Vintage Preparatory Meeting in Telavi
Giorgi Khanishvili, Deputy Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia met with heads of Kakheti Regional heads of information-consulting services and local municipalities in order to discuss the vintage 2018 organizational issues.
The meeting in Telavi was attended by the First Deputy Chairman of the Agrarian Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia Gela Samkharauli, State Representative-Governor of Kakheti Region Irakli Kadagishvili and Acting Chairman of the National Wine Agency Andro Aslanishvili.
Giorgi Khanishvili introduced the necessary activities for organizing the vintage and agriculture sector development programs to the attendees.
"It is vital for the state to conduct the vintage successfully. In the past years the vintage process required donation. As a result of the right state policy pursued in viticulture and winemaking sector, there is no necessity for this any more, the business returns to the right point- the entrepreneur and the farmer agree on prices. Increased exports, diversification of export markets, increased awareness of Georgian wine - this tendency is reflected in the economic policy of the country, which gives the basis for the vintage without state subsidies, which is the right business model, "he stated.
Deputy Minister highlighted the importance of Georgian wine quality. According to Giorgi Khanishvili, accounting of the vintage process is one of the prerequisites for ensuring quality of wine.
According to the Acting Chair of the National Wine Agency, the Vintage HQ will be opened by the end of August and will start registration of the companies that wish to join the vintage process. As Andro Aslanishvili stated, vintage coordination HQ will operate 24/7, as in previous years. "The function of the Coordination HQ will be to promote the organizing of the vintage, to ensure accountability and traceability, which is a precondition for quality production," he said.
On the other hand Kakheti Regional Governor underlined the fact that the area of newly planted vineyards is growing annually, that indicates the sustainability of the wine industry.
According to Gela Samkharauli, in parallel with the growth of export, the number of tourists is growing in Georgia, as well as the demand for wine consumption on the domestic market, which is also a prerequisite for the vintage to conduct in free market conditions.
Considering the current state of the wine industry, the vintage 2018 will be based on the full market price conditions and it will be the first vintage for the last 10 years when the state comes out of the grape subsidizing regime.