“Similar to what we did 2 years ago, we will be helping the affected vineyard owners this time again and will be compensating 3500 GEL per hail-damaged hectare of land”. It was announced by Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia at the Executive Government Meeting today.
As the Prime Minister noted, it will assist them in using funds for a particular purpose to recover and regenerate the hale-affected vines.
“I wish to once again explain the decisions taken several days ago to our society. You may well be aware that grape harvest collection is very successful in Kakheti at present. I personally visited the vineyards and observed the situation on the ground. Harvest is very good indeed. We are providing maximum assistance to our people. Sadly, many vineyard owners have been affected by the hail and thousands of hectares have been lost. We, of course, made their damaged grapes admitted as promised and this process has been launched. Actual collections include the hale-affected and damaged grapes in the value of 20 MLN GEL, however as the farmers lost their potential income, we decided to do the same as 2 years ago: we wish to allocate 3500 GEL per hectare to the loss-making vineyard owners as a sign of support. It will assist them in using funds for a particular purpose to recover and regenerate the hale-affected vines” added Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia.
As the Head of Government of Georgia noted, assistance to farmers engaged in grain production will also be provided by the Government of Georgia.
“I wish to very briefly share information with the general public on the grain production. You may well be aware that prices on grain have dropped substantially. It is not dependent on us, but is rather a domino effect of the situation observed at international markets. Therefore, we made a decision to assist farmers engaged in grain production. Prior to that we already took concrete and effective steps forward by offering concessional agriculture loans to almost 4000 farmers. We financed their working capital and gave them an incentive to increase the production of cereal crops. Also, we took a decision to impose an additional fee for the import of flour, which has resulted in the competitiveness of mills in Georgia. Afterwards, they procured Georgian grain and supplied the flour to bakeries with such terms and conditions that would not make prices on a loaf of bread rise. After the prices on flour dropped, 35 000 tons of grain were procured by local mills to ensure their sales. Also, temporary measures were imposed on the imports of fodder wheat. It was conditioned by the unstable stance on the world market. We agreed on additional measures to be taken. The Ministry of Agriculture will make additional clarifications on it after the Executive Government Meeting. We will provide maximum support to every farmer. Thus, they will not have any worries or concerns” concluded the Prime Minister of Georgia.
