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

print

share

Otar Shamugia: " We have been implementing several projects over the years, aiming to improve the quality of wine each year"

The Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Mr. Otar Shamugia paid a visit to the coordination headquarter in the Telavi Municipality to get familiar with the 2022 grape harvest-related issues.

"An important part of the grape crop has already been handled and stored, more than 65,000 tonnes of Rkatsiteli, up to 50,000 tonnes of Saperavi and other varieties of grapes, totally, more than 120 thousand tonnes of grapes have been processed; 

We believe, that about 25,000 families will receive an income of up to GEL 300 million in the Kakheti region, which is essential. The harvesting process is conducted in an organized manner, without delay. Moreover, through the support of the local municipality and other relevant services, the coordination center operates 24 hours a day to ensure proper handling and protection of grape crop. The winegrowers deliver their grapes to the companies in an organized manner. We believe that the whole process will continue likewise and we will have a very successful grape harvest in 2022 ", said Mr. Otar Shamugia.

According to the Minister, improving the quality of Georgian grapes is of the outmost importance, as long as it determines its international reputation and price.

" We have been implementing several projects over the years aiming to improve the quality of wine each year, besides, we carry out marketing activities.

In recent years, we have achieved a significant increase in wine exports, therefore, despite the current situation in the region, the export has been increased, compared to the previous year.

“Especially,  I would like to mention Poland,  where our export is increased by 40-45%, Poland ranks second in exports. As we are all aware,  we have developed several programs to promote our wine in different markets around the world; We also have a new project , which directly helps companies in financing their  marketing expenses. About 40 companies are already registered in the aforementioned project.

In 2021, Georgia received approximately USD 400 million in income, which is resulted from the export of wine and other alcoholic beverages, including the export promotion measures taken by the state. We believe,  that the volume of trade will increase even more in the coming years", said Mr. Otar Shamugia.
As in previous years, the coordination center for the Grape Harvest  organizes and coordinates the whole harvesting process, ensures post harvest handling, storage,  accounting and traceability of the grape crop. The registration of grape is being carried out in a unified electronic system,which was introduced by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture in 2013 and has been functioning effectively since then.

The harvest is in an active phase in most villages and municipalities of Kakheti region, except Sagarejo municipality, which traditionally gets involved in the harvesting process later.