Georgian government to subsidise 2021 grape harvest due to high grape yield, post-pandemic situation

The Georgian government will subsidise the 2021 grape harvest due to an excess grape yield this season and the post-pandemic situation in order to financially support farmers, announced Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili earlier today. 

Garibashvili stated that the price of one kilo of the Rkatsiteli wine variety will not be less than 90 tetri, noting that ‘companies will receive an additional 35 tetri from the state.’

PM Garibashvili also announced that this year the country will have an excess grape harvest which will amount to 300,000 tonnes and because of that the ‘demand on white grapes will decrease’ and farmers may face difficulties with selling the grapes, Garibashvili noted. 

He also said that about 6,400 vineyards have been planted in the last eight years, underscoring that while there were 39 wine companies in 2012, by 2020 their number had increased to 350 and revenue grew from 35 million GEL to 323 million GEL.

We [the Georgian government] have made so much progress in this area. This is the result of the right steps taken by us...All this will affect the well-being of our population,” said Garibashvili. 

Georgian Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Levan Davitashvili also discussed the upcoming grape harvest in Georgia and noted that Georgia’s wine export has increased by 7-8 per cent compared to last year ‘despite the difficult situation in a wine sector all over the world.’

Davitashvili underlined that 100 million GEL has been allocated from the state budget for grape harvest subsidies in 2021.

The grape harvest subsidy program has been financed by the Georgian government since 2017, the amount of money has been increasing over the years and in 2020 it amounted to 104 million GEL.