You're reading: Tbilisi hopes Russia not introducing embargo on Georgian imports

Tbilisi – Russia will not ban supplies from Georgia, though the country should be ready for any development of the situation, Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Giorgi Kvirikashvili said.

 “We hope that technical consultations, held by Georgian and Russian experts, are a precondition that Russia will not see the EU-Georgia Association Agreement as something aimed against it,” Kvirikashvili told reporters on Aug. 19 when asked to comment on a proposal by some deputies of the Russian State Duma to expand the list of countries banned from supplying Russia, including from Georgia.

“On the contrary, we expect even more opportunities to appear in this direction. I don’t think that an embargo will be introduced, though Georgia should be ready for any development scenario,” the minister said.

In 2006 Russia banned wine, mineral water and agriculture supplies from Georgia due to quality issues. The ban was in effect until last year.

In February 2013 Russia and Georgia accorded a mechanism to allow Georgian products back to the Russian market. As a result, first imports of Georgian wine and mineral water and then supplies of agricultural products with low quarantine risk – such as tea, bay leaves, dried fruit, almost all fruit, vegetables and gourds – were resumed.