Orange harvest 2015-16: Georgia exports 26,509 tonnes of mandarins abroad

Georgia has exported 26,509 tonnes of mandarins to Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Belarus and other foreign nations.

Additionally 9,095 tonnes of mandarins were processed in Georgia, which brought in 1,860,005 GEL income to mandarin farmers. Of this amount the state subsidy was 909,573 GEL, revealed Georgia’s Agriculture Ministry.

Georgian standard mandarins were mainly exported to:

• Russia – 20,705 tonnes (78.1 percent);

• Ukraine – 3,969 tonnes (14.97 percent);

• Armenia – 787 tonnes (2.97 percent);

• Kazakhstan - 447 tonnes (1.69 percent);

• Azerbaijan - 286 tonnes (1.08 percent);

• Belarus – 242 tonnes (0.91 percent); and

• Other countries - 74 tonnes (0.28 percent).

Six processing plants helped sort the citrus harvest this year in Georgia’s Kobuleti, Keda, Ambrolauri, Chokhatauri and Gori municipalities.

Earlier the Government of Georgia offered farmers and industry players a helping hand by opening a special coordination centre that supported the sale of mandarins.

Georgia’s Agriculture Ministry said companies that paid 0.20 GEL for every kilogram of lower quality mandarins, to be processed and not sold as fruit, would receive a subsidy of 0.10 GEL from the state.

As of today, 655,027 GEL has been allocated to companies who addressed Georgia’s Ministry of Agriculture.

The programme will finish on January 31, 2016.

Last month, Georgia’s Agriculture Minister, Otar Danelia, said the Government had allocated two million GEL to support the export of Georgian mandarins abroad. This money was used to add extra transport vehicles to the current fleet, meaning export of Georgian citrus would reach its destination in more "favourable conditions” and fund the operation of storage facilities. (Agenda.ge)