Georgian wines on the international market

– As far as we know, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Georgia intends to actively cooperate with the government in order to prevent falsification and promote export. What is planned in particular?

– Our close relationships with wine-makers and measures recently taken by the Chamber of Commerce have helped us to reveal many wine production and export-related problems in our country.
We think that Georgian wine industry faces two major problems: it is a pity that popularity of wine business is very low though Georgia has always been considered as a historical country of wine. Therefore, to our mind, the first problem to be solved is promotion of Georgian wine’s reputation and its division into categories to enable us to occupy positions on the world market and promote popularization of Georgian wines. We do not mean only CIS countries, but also Europe and the world market on the whole. No one can ban anyone from producing low quality wine, but we should know what wine is of high, average and low category.
The second problem is that a great deal of low quality wines is exported from Georgia to traditional markets such as Russia, Ukraine or the former Soviet Union countries.
We have arranged several meeting with wine-makers to discuss the issues with them. In the near future a work group attached to the Chamber of Commerce will be formed. The group will in detail reveal wine problems relating to production, falsification and quality. The group will prepare a proposal jointly with wine-makers to submit it to the government.
– How perspective do you think the industry is? Does it have enough potential to occupy its place on the world market?
– Nowadays, the most popular export product is Georgian wine together whith the mineral water “borjomi”, but there are many problems that cannot be solved by wine-makers and the Chamber of Commerce alone without the government’s support. All countries that are new in wine business and that appeared on the international market quite late such as e.g. Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand have, in fact, passed the same way: the governments of the countries have actively supported and promoted wine popularization and new markets development. We should pass the same way to achieve success. Georgians have the oldest traditions in this industry. Georgian wine is really one of the best, but its popularity is low, so much work has to be done in this direction. The exhibitions held by us serve to popularize Georgian wines, but this is not enough. I mean exhibitions named “Georgia the cradle of wine” held in Warsaw, Kiev, Astana. In the future it is planned to organize events in Moscow, Helsinki, Rotterdam and Scandinavian countries. We intend to organize the same events in the United States of America, namely, in New York, Chicago and San-Francisco. In general, we are thinking of making a wine museums. It sounds like an interesting idea. We have had preliminary talks with the Georgian National Museum and with its director David Lortkipanidze. By creating a wine museum, we wish to establish a new place for holiday, entertainment and popularization. There will be a tasting hall with each company having its own space, whereas visitors might have the chance of tasting wine. It is noteworthy that popularization of Georgian wine will not only have a good effect on wine-making and exporting companies, but it is in direct connection with tourism development in our country leading to significant economic effect.
– Are the wine-makers ready to work conscientiously and deal in healthy competition with each other?
– Nowadays, Georgian wine-makers are well aware that despite the competition their cooperation is inevitable. I do not say that this cooperation should be drawn up in legal form, but this can be done within the framework of Georgian Chamber of Commerce. As a matter of fact, signs of such unifications are already in existence. I would like to stress that popularity of Georgian wine will be promoted through such coordination and joint efforts. As a result, it will be much easier for all companies to enter market with the production of its own brand. After strengthening positions on the current markets, it will be possible to start thinking about developing new ones. The Chamber of Commerce will take steps in this direction.
All exhibitions held by us abroad were called “The Cradle of Georgian Wine”. This does not mean that we do not export or popularize any other products except wine. The name simply shows that priority has always been attached to wines.
We also intend to issue a magazine that will highlight problems, progress and new directions in the industry. We wish to cooperate with well-known foreign publishers and magazines that deal with the same themes.With their help we wish to tell foreign people about Georgian winemaking.
At the meeting with wine-makers many claims concerned the law on vine and wine. Many wine-makers seriously criticize the work of Samtrest. The working group attached to the Chamber of Commerce will consider all the issues with wine-makers and will prepare proposal for submission to the government.
– Do you think there are any other sectors in Georgia with the same potential that require state support? Does the Chamber of Commerce plan to take an active part in the process?
– It is, for instance, agriculture and processing industry. It is of special importance to form small and mid-size businesses in the industry as well as to attract small and mid-size investments. True, tea and citrus-growing have lost their positions, but I think it is possible and essential to recover the sectors. Processing industry has been strong in our country. This industry should be preserved and developed. Moreover, the West has great demand for ecologically pure products. The same concerns nut growing. The world demand for this sort of product is very big, and prices are stably high. Beekeeping is also of great interest. Almost all countries produce honey, but one of the most ecologically pure honeys is produced in Georgia. I think, many sectors of agriculture have serious potential and they might achieve large scales provided there is government support. Growth of small and mid-size businesses in this sector will enable the government to even slightly regulate employment problem in the country. Small and mid-size businesses of almost all developed countries make up 85% and even 95% of the economy.