquí”, asegura Rafail Nasirov.
Aunque sus bodegas estén intactas, Artwinery ha sufrido las consecuencias comerciales de la guerra debido a la tensión con la vecina Rusia (antes un cliente importante), acusada por Ucrania de apoyar a los separatistas.
“Hoy en día casi no exportamos a Rusia. Y no vendemos vino en las regiones de Donetsk y de Lugansk, que no estén controladas” por el gobierno central, explica a la AFP el director de la fábrica, Oleg Katchur.
En 2014, antes del estallido de la contienda, Artwinery producía 19 millones de botellas por año de espumuso blanco, rosado y tinto. Ahora: 12 millones.
– Uva de Crimea –
También tuvo que afrontar la anexión por Moscú de la península ucraniana de Crimea en marzo de 2014 y la pérdida de los viñedos de esta región donde se aprovisionaba de uva.
“Antes de la guerra, teníamos cosechas muy buenas en Crimea, muy ricas”, recuerda Rafail Nasirov, mostrando botellas de espumoso de Crimea conservadas en la mina. “Como no sabíamos que habría una guerra no compramos lo necesario para producir mucho vino”.
Ahora, en vez de comprar uva madurada al sol de Crimea, la empresa se surte en las regiones de Jersón, Odesa y Mikoláiev, en el sur de Ucrania.
Todavía posee reservas de uva de Crimea pero las agotará antes de 2019, obligando a Artwinery a suspender la producción de algunos de sus vinos.
Pese a la guerra en el este del país y a la pérdida de Crimea, la empresa sigue produciendo y -según Rafail Nasirov- levantando la moral a los ucranianos. “El vino espumoso es una bebida festiva. En este momento no se puede privar de alegría a nuestros clientes ucranianos”.
AFP
The winery is located in a government-held town just two dozen kilometres (15 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s low-level war, where the army and Russian-backed rebels continue to lob deadly artillery barrages at each other. The town spent around a month under rebel control in 2014, and in 2015 the frontline was so close that the town came under rebel shelling.
But despite more than three years of fighting that has claimed some 10,000 lives, Nasyrov’s employer, Artwinery, has never stopped production. / AFP PHOTO / Aleksey FILIPPOV
The winery is located in a government-held town just two dozen kilometres (15 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s low-level war, where the army and Russian-backed rebels continue to lob deadly artillery barrages at each other. The town spent around a month under rebel control in 2014, and in 2015 the frontline was so close that the town came under rebel shelling.
But despite more than three years of fighting that has claimed some 10,000 lives, Nasyrov’s employer, Artwinery, has never stopped production. / AFP PHOTO / Aleksey FILIPPOV
The winery is located in a government-held town just two dozen kilometres (15 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s low-level war, where the army and Russian-backed rebels continue to lob deadly artillery barrages at each other. The town spent around a month under rebel control in 2014, and in 2015 the frontline was so close that the town came under rebel shelling.
But despite more than three years of fighting that has claimed some 10,000 lives, Nasyrov’s employer, Artwinery, has never stopped production. / AFP PHOTO / Aleksey FILIPPOV
The winery is located in a government-held town just two dozen kilometres (15 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s low-level war, where the army and Russian-backed rebels continue to lob deadly artillery barrages at each other. The town spent around a month under rebel control in 2014, and in 2015 the frontline was so close that the town came under rebel shelling.
But despite more than three years of fighting that has claimed some 10,000 lives, Nasyrov’s employer, Artwinery, has never stopped production. / AFP PHOTO / Aleksey FILIPPOV
The winery is located in a government-held town just two dozen kilometres (15 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s low-level war, where the army and Russian-backed rebels continue to lob deadly artillery barrages at each other. The town spent around a month under rebel control in 2014, and in 2015 the frontline was so close that the town came under rebel shelling.
But despite more than three years of fighting that has claimed some 10,000 lives, Nasyrov’s employer, Artwinery, has never stopped production. / AFP PHOTO / Aleksey FILIPPOV
The winery is located in a government-held town just two dozen kilometres (15 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s low-level war, where the army and Russian-backed rebels continue to lob deadly artillery barrages at each other. The town spent around a month under rebel control in 2014, and in 2015 the frontline was so close that the town came under rebel shelling.
But despite more than three years of fighting that has claimed some 10,000 lives, Nasyrov’s employer, Artwinery, has never stopped production. / AFP PHOTO / Aleksey FILIPPOV
The winery is located in a government-held town just two dozen kilometres (15 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s low-level war, where the army and Russian-backed rebels continue to lob deadly artillery barrages at each other. The town spent around a month under rebel control in 2014, and in 2015 the frontline was so close that the town came under rebel shelling.
But despite more than three years of fighting that has claimed some 10,000 lives, Nasyrov’s employer, Artwinery, has never stopped production. / AFP PHOTO / Aleksey FILIPPOV
The winery is located in a government-held town just two dozen kilometres (15 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s low-level war, where the army and Russian-backed rebels continue to lob deadly artillery barrages at each other. The town spent around a month under rebel control in 2014, and in 2015 the frontline was so close that the town came under rebel shelling.
But despite more than three years of fighting that has claimed some 10,000 lives, Nasyrov’s employer, Artwinery, has never stopped production. / AFP PHOTO / Aleksey FILIPPOV
The winery is located in a government-held town just two dozen kilometres (15 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s low-level war, where the army and Russian-backed rebels continue to lob deadly artillery barrages at each other. The town spent around a month under rebel control in 2014, and in 2015 the frontline was so close that the town came under rebel shelling.
But despite more than three years of fighting that has claimed some 10,000 lives, Nasyrov’s employer, Artwinery, has never stopped production. / AFP PHOTO / Aleksey FILIPPOV
The winery is located in a government-held town just two dozen kilometres (15 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s low-level war, where the army and Russian-backed rebels continue to lob deadly artillery barrages at each other. The town spent around a month under rebel control in 2014, and in 2015 the frontline was so close that the town came under rebel shelling.
But despite more than three years of fighting that has claimed some 10,000 lives, Nasyrov’s employer, Artwinery, has never stopped production. / AFP PHOTO / Aleksey FILIPPOV
The winery is located in a government-held town just two dozen kilometres (15 miles) from the frontline in Ukraine’s low-level war, where the army and Russian-backed rebels continue to lob deadly artillery barrages at each other. The town spent around a month under rebel control in 2014, and in 2015 the frontline was so close that the town came under rebel shelling.
But despite more than three years of fighting that has claimed some 10,000 lives, Nasyrov’s employer, Artwinery, has never stopped production. / AFP PHOTO / Aleksey FILIPPOV