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

print

share

Otar Shamugia: "We will be ready to ensure that not a single kilogram of grapes is left behind."

The Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Otar Shamugia, spoke about the organizational issues and subsidies for Grape Harvest 2023.

"The government issued the decree "On the measures for organizing the grape harvest 2023". We have gone through all the preparatory processes, and the headquarters will open at the end of the month, on August 25 -26, led by the Chairman of the National Wine Agency. All relevant departments of municipalities will be involved in the process.

Furthermore, the government fixed the amount of subsidy for Rkatsiteli and Kakhuri Mzvani grapes at 20 tetri. Specifically,  all companies that receive and process more than 100 tonnes of grapes will receive a 20-tetri subsidy if they pay at least 90 tetri per kilogram of grapes. 
The subsidy is still vital for the sector, even though it is considerably lower this year than last year and prior years when the subsidy was 35 tetri per 1 kg. We were able to minimize it because of the policies we have adopted to develop the viticulture and winemaking sector over the last few years.

We are improving wine quality annually, and wine exports are expanding. Last year, our export increased by 30%. According to the statistics from the last seven months of this year, we are still maintaining the growth dynamics that allowed us to take this step.

 We will do our best to help entrepreneurs be more present in all priority markets and increase our wine exports.
This year, the total subsidy budget is set at 50 million. This year's harvest will be less than last year's since the climatic conditions have affected the quantity and quality of grapes.

As for the grapes that the private sector cannot take over, our state enterprise will take and process the grapes that the private sector cannot. We will be ready in every possible way to ensure that not a single kilogram of grapes is left to the growers," Mr. Otar Shamugia said.