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Otar Shamugia: " The Government adopts a decision with regard to 2022 grape harvest, whereupon, all enterprises purchasing ‘’Rkatsiteli’’ and ‘’Kakhuri Mtsvane’’ grapes at 90 tetri will receive an extra 35 tetri as a subsidy."
After the session of the Government of Georgia, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Mr. Otar Shamugia commented on the 2022 grape harvest-related issues.
As stated by the Minister, this year, Georgia will receive the record-breaking harvest, approximately 300,000 tonnes respectively. Last year, about 240,000 tonnes of grapes were processed in the country.
"The development of the grape-wine sector, as well as protection, and caring for it is one of the top priorities of our Government. We have been implementing a consistent policy in the respective area throughout the years, which is primarily reflected in the promotion of Georgian wine in priority markets, also we are taking measures to improve the quality of wine, our wine should become competitive in the world market and we should export more Georgian wines.
The results are already visible. Last year, Georgian wine hit a record high with approximately 107 million bottles of wine exported to different countries. This year, we are maintaining growth dynamics in almost all priority markets; namely, marking an increase of almost 40% in Poland.
The Data for the first seven months of this year show, that an increase of 16 % is observed in the US, this figure is almost doubled in Japan, the export increased in China, the Baltic countries and other priority markets as well, which definitely is the result of the measures and policies we have been implementing over the years;
Moreover, significant funds are allocated annually to boost the popularization of Georgian wine. We are intensifying our campaign and planning to spend more resources in the respective area in the coming years as well to achieve better results and increase export indicators", said Mr. Otar Shamugia.
According to the Minister, the Government adopted a decision with regard to the 2022 grape harvest, whereupon, all enterprises purchasing Rkatsiteli and Kakhuri green grapes at 90 tetri will receive an extra 35 tetri as a subsidy."
"This decision is crucial for each of our winegrowers, we mean 25,000 grape growers and about 300 enterprises which will be involved in the harvesting process.
This is a compulsory approach and the only way not to hinder the development of the industry and promote and maintain the dynamics that we have had for years in the viticulture and winemaking field.
As I have mentioned earlier, the increase is observed in priority markets, however, due to the tragic events, and war in Ukraine, there is a sustained decrease of up to 50% in the market, which had a certain impact on the total wine exports.
Therefore we made a decision to provide subsidies. This year, we still support the wine industry, winegrowers, and enterprises to maintain the dynamics of the development of the wine industry" said the Minister.
In his speech, Mr. Shamugia paid an attention to the importance of wine quality as well.
"We all should care for the quality of the wine. We are implementing several measures in the respective area. With regard to export, we have involved international companies in the aforementioned process, they are assessing the quality of the wine intended for export and its compliance with the existing norms and standards.
Moreover, we started implementing the vineyard cadaster program in Kakheti and Racha-Lechkhumi regions last year. This year, the cadaster program will be completed in East Georgia.
I would like to take this opportunity to address our winegrowers and point out, that it is crucial to deliver high-quality grapes to the factories, as long as the quality of grapes determines the quality of our wine and its competitiveness, which subsequently affects the price.
The coordination headquarter has been created to coordinate the harvest process; The Ministry, the National Wine Agency, the local government, and all relevant agencies are involved in this process, regarding the processing of every single kilogram of grapes and not leaving them behind’’ said the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture.