Georgia Says Borjomi Ban Politically-Motivated
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said Russia’s ban on the import of the Georgian mineral water “Borjomi” is “a politically-motivated decision.”
“Although we are working towards re-entering the Russian market, we should work more actively towards entering new markets,” MP Nogaideli, who is currently visiting London for the business forum Invest in Georgia, told Imedi television on May 5.
The Russian consumer protection agency instructed the customs service to prevent the import of “Borjomi.”
“Out of the 69 samples of this mineral water [Borjomi] inspected in April in the Moscow region, 68 failed to meet standards,” Russian chief sanitary inspector Genady Onishchenko said in a letter to the Russian customs service.
“They are fighting against everything that is Georgian, which has nothing to do with fighting against falsification,” Mikheil Svimonishvili, the Georgian Agriculture Minister, said on May 5.
Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said Russia’s decision “was not a surprise.”
80% of Georgia’s most prominent mineral water Borjomi is exported abroad. 60% of this is exported to Russia while the remaining 40% goes to 27 other countries around the world, according to the Georgian Glass & Mineral Waters Company, which produces “Borjomi.”
