BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.24
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Georgian taxpayers will finance the harvest of 50 million lari ($15.4 million) for viticulturists in this year's vintage, Trend reports via the State Procurement Agency.
The procurement agency is considering two proposals for the viticulture subsidy program.
The first is the request of 'Akura Ltd' for the purchase of 35 million lari ($10.7 million) of grapes, and the second is the request of the 'Crop Management Company' for the purchase of 15 million lari ($4.6 million) of grapes.
By order of the government, the wineries will take over the grapes, which will then be crushed and turned into either wine material or alcohol. According to the existing plan, the state company will further sell this wine/alcohol.
As reported, the 'Crop Management Company' was founded on August 4, 2020, and is 100 percent owned by the National Agency of State Property. The wine company 'Akura' is subordinated to the Project Management Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The current model of vintage subsidies is not new and was used by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture last year. During the 2019 vintage, 'Akura' purchased grapes worth up to 80 million lari ($24.6 million) via direct purchase, after which it produced alcohol/wine material.
Up to 300,000 tons are forecast for the 2020 vintage.
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