Government U-Turn: Prošek Here To Stay

The Croatian government has admitted it made a mistake when it released a statement on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture advising producers of the dessert wine “Prošek” that when Croatia joins the EU on 1 July they will no longer be able to use the label as it phonetically resembled the Italian sparkling wine “Prosecco”, which had protection status in the EU.

On Wednesday Juraj Orenda from the Ministry of Agriculture told reports that the press release had been removed from the website and that wine producers could continue producing Prošek after 1 July.

“It was not our intention to release any bad news or to intentionally goof up but to stimulate producers to adapt to new market situations once we enter the EU”, he said.

This has led to Prošek being able to be branded and put on the market in keeping with EC regulations, he added. He added that he would meet with producers later in the week to determine what steps to take next with protecting the traditional brand.