On October 5 at Tbilisi Mariotte Hotel was held the Georgian Wine Forum. The forum was arranged by the Vine and Wine Department "Samtrest" of the agriculture ministry of Georgia. Attended: Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Noghaideli, agriculture minister Mikheil Svimonishvili, General Director of "Samtrest" Vasil Managdze as well as foreign and local representatives of viticulture sphere: Mr. Federico Castellucci, Director General of the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), Levan Koberidze, Chairman of Georgian Wine Producers Union, Levan Mchedlishvili, representative of Georgian Wine Family.
The main goal of the forum was to inform the participants about the current situation in the industry and view of the perspectives of penetration of Georgian wines in new markets. They also discussed the current legislative reforms - on the process of harmonization of the Georgian legislation with the legislation of the European Union.
The Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Noghaideli addressed the participants of the forum. He assessed positively the visit of Director General of the International Organization of Vine and Wine to Georgia in the vintage period. The Prime Minister stated: "This is the significant support for Georgia and in particular for the wine sector. The Georgian wine sector develops and will, of course, find its place in the markets of different markets worldwide."
The Prime Minister highlighted the problem of Georgian wine falsification. He noted that "abroad, in particular, on the territory of Russia, cases of falsification of Georgian wines are very frequent. When Russia imposed a ban on the export of Georgian wine they took guidance from quite another parameter; not by the quantity of wine imported from Georgia but by the quantity of wine sold in Russia under the name of Georgian wine. They thought that the Georgian economy would face the 300-500 million losses for this ban. However, we exported much less wine from Georgia. The struggle against falsification of Georgian wine will be continued by the joint efforts of the Government of Georgia and Georgian companies."
After completion of the forum was held the wine sampling.
Press Center of the Chancellery of the Government of Georgia