Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.26
By Nigar Guliyeva – Trend:
Uzbekistan and Georgia have agreed on cooperation in the field of winemaking and viticulture.
As part of the visit of Uzbek working group led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade Relations Sahib Saifnazarov to Tbilisi, the parties signed a memorandum, under which leading Georgian experts will visit Uzbekistan to study the raw materials base and winemaking potential .
Furthermore, the parties intend to actively cooperate in the field of growing and importing scientifically-adapted grape seedlings.
The sides also considered ways of export promotion of wine products.
Following the meeting at the National Wine Agency under the Georgian Agriculture Ministry, an agreement was reached on the exchange of experience, development of partnerships in viticulture and winemaking and certification of wine and vodka products.
The Georgian side also showed a keen interest in the products of the Uzbek automobile and agricultural machinery industry, proposed to take an active part in tenders for the supply of buses for municipal needs and equipment for agricultural enterprises
Last year Uzbekistan produced 20.7 million liters of grape wine (an increase of 0.7 percent), 63.6 million liters of vodka and liquor products (1.4 percent), 789,500 liters of cognac (4.6 percent ) and 70.9 million liters of food alcohol (3.9 percent).
Presently, 43 varieties of grapes are grown in the republic, including 17 wine varieties. Today, grape plantations occupy an area of more than 140,000 hectares, of which 45,000 hectares accounted for wine grapes.
The main export markets for Uzbek wine are Russia and Kazakhstan, which jointly occupy about 80-90 percent of all exports. Uzbek wines are also exported to Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, while pilot shipments have been carried out to the US, China, Japan, Latvia, Israel and other countries during the past two years.