Russia Hails Cooperation with Georgian Mineral Waters Producer

Chief Russian sanitary inspector Genady Onishchenko said on April 24 that the Russian consumer protection agency and the Georgian Glass & Mineral Waters company, which produces “Borjomi” mineral water, are closely cooperating to fight against falsified “Borjomi” on the Russian market.

“Unlike the case of wine, there is not such a hopeless situation [in the case of ‘Borjomi’],” Interfax news agency quoted Onishchenko as saying at a news conference in Moscow.

“I can say that ‘Borjomi’ is a serious firm, which works quite well to unveil falsified [products],” he added.

Onishchenko said that recently the Russian consumer protection agency has impounded a “large quantity” of “Borjomi” which did not have necessary papers and were of poor quality.

80% of Georgia’s most prominent mineral water “Borjomi” is exported abroad – 60% of this amount to Russia and 40% to 27 other countries around the world, according to the Georgian Glass & Mineral Waters Company, which produces “Borjomi.”

The Russian consumer protection agency banned the import of Georgian wine on March 27, citing that they contain pesticides. Onishchenko said that Georgia should increase control of its winery.