Georgia exports 200 tonnes of mandarins to Ukraine

Ten trucks loaded with 200 tonnes of mandarins are on their way from Georgia to Ukraine.

The orange harvest is in full swing in Georgia and the country has started to sell locally grown citrus fruit all throughout Georgia and in foreign markets.

Georgia’s Agriculture Minister Otar Danelia said the Government allocated 2 million GEL to support the export of Georgian mandarins abroad. This money had been used to add extra transport vehicles to the current fleet, meaning export of Georgian citrus would reach its destination in more "favourable conditions”. The money would also fund the operation of storage facilities.

Georgia typically exported mandarins to Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, Georgia and Russia have agreed on "technical and methodological issues” meaning Georgian citrus fruit will be exported to Russia "without any obstacles” said Danelia.

Georgia’s 2015-2016 orange harvest began in November and will continue until January. During this time more than 100,000 tonnes of citrus fruit was expected to be harvested in Georgia.

Over the weekend Georgia’s Agriculture Minister travelled to Adjara region and visited GM Group’s citrus processing plant. This year GM Group expected to receive 15,000 tonnes of mandarins. With this crop the company will produce citrus juice and sell the product locally. At the same time the company planned to export fruit juice to Japan, Holland and Israel.

Danelia also visited a local family in Adjara where he helped the family pick mandarins off their orchard. The family expected to receive seven to eight 8 tonnes of mandarins this year.

In general, after the last year’s poor citrus harvest, Georgia was so far experiencing a rich and high quality ‘orange harvest’ this season, said the Minister.