Georgia Vows to Protect ‘Reputation’ of its Wine
Georgian Agriculture Minister Mikheil Svimonishvili said on March 31 that Georgia will send samples of Georgian wines produced by 10 leading Georgian wine producers to labs in Switzerland, Great Britain and Germany for examination in an attempt to discredit Russia’s allegations that Georgian wine is not fit for consumption.
“We will not let anyone undermine the reputation of Georgian wine,” Mikheil Svimonishvili said at a news briefing.
Russia’s chief sanitary inspector stopped issuing “sanitary-epidemiological conclusions” for Georgian and Moldovan wines starting on March 27, citing “violations of sanitary-epidemiological norms.”
Archil Gegenava, chief executive of the Teliani Valley wine producing company, said on March 31 that “unfortunately, Russia’s black PR has already influenced wine export to other countries as well.”
President Saakashvili described on March 30 Russia’s move to ban the import of the Georgian wine as “cynical.”
Georgian State Minister for Economic Reforms Kakha Bendukidze said on March 30 that the Russia’s decision is politically-motivated and it was anticipated.
The State Minister said that the authorities have been warning Georgian entrepreneurs about this threat for a long time, “but little has been done by [the entrepreneurs] in this regard by.”
He said that the only way to solve this problem is to diversify the country’s foreign trade markets.
Officials say more than 80% of Georgia’s wine exports go to Russia and estimated annual sales stand between USD 100 million and USD 120 million.
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