Wine Cellars in Terrible Situation – Association of Sommeliers

Georgia-based wine cellars are in the heaviest situation, Shalva Khetsuriani, president of the Association of Sommeliers noted. We need more constructive dialogue with the Government about the current problems, Khetsuriani told Business Morning.

‘We understand that economic resources are limited and the problems exist all over the country, but we need more constructive dialogue. The tourism industry alliance unites 27 sectoral associations and this is a huge intellectual resource. We should agree on what to do in the part of VAT. Subsiding loan interest is a good idea and the timeframes should be extended. Companies will face a catastrophic situation when the time comes to pay accumulated debts. Wine cellars are in a catastrophic situation and the situation will be aggravated because the majority of them do not work on exports.

Their business is based on tourists primarily. The tourism industry has played a huge role in the Georgian economic development, including small wine cellars. Now we need to assist this sector and we ask the government to assist the wine industry too”, Shalva Khetsuriani told Business Morning.