October 2 2007, 08:47

Georgia will export fresh apples to Ukrainian and Russian markets in the season 2007/08

The analysts of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" weekly have already informed about a very high apple harvest expected in 2007 in Georgia. According to our information, annual apple harvest reaches 80-100,000 tons in Georgia. According to the tentative estimations, apple harvest may exceed 100,000 tons this year in the country.

Despite of the fact that, as to official estimations, apple harvest is 6-8 times as large in Ukraine than in Georgia, apple production per capita is one and a half times higher in the country than in Ukraine. The other peculiar features of Georgia are the relatively low apple consumption comparing to Ukraine and practically full absence of quality storages. As a result of the latter factor, the prices for apples decline down to a very low level during the harvesting period and zoom sharply up starting from January till June.

According to Andriy Yarmak, the Head of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" project, in 2007 Georgia may supply up to 2-3,000 tons of apples to Ukrainian fresh market; Georgia is able to partially cover the deficit expected as a result of the decreased supplies of Polish apples. Potentially, Georgian suppliers can export up to 10-15,000 tons of apples; but, weak business relations, problems with logistics and quality may affect the potential apple exports from Georgia. We'd like to point out that Georgian apple will probably be supplied to Russian Federation market too despite of the embargo imposed on the imports of fruits and vegetables of Georgian origin.

We'd like to note that AgVANTAGE project and "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" organize a forum and business tour "Frutis and Vegetables of Caucasus 2007" and "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" for the companies, interested in the establishment of the business relations with the suppliers of apple, tangerine, fresh herbs (parsley, dill, cilantro, etc.), hazelnut, and also apple and tangerine concentrates, bayleaf and other products from Georgia. The event will be conducted on the 27th-29th 2007. The program of forum and business tour includes the trip round almost the whole Georgia and visits to several fruit&vegetable business enterprises. The participants will see all stages, from production to processing, post harvest handling, packing and sales of fruits, fresh herbs and nuts. You can register for participation in the event here.