The president of the Association of Winemakers of PeruAndrés, Choy denounced that businessmen in the sector in the South of the country are victims of extortion by people who participate in the protestswho ask them for money to let them open the business.
“They ask them for money so they can keep their stores open. They are the same protesters who go through the different streets saying ‘a collaboration for the fight’”, he pointed out and stated that if they do not deliver what they ask for, they are forced to close.
This situation occurs mainly in Puno, Cusco and Madre de Dios. All this has generated a drop in sales of up to 70%, assured Andrés Choy.
“35% of the wineries in the South have closed because they cannot sell and they are closed for approximately a month. If this continues, it is more or less half of the approximately 100,000 wineries that there are that can close, ”he denounced.
Look: More than 2.6 million people affected by blockades in the mining corridor
He also pointed out that there are winemakers who have reported that they no longer have the resources to buy merchandise, others who suffer because, due to the blockade of the roads, they do not receive products. In addition, there are those who have to auction off what they sell to avoid the expiration date.
Andrés Choy participated in a conference organized by the Peruvian SME National Association in which it was denounced that there are two million micro and small businesses (mypes) at risk of bankruptcy as a consequence of the drop in sales due to the protests.
The sector has asked that both the Executive and the Legislature reach an agreement so that these demonstrations do not continue to hit this sector, which has not even recovered from the pandemic.
