Gov’t to subsidise wine harvest, anticipates effects of “climate conditions” on part of 2023 yield
Garibashvili emphasised it was “essential” for winemakers to be able to sell their products for profit and further support the industry's “consistent growth” over the recent years. Photo: Government Administration
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The Georgian Government will subsidise the harvest of winemakers across the country in the coming fall and also anticipates a part of this year’s yield to be of “inadequate quality” due to “climate conditions”.
A meeting involving Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili involved the decision that the Government would uphold a minimum price of ₾0,90 ($0,34) per kilogram of white grapes from farmers.
State-owned companies will also accept damaged grapes to alleviate the effect of weather conditions on the quality of the harvest, the Government Administration also said.
Garibashvili emphasised it was “essential” for winemakers to be able to sell their products for profit and further support the industry's “consistent growth” over the recent years.
Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia said it was “crucial” that wine exports were increasing, and noted they had reached a 30 percent growth last year, with a “significant rise” also observed over the past six months.
He also said 103 million litres of wine worth $252 million had been exported to 66 countries over the past year, setting a record in the country's independent history. The Minister added demand for high-quality grapes was rising along with the exports of wine.
At the international exhibition of wine and alcoholic beverages Vinexpo New York in the United States, 26 Georgian wine companies showcased their products, with the financial and organisational support of the National Wine Agency, the Agency said on Saturday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday highlighted the long-running tradition of winemaking on the territory of Georgia in his address at the formal launch of ITB Berlin, a major international tourism fair showcasing Georgia as the Host Country in the German capital.
The National Wine Agency of Georgia on Thursday revealed it had joined Eco2Wine, a project supported by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Doctoral Training Network aiming to strengthen global innovation and communication in the winemaking industry.
Georgia exported about 103 litres of wine worth $252.5 million to 66 countries in 2022, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told the country’s Parliament on Friday, adding the figures marked a “record high” in the independence period of the country since the early 1990s.
Georgian Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia said maintaining the international image of Georgian wine remained a “priority” for state institutions, in comments made during his visit to a Tbilisi wine laboratory on Thursday.
Factories have processed 142,000 tonnes of grapes from the ongoing harvest in Georgia’s eastern winemaking region of Kakheti, with about 13,000 growers generating ₾141 million ($48.45 mln) in income so far, the Georgian national wine agency announced on Thursday.
The Georgian Government will subsidise the 2022 grape harvest due to the "record-high grape yield", Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced at today's Government meeting.
The wine festival featuring 65 large, medium and small local wineries was hosted in Tsageri, a small town in western Georgia's Racha-Lechkhumi region, the country’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture said on Sunday.
About ₾50 million ($19mln) has been allocated to subsidising this year’s grape harvest across Georgia in order to “financially support farmers” and ensure "not a single kilogram of grapes is left behind", Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia said on Thursday.
Levan Mekhuzla, the Chair of the National Wine Agency of Georgia, on Saturday said 2500 tonnes of grapes had already been processed in the eastern winemaking Kakheti region.
Within the framework of Harvest 2023, up to 8000 tonnes of grapes had already been processed in the eastern winemaking Kakheti region, including 3600 tonnes of Rkatsiteli, 3000 tonnes Saperavi and other varieties, Levan Mekhuzla, the Chair of the National Wine Agency of Georgia said on Saturday.
Georgia's Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday said 1,050 tonnes of grapes damaged by heavy rainfall, hail and strong winds in the country’s eastern winemaking region of Kakheti last week had been accepted from farmers by the state enterprise Harvest Management Company thanks to a state subsidy.