Wine-Maker to Sue State Agency

Wine producer Badagoni has announced that it will sue Samtrest, the wine agency under the Georgian Agriculture Ministry. On November 14 Samtrest alleged that wine produced in the company?s factory in Kakheti, eastern Georgia, was counterfeit.

?Our Italian partners and their attorneys will take measures to protect our rights and reputation in court. We will, first of all, sue Samtrest and its officials, who have cast doubts about the quality of our wines and who have poured out some of our wine in the factory, citing that it was fake,? Paata Darsmelia, Badagoni factory director, said at a news conference on November 15.

The ultra-modern wine factory in Akhmeta was opened on October 27 with the assistance of a USD 12 million investment made by an Italian partner.

Two containers of wine ? over 100 tonnes ? were spilled out after the Financial Police and Samtrest officials sealed off the factory in the Akhmeta district on November 14.

Agriculture Minister Petre Tsiskarishvili reiterated on November 15 that it was counterfeit wine.

The Agriculture Ministry claims that the allegation is based on an inspection of wine samples carried out by the private Georgian lab Multitest Ltd.

?Badagoni does not consider these allegations to be serious. We offer all the interested parties, including the state structures, to carry out inspection of our production in any international lab. We have evidence proving that our production has been inspected by internationally acclaimed experts in Italy, who say that the wine is of high quality,? Paata Darsmelia said.

He said he does ?not want to believe? that the officials? move against the factory was masterminded by competitor companies.

?It simply could have been a wrongdoing committed by lower level officials,? he added.

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