GEL 3 Million for Wine Popularization; State Subsidization Program Details

The Government of Georgia has taken the decision to subsidize marketing campaigns of Georgian winemaking companies at exports markets, Georgian Agriculture Minister Levan Davitashvili told reporters at the September 6 government meeting and added that the winemaking companies should match certain criteria to enjoy the program preferences.

The program calls for issuing annual GEL 600,000 to winemaking companies that decide to penetrate new exports markets. If the program proves effective, the program budget will grow. Notably, the beneficiary companies must also increase the marketing campaign costs to make their financial contribution too, Levan Davitashvili said.

“In the due reporting period, the exports volume must have increased compared to the previous year. This growth is our basic point. We do not want winemaking companies to misuse the state budget allocations. Therefore, growing the marketing budget is one of the criteria that will be approved by the state audit”, Levan Davitashvili noted. New exports markets penetration activities will be financed for all markets, excluding Georgia and the CIS countries. The program aims to reduce dependency on traditional markets The USA, Great Britain, Poland, Baltic Countries, and other countries are target markets, where Georgian wines should be popularized, Levan Davitashvili said.

The state budget has allocated GEL 9-10 million for wine popularization activities.