Return of Georgian wine to Russia

Author: Georgi Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi, exclusively to VK

A recent inspection of wineries and mineral water plants conducted by Rospotrebnadzor came up with an unexpected result: according to the chief sanitary doctor of Russia, Gennady Onishchenko, in late April - early May about 200 Georgian wines and four types of mineral water will return to the Russian market.

All in all, about 36 wineries and 4 companies bottling mineral water have passed the inspection by Russian experts. These companies still need to register their products in accordance with Russian law, but it seems that the main barrier has been overcome. "Borjomi", "Nabeglavi" and "Sairme", well known to Russian connoisseurs of mineral water have been given a chance to return to the shelves of Russian shops.

As for the wines, Rospotrebnadzor has approved the most famous wineries of the East Georgian province of Kakheti, which is considered the ancestral home of Georgian wines. Among those wineries are "Kakhetian traditional winemaking," "Kakhuri Gvinis Marani" ("Kakheti Wine Cellar"), "Kakhuri," "Kindzmaraulis Marani," "Alcoholic Drinks Alaverdi," "The Company of Georgian Wines and Spirits," "Corporation "Kindzmarauli"," "Manavis Marani," "Tiflis wine cellar" and "Badagoni."

The "Sarajishvili" cognac and the sparkling wine "Bagrationi" might also return to the Russian market. There is no "Khvanchkara" on the list yet, but only because Rospotrebnadzor has not yet visited the area where it is produced. The head of the National Agency of Wine, Levan Davitashvili, said that in future the Russian delegation will also visit the western part of Georgia. He stressed that only one company failed the test, while four others refused to let inspectors in,  most probably due to the fact that they did not have enough time to prepare for them. They might be tested during the second visit in May.

It was rumoured that only those Georgian enterprises that are owned by Russian businessmen will be able to return to the Russian market, but in the end not only "Borjomi," recently purchased by "Alfa Group", but also companies with purely Georgian capital were included on the list of approved companies.

Another issue is that it would be more difficult for Georgian  wines than for mineral water to regain the lost segment of the Russian market, since the place of Georgian wines has been taken over by wines from Chile, South Africa and California. Over the past 6 years Georgian businessmen have done everything to improve the quality of wine for the European market. The EU wine market is a dream of every winemaker, but Europeans are accustomed to a very different taste of wine. On the other hand, while the older generation of Russians has not forgotten the taste, the Georgian wines intended for the European market in Russia cannot cost less than 350-400 rubles per bottle, and the buyer might rather prefer them to French, Spanish, Italian wines in the same price segment.

However, the most interesting aspect in the issue of Georgian wine imports is its political side. Even though the official explanation for the ban of Georgian wines and mineral water on the Russian market was for their poor quality, politics played a very large in it. President Saakashvili has repeatedly stated that the Russian embargo was an unofficial response on the part of Moscow to Georgia's aspirations to NATO membership and the EU. Based on this logic, Moscow should not have cancelled the ban on  Georgian products after the change of power, since Ivanishvili announced that his government would continue cooperating with the West.

One would conclude that Georgian wines and "Borjomi" will not make their way onto the Russian market until the Georgian authorities restore diplomatic relations with Russia. However, Moscow has decided to act in a more subtle way, demonstrating goodwill and encouraging the new authorities, who have declared their readiness to normalize bilateral relations and stop boycotting the Sochi Olympics (thus implicitly disowning the parliamentary resolution on "the Genocide of the Circassians"). At the same time, the new government has given preliminary approval for the resumption of rail traffic through Abkhazia, and also took part in direct talks at ambassadorial  level (the Prime Minister's special envoy on the normalization of relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, has already met twice with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Grigory Karasin).

Although there has been no specific solutions to the political problems declared, the interested parties demonstrate that Moscow has gained a firm control over Russian-Georgian relations with the consent and at the initiative of Tbilisi.

One can assume that, after weighing all the "pros" and "cons", the Russian government decided to encourage the new Georgian government against the obvious, but impotent resentment of President Saakashvili and his team, who have repeatedly called the inspection by Rospotrebnadzor "shameful concessions" and "a manifestation of imperial arrogance."

Obvious business advantages will certainly increase the social basis of forces supporting the idea of peaceful co-existence with Russia. 

These forces will sooner or later be able to correct certain directions in foreign policy. However, if this does not happen, then Rospotrebnadzor will find ways to introduce new "technical" arguments  to introduce another ban, as the situation with Moldovan wine has demonstrated.