On September 17, Transparency International Georgia published its report entitled “How do the big winemakers who donate to Georgian Dream benefit from the state budget?” The paper reveals that the winemakers who receive large amounts of state subsidies are the ones who donate large sums of money to GD and benefit from the increased dependence of Georgian wine on the Russian market.
The research results show that in 2017-2023, winemakers received GEL 169 million from state agricultural projects, of which GEL 71 million was granted to those companies which donated or whose founders had donated money to the GD. In total, these people and companies have donated GEL 6.1 million.
Of the 20 winemaking companies that received the highest amount of state subsidies amounting to GEL 64 million, 15 are GD donors. Moreover, one of these 15 is owned by the brother of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the GD, Aleksandre Ivanishvili, and another one is owned by the GD MP Zaal Dugladze. Four other companies are owned by Vakhtang Karichashvili, Bidzina Ivanishvili’s nephew, Ucha Mamatsashvili’s business partner. These four have received a total of GEL 19.4 million from the state budget.
The research also found that out of the 10 companies that exported their wine to Russia, eight are owned by GD donors. Among these companies there are two companies of Aleksandre Ivanishvili and two companies of Ucha Mamatsashvili.
The data also shows that in the last 10 years the total export of wine has increased because of the Russian market. In 2023, Russia received 65% of the wine exported for Georgia, which is the highest number since 2006. EU is on the second place with 12% exported there.
Despite the fact that the wine goes mainly to Russia, the price that Russia pays per liter ranks 61st and amounts to only USD 2.7. In comparison, the USA buys Georgian wine for USD 6.2 per liter. In 2023, Georgia exported wine to a total of 66 countries.
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