Vazha Mkurnalidze, director of the company “Agro Invest Service” declares, that “due to improperly cultivated orchards and lack of variety, as well as non-diversified markets, tangerine exports are limited to 2-3 markets”.
This year, 2,163 tons of tangerines out of 1.3 million were exported from Georgia, which was 81.4% less in value and 81.7% less in volume compared to the previous year.
As Vazha Mkurnalidze explained in an interview with bm.ge, the decrease in export volumes was predictable from the beginning, which depends on several factors.
“The main market is Russia. Citrus exports should be made within a 1-month period, which is a challenge for the farmer. For example, last season, due to climatic conditions, the massive harvest began at the end of November and 95% of citrus exports were delivered by December 25. At this time, there is an oversupply and a drop in the selling price. At the beginning of export and sales, the price is high for the first 10 days, when there is demand. Then, when the citrus is harvested, there is an oversupply in the market," said Mkurnalidze.
