Indexes
March 2022 | Agri Review
28
March
2022
On 17 December 2021, the parliament of Georgia approved the state budget for 2022, with allocations of around 19.2 billion GEL. From which the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA) will receive 593.1 million (3.1% of the total budget allocation). MEPA will direct 14.5 mln. GEL towards the Environmental Protection and Agriculture Development Program (2.4% of MEPA’s total budget), with around 507.7 mln. (85.6% of their budget) to be allocated to agricultural development, and approximately 85.4 mln. GEL (12.0%) to be spent on environmental protection.
Compared to 2021, the budget for agricultural development will decrease by around 5.6%. Although additional state funds will be allocated to the National Food Agency (NFA) and the Agency for Sustainable Land Management and Land Use Monitoring (the so-called Land Agency), by 103.5% and 47.4%, respectively. The budget for Georgian Amelioration (GA) will also slightly increase, by 1.5%. While MEPA will direct further spending to the joint Environmental Protection and Agriculture Development Program (43.8% more than in 2021). Whereas, the budget for the National Wine Agency (NWA) and the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture (SRCA) will decline by 44.5% and 8.1%, respectively. The Rural Development Agency (RDA) will lose 6.8% of its budget from the previous year (Figure 1).
Although the redistribution of funds has changed slightly, as in previous years, the greatest share of MEPA’s funds will support the RDA (51.5%), GA (18.1%), and the NWA (16.7%). The RDA will continue financing around 20 programs; including “Concessional Agri Credit”, with the highest budget of 121 mln. GEL (46% of their total budget), moreover 40 mln. (15%) and 27 mln. (10%) will be directed towards “Co-financing Agricultural Mechanization” and “Plant the Future”, respectively.
The State Budget for 2022 identifies the following core priorities for Georgian agricultural development:
- Supporting domestic production and improving the quality of locally produced agricultural goods;
- Improving access to financial resources for farmers and agricultural enterprises;
- Supporting land market development via the privatization of state lands and systematic land registration.
Recent Publications
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June 2024 | Agri Review
28
June
2024
In June 2024, the National Statistics Office of Georgia issued its annual publication on the agricultural sector – Agriculture of Georgia 2023. The publication estimates that agriculture, forestry, and fishing comprised 6.9% of the GDP in 2023, which is slightly lower than in previous years, but in line with general trends over the last few years (agricultural GDP being 7-8% of GDP on average).
March 2024 | Agri Review
01
April
2024
In June 2023, responding to appeals from the Georgian Flour Producers Association, the Georgian government imposed a temporary import duty on wheat flour imported from Russia. This advocacy by the Association began after Russia implemented a “floating tariff” on wheat in 2021, making wheat imports more expensive compared to wheat flour.
December 2023 | Agri Review
29
December
2023
Citrus production in Georgia is currently experiencing a declining trend, despite the implementation of a tangerine state subsidy program. Under the program, farmers receive 30 instead of 15 tetri for 1 kg of non-standard (low-quality) tangerines.
September 2023 | Agri Review
29
September
2023
Rtveli 2023 commenced this August. Similar to previous years, the Government of Georgia (GoG) is subsidizing the grape harvest again to support farmers who have suffered from worsening climate conditions. Based on information from MEPA representatives, the subsidy's primary aim is to guarantee that even producers with lower-quality grapes can still sell their products.
June 2023 | Agri Review
30
June
2023
In June 2023, the National Statistics Office of Georgia issued its annual publication on the agricultural sector – Agriculture of Georgia 2022. The publication estimates that agriculture, forestry, and fishing comprised 7.5% of the GDP (constant prices) in 2022, which is lower than the 8% share in 2021, but in line with general trends over the last few years (agricultural GDP being 7-8% of GDP on average).
