Georgian opposition leader optimistic about resumption of wine exports to Russia
TBILISI. May 3 (Interfax) - Georgian winemakers and the Russian chief public health inspector and head of the consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Gennady Onishchenko, will meet in several weeks to discuss the resumption of Georgian wine exports to Russia, said Kakha Kukava, the leader of the Georgian opposition group Free Georgia.
"We will coordinate a meeting with Georgian winemakers interested in coming to the Russian market," Kukava told journalists on Friday in commenting on Onishchenko's remark that he is willing to meet with Georgian counterparts to discuss the possible resumption of Georgian wine and mineral water exports to Russia.
Other markets are in fact insignificant to Georgian winemakers, Kukava said. "The heads of companies saying that they sell their wine to China and don't care about the Russian market are nothing but crooks," he said.
Georgian and Russian officials actually held negotiations on returning Georgian wine to the Russian market in March, Kukava said. "Routine process concerning legal documents is under way now. The next meeting with the Russian side on this issue is planned several weeks later," he said.
Georgian deputy parliamentary speaker Gigi Tsereteli said he doubted that the negotiations would bring about practical results in the foreseeable future. "Such statements were made earlier as well, but Georgian wine and mineral water have still not returned to the Russian market," Tsereteli told journalists.
Zurab Margvelashvili, the executive director of the Georgian major winemaker, Tbilvino, suggested that the Russian market still remains important to Georgian wine producers, even though several years have passed since Russia imposed a ban on Georgian wine imports.
"We will probably wait for an official decision on admitting Georgian wine to the Russian market, and the format of these negotiations actually does not matter for me. What matters is a result," he said.
Onishchenko told Interfax on Friday that he planned to meet with a Georgian opposition politician and a member of the Georgian community in Moscow to discuss prospects for resuming Georgian wine and mineral water exports to Russia.