Gov't supporting wine industry to prepare for grape harvest amid coronavirus

Traditionally, the wine harvest begins in September in Georgia’s winemaking regions – Kakheti, Imereti and Racha. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Agenda.ge, 02 Jun 2020 - 13:38, Tbilisi,Georgia

Georgia is getting ready for the major grape harvest season during which more than a hundred thousand tonnes of grapes will be picked, packed and sold locally or exported.

Traditionally, the wine harvest begins in September in Georgia’s winemaking regions – Kakheti, Imereti and Racha.

But the government of Georgia is already taking measures to support the winemaking sector in the midst of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has discussed the damage that the Georgian wine industry has suffered due to the global coronavirus pandemic and due to reduced tourism at a meeting with the industry insiders yesterday.

In addition to the government’s anti-crisis plan that also supports the wine sector, the government extended the agro-credit programme which now covers the wine industry as well, and will help wineries overcome problems caused by the pandemic.

Gakharia tasked the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia to ensure farmers do not face any problems regarding grape storage, and that the public as well as the private sector be well prepared for the harvest season. 

The volume of grapes processed during the 2019 harvest in Georgia reached 271,000 tonnes, which was the highest harvest vol over the last 30 years, said the Georgian National Wine Agency.