By Vestnik Kavkaza
The Russian Federal Consumer Rights Protection and Human Health Control Service permitted importing 90 types of Georgian wines and cognacs to Russia, however, it is not clear when the process will begin because their producers still haven’t asked for excise labels. According to Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's chief doctor, “they have received for the purposes of state registration 135 applications, one application for each product. We authorized 65 Georgian wine companies and 4 companies for the production of mineral water to start the state registration procedure. And we did not give authorization to 13 companies due to the fact that we were not satisfied with their technological capabilities, the lack of raw materials and so on. So, from of these 65 companies we received 135 applications: 114 - for wine, 17 for cognac, one for chacha, one mineral water, one mineral medical table water, two non-carbonated spring waters, that is, normal drinking water, and medical table carbonated water. And so, all this we received from 9 manufacturers. 65 we allowed, from 9 of them we received applications, i.e. they brought us a product for registration. 9 alcohol producers and two producers of water, a total of eleven. And if you count 65 plus 4, it makes 69.”
An interest in Georgian alcohol products in Russia is explained by the inexplicable behaviour of the Russian soul, Onishchenko says. “In today's Georgia, the wine industry has six thousand years of history, and the Georgian state is 1,200 years old. This is the oldest wine-making industry in the world,” he states.
It was decided to permit the following Georgian enterprises applying documents for registration of mineral waters, wine and cognac:
Bordjomi
Nelsi Water
Sairme Mineral Waters
“AQUA GEO”
Akhalsheni 2005
Bagration-1882
Badagoni
Brothers Askaneli
Vazi +
Winemaking Khareb
Winiveria
Dugladze Wine Company
Shumi Wine Company
Georgian Wine Industry
The House of Georgian Wine
Kakhetia Traditional Winemaking
Kakhetia Wine Cellar
Kakhuri
Kimerioni
Kindzmarauli Marani
Alaverdi Alcohol Drinks Company
GWS
Kindzmarauli Corporation
Georgian Wine Corporation
Manavis Marani
Marniskari
Alaverdi Monastery
Saradjishvili
Gomi Ditillery Company
Tbilwine
Telavis Gvinis Marani
Teliani Vele
Tiflisi Marani
Tiflis Wine Cellar
Tsinandal Old Wine Cellar
Georgy Mirianashvili Chelti
Shato Mukhrani
Shukhmann Wines Georgia
Eniseli Bagrationi
Rospotrebnadzor issued certificates to 23 items of "Kindzmarauli Marani". The wine company "Dugladze" - 22 items of alcoholic beverages got approval: 17 wines and 5 cognacs. Alcoholic drinks "Alaverdi" - 7 items. Ltd. "Marniskari" - 10 types of wine. "Traditional Kakheti Winemaking" - 7 items, all cognac. "Bagadoni" - 16 types of wine. "Botono" - 4 types of wine. Four types of wine from "Botono" are being evaluated now. And "Brothers Askaneli" - 9 types of wine.
“We gave five negative expert opinions: five types of cognac by "Brothers Askaneli." Because what we saw, it was that classic production, which was seen in Georgia since 2004, and they used the police to remove it from their own market, and in 2006 Russia joined the campaign in the form of an import ban. However, overall we assess that the situation as heading in a positive trend. There are difficulties with access, but they lie outside the boundaries of our competence,” Onishchenko thinks.
