A meeting to prepare for the 2023 vintage was held today under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili at the Government Administration.

In the meeting at the Administration of the Government, concrete steps to organize the vintage were planned.

As the Prime Minister emphasized, it is necessary for vineyard keepers to sell their crops for a good price, so that the stable development dynamic achieved in the area of viticulture and viniculture in the recent years may grow even stronger.

According to a decision made at the meeting, vintage subsidies will continue in 2023 as well. The state will subsidize grapes with 0.2 GEL, and the minimal price of white grapes will be 0.9 GEL per kilogram.

As Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Otar Shamugia pointed out, it is important that wine export is growing, with an about 30% growth recorded last year and an equally high growth in the first six months of this year registered as well. Last year 103 million liters of wine worth 252 million USD was exported to 66 countries of the world, the highest amount in the history of independent Georgia. According to the Minister, the demand on quality grapes is growing alongside wine export.

It was also noted at the meeting that, given the climatic conditions, it is expected that a portion of grapes to be harvested this year may not be of desired quality. On the Government’s decision, state-owned companies will accept damaged grapes and no grapes will remain unsold.

The meeting at the Government Administration was attended by Vice Prime Minister/Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili, Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Otar Shamugia, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Sectoral Economy and Economic Policy Davit Songhulashvili, Majoritarian MP from Telavi, Akhmeta, Kvareli, and Lagodekhi/Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Procedural Issues and Rules Irakli Kadagishvili, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Yuri Nozadze, Chairman of the National Wine Agency Levan Mekhuzla, Head of the Government Administration’s Regional Liaison Department Leri Barnabishvili, and State Representative in Kakheti Giorgi Aladashvili.