The National Statistics Office of Georgia (GeoStat) recently published its economic review for II Quarter 2022. Their publication highlights that agricultural production increased by 10.9% in the second quarter of the year compared to the same period of 2021. Furthermore, agriculture contributed to 8.3% of the country’s total GDP during this period. There were also positive trends in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) within the sector. In the second quarter of 2022, FDI in agriculture accounted for 3.2 mln. USD compared to -1.7 mln. USD in 2021. Nevertheless, FDI in agriculture was relatively low in comparison to other sectors of the Georgian economy and accounted for just 0.9% of total FDI.

On 24 August, the “Rtveli 2022” harvest started. As with previous years, the Government of Georgia (GoG) is again subsidizing the 2022 grape harvest to help farmers and wine producers sell their products. During Rtveli 2022, wine companies will receive a subsidy if they purchase and process at least 100 tons of green Rkatsiteli or Kakhuri grapes grown in the Kakheti region, and if the company pays at least 0.90 GEL per kg for the fruit; 0.35 GEL will be subsidized from a total of 0.9 GEL per kg of grapes purchased. Under this support program, up to 25 ths. farmers will be able to sell their produce and about 300 wineries will be involved in grape harvesting, storing, and handling activities. GoG has allocated a total of 150 mln. GEL to subsidize the 2022 grape harvest. By 30 September, around 211.1 ths. tons of grapes were sold, with a corresponding sales revenue of 247.9 mln. GEL for farmers. However, since Rtveli is not yet over, the final statistics on grape sales and their respective total revenue is not yet available.