"We will not return to Russia until the war is over," - Tbilvino told BMG. According to Zurab Margvelashvili, director of the company, wine sales in Russia mean to damage the company's reputational due to the Russia-Ukraine War.
"We did not sell more than 20-21% in Russia this year. We have been exporting a small part of the products to this country for years. After the start of the war, many orders came from Russia, but we didn't want to have any kind of problem and we stopped sales," said Zurab Margvelashvili.
The director of "Tbilvino" also focuses on diversifying markets. Zurab Margvelashvili notes that dependence on one market, especially on Russia, is dangerous. According to him, the private sector should focus on countries with high economic growth, stability and high demand.
"Each business decides for itself where to sell its products, if we had not left this comfort zone [the Russian market], we would have always been highly dependent on Russia. Russia is not a reliable country, even if we remember last year's example and the 2006 embargo. We have already had the loss and we don't want to repeat it again", says Zurab Margvelashvili.
However, as the director of the company points out, it is important to communicate more and work hard in foreign markets.
Georgia sold wine worth USD 252 million last year. Almost 64% of wine exports account for Russia.
