Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Head of the Georgia-Russia Economic Cooperation Centre Giorgi Seturidze said on October 9 that identification of wine defects by the Russian side is favorable for the honest Georgian wine producers, and in case of a successful result Georgia plans to export more than 30 million bottles of wine to Russia in 2014.

Earlier, the Russian consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said that 28 types of Georgian wine and brandy were not registered due to their non-compliance with hygienic standards.

"Until now, the Georgian wine agency and experts said that wine exports will amount to a maximum of 12-15 million bottles in 2014, but the market shows that the demand for wine is much greater," Seturidze said.

According to the head of the Georgian National Wine Agency Levan Davitashvili, Tbilisi has no official information about any difficulties that may arise with exports. Davitashvili expressed hope that there will not be any interference.

According to Rospotrebnadzor, Georgian producers have brought over 6 million liters of alcoholic beverages to the territory of Russia since June. It is expected that another 2-3 million liters will be delivered by the end of the year, but the identification of defects can reduce this figure.

Russia banned imports of Georgian wines and two popular brands of mineral water in 2006, citing poor quality of the products, in a move widely condemned in Georgia.

The new government in Georgia started talks with Russia to get Georgian goods back to the Russian market. After the negotiations, both sides said the embargo on the Georgian products could be lifted. This process is currently in progress.