Part of licensee holder companies on pine cones talks about non-competitive environment on the market. A representative of FAIR TREES says that one of the licensee holder companies exports 200 tons of pine cones from Racha and almost fully meets the requirements of the European market.

According to Zhana Babunashvili, they obtained 10-year licenses on pine cones from Rcha in 2009. However, permits expired in 2019, but by the decision of the state, they extended this right for another 2 years. A representative of FAIR TREE also says that the cone seed market in Georgia is uncompetitive and monopolized.

"This product is specific, exports are made from Georgia. The main market is Europe. Georgia is not considered as a market for the final product, Christmas trees. Consequently, the problem is on the European market. There is already an oversupply of Caucasian Sochi seeds from us. This is more than Europe needs. The situation is monopolized in Ambrolauri, one of the licensing companies exports 200 tons of cones, while the total demand on the European market is 300 tons,” Babunashvili said.

According to Babunashvili, there is also a big risk that Europe might become the main supplier of Georgian pine cone seeds, because Christmas tree plantations have already been planted in Denmark.