BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
By Maryana Akhmedova – Trend:
Economic sanctions imposed on Russia, which is the main exporter of wheat to Georgia, will not affect country’s wheat and flour imports, the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Giorgi Khanishvili said, Trend reports via Georgian media.
According to Khanishvili, if Russian wheat market closes for Georgia, the country is going to import wheat from Europe.
The deputy minister assured that Georgia’s food security is not in danger, and if flour supply will decrease, consequently, the country will increase wheat imports.
Also, Khanishvili spoke about government’s initiative to balance the floating customs tax on wheat imported from Russia. The minister noted that it is very important to keep the right balance, so bread prices will not increase as a result.
According to National Statistics Office (Geostat), Georgia’s wheat imports from Russia in January 2022 amounted to 11,396 tons worth $3.5 million. However, wheat imports from Russia decreased year-on-year, both in value (by 22.2 percent, compared to $4.5 million in January 2021), and volume (by 37.8 percent, compared to 18,349 tons in January 2021).
Meanwhile, Georgia’s wheat imports in January 2022 decreased by 45.4 percent, compared to the same period of 2021 ($6.6 million) to $3.6 million.
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