Agriculture Minister: we will have “no delays” in product supplies
Otar Shamugia urged the public to refrain from buying in bulk to avoid an artificial increase in prices. Photo: Agriculture Ministry/Facebook
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There will be “no delays” in terms of product supplies for Georgian consumers, Georgian Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia said on Thursday.
Shamugia made the comment responding to speculation over a possible lack of availability of products in connection to the conflict in Ukraine, while also urging the public to refrain from buying in bulk to avoid an artificial increase in prices.
The [product] deficit on shelves has been created artificially, not due to a lack of supplies. We can be calm in that direction. We will have no delays in product supplies,” Shamugia explained.
The Agriculture Ministry said yesterday its agencies were monitoring uninterrupted supply and replenishment of food in the country, in addition to coordinating work with representatives of major retail chains and companies importing food and consumer products to Georgia.
Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili also told the public there was “no need” to stock up, pointing out that Georgia “always” had supplies of various products.
Georgia is dependent on import of dairy products “to some extent”, and enterprises in the country have no resources to export such goods on various markets, Georgian Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia said on Wednesday.
Problems related to the supply of wheat and flour in Georgia are neither observed nor expected, Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili said on Wednesday, adding it was foreseeable the export tax would be removed and the country would be able to buy wheat “on better terms and cheaper.”
There is no need for Georgian citizens to stock up on food products as supply lines are working, Levan Davitashvili, the Georgian Economy Minister, has told the public amid claims the country might be facing a shortage due to the war in Ukraine.
Georgian Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia has said no shortage in stocks of food and primary consumer goods is observed in Georgia following the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine last month, stressing the importance of maintaining a “stable supply” of products in the market and avoiding “unreasonable price increases”.
Reforms in the forestry sector, air and water resources, waste management and trade relations were the topics covered at a meeting between Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Agriculture Minister and Carl Hartzell, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, on Wednesday.
Challenges in Georgia’s winemaking sector and diversification of international markets for promoting sales of wine from the country were in the focus of a meeting between Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Agriculture Minister, Kelly Degnan, the United States Ambassador to Georgia, and Peter Wiebler, the Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Georgia mission, on Thursday.
Georgian farmers will be able to get low-interest loans for production of annual crops, following latest changes to the preferential agro-credit state programme, Georgian Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia announced on Monday.
Improving productivity and competitiveness of agricultural farms in Georgia, and providing assistance to micro-, small-, and medium-sized agriculture and food production enterprises is the subject of an agreement signed between Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Agriculture Minister, and Raimund Jehle, the Representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on Friday.
Georgia has wheat resources enough for more than a month and more can be imported if necessary for food security, Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili said earlier today.
Production of perennial crops in Georgia has increased by 33 percent in recent years and amounted to 600,000 tonnes, Otar Shamugia, the Agriculture Minister of the country, said on Thursday.
Georgian producers can count on “more than enough” stocks of flour and wheat, while in just a month and a half the country will also add its own harvest to the reserves, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Monday following questions raised on possible shortages of the products.