The Government of Georgia finds it difficult to sell the thousands of tons of wine, according to the website of the National Agency for State Property.
On May 18, 72 auctions failed, where 1.39 million liters of wine worth of 13.8 million GEL was sold, including 196 thousand liters of Khvanchkara, 553 thousand liters of Alexandreul-Mujuretuli and 471 thousand liters of Tsolikauri. Cognac alcohol worth of 43.3 million GEL was also brought on the auction, of which only 5.1 million GEL was sold. All wine auctions failed.
Levan Davitashvili, the Minister of Environment and Agriculture talks about the lack of interest from the private sector in the auctions. According to him, the state puts the property at repeated auctions at a discounted price.
The government has accumulated thousands of tons of alcohol and wine because of its vintage subsidy program. In 2020, the state received an unprecedented amount of grapes - 104 million GEL - through subsidies.
On May 18, 72 auctions ended in vain, the value and volume of the wines put up for sale were as follows:
• Khvanchkara - 196,220 liters, price 2,698,000 GEL. Cost of 1 liter - 13.75 GEL;
• Alexandreul-Mujuretuli - 553,040 liters, price 6,874,287 GEL. Cost of 1 liter - 12.43 GEL;
• Tsolikauri - 470,910 liters, price 2,693,605 GEL. Cost of 1 liter - 5.72 GEL;
• Ojaleshi - 128,790 liters, price 814,596 GEL. Cost of 1 liter - 6.32 GEL;
• Usakhelauri - 43,400 liters, price 756,679 GEL. Cost of 1 liter - 17.44 GEL.
According to eAuction.ge, the wine auctions had 20-30 visitors, which in turn indicates the low interest of buyers.
This is the second case of auctions’ fail. Previous auctions for wine sales also ended in vain on May 5, after which the state reduced the price of wine by 7% and put it up for re-auction.
