Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

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"The state program was created to ensure, that crop will not be left undelivered and farmers will receive appropriate remuneration for their work" declared Levan Davitashvili

Promotional  measures are related to the storage of crop. The subsidy program will be implemented, which we had a few years ago as well.
Considering International situation, the Government of Georgia is carrying out certain interventions, particularly, in case of an abundant harvest. This year, we expect more than 120,000 tonnes of apples, mainly in Shida Kartli region.

This year high expectations of apple crop are observed around the world. The Government of Georgia has developed a program to ensure, that farmers will not stand alone and stick with undelivered crop, which is a fruit of their labor and hard work. The program will provide a subsidy of 10 tetri per 1 kilogram of apples. If companies pay at least 22 tetri to a farmer, they will receive a compensation of 10 tetri. This is a very important condition, accordingly, crop will not be left undelivered and farmers will be get paid.

The decision of the Government might be considered as a mechanism, which will stimulate companies to have an access to working capital, state will not interfere in procurement of crop directly, this will be done by private processing companies, which mainly produce apple juice concentrate. The concentrate is an export product and is exported to EU countries.
We will finance the interest rate of working capital for companies within a year, if bank loan will not exceed 16%. We will finance half, 8%. We will take the similar approach, if there is a variable interest rate.

The program will be implemented until December 15, the season will start in September. We will mobilize headquarters -in Gori Municipality, where up to 10 processing plants are located. The procedures are about the same as in the case of grape harvest. Companies are required to have a continuous internet connection and camcorders in order to conduct the process at a high level, in an organized manner and under control.