The Georgian Government will subsidise the 2022 grape harvest due to the “record-high grape yield”, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has announced at a Government meeting.
Garibashvili pledged “not a single kilogram of grapes will be left behind” in accepting produce from farmers, and added the Government would provide “maximum support” to about 25,000 of them to ensure they would avoid complications in the process. He also added the price for each kilogram of white grapes would be set at no less than 90 tetri.
About 300,000 tons of grapes are expected to be harvested, with around 300 wine companies involved in the process, the PM noted.
“In total, the subsidy will cost the Government approximately GEL 150 million ($55.15 million). Since this is a strategic field and our country is considered the cradle of winemaking, the right intervention and right assistance to our winegrowers is necessary from the state”, Garibashvili said.
Garibashvili also claimed the Government’s “right policy” and “effective steps” had ensured “very important results” in the winemaking field, adding viticulture had not been supported “at all” until 2012 – the year that saw a change of Government in the country – and the previous ruling party had held farmers “under pressure”. (Agenda/Business World Magazine)
