Georgian wine export up 69% Jan-Aug ’14

Georgia increased its wine export by 69 percent in the first eight months of 2014, compared to last year.

According to the National Wine Agency, the Georgia exported 36,585,769 bottles (0.75 liters) of wine during this period.

The agency on Wednesday reported that the top export country is Russia. 24,049,677 bottles of wine were exported to Russia, which is 65 percent of the total wine export.

The next most important country is Ukraine, followed by Kazakhstan, Poland, Belarus, China, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Azerbaijan.

The total income from wine export in the first eight months was USD 118,493,071, which is 83 percent more than in same period last year.

Georgia resumed wine export to Russia in the end of 2012, after an embargo imposed by Russia in 2006 was lifted, and sales have since increased significantly.

Attention is now on how the wine export will be affected by a new free trade agreement Georgia signed with the EU on June 27, which came into force on September 1, allowing the export of Georgian products to the European market without paying customs fees.