The bank VTB (Georgia), the company VTB Factoring, and Georgian wine-producer Kindzmarauli Marani have signed a tripartite cooperation protocol concerning a pilot factoring deal limited to some $2 billion, an Interfax correspondent reported from the signing ceremonies.
VTB (Georgia) will provide financing to Kindzmarauli Marani and VTB Factoring will assume the risks of the Russian borrower.
The protocol’s signing was prompted by the resumption of trade
relations between the two countries. The delivery and sale of Georgian
wine in Russia was banned in 2006.
The sales director at VTB Factoring, Pyotr Antonov, told the press
that by his estimates the company’s turnover with factoring deals in
Georgia could amount to from half a billion to a billion rubles before
year-end. “Around $30 million this year, if the product is in demand,”
he said.
Antonov provided estimates that deliveries of Georgian wine to Russia
could run to 25-30 million bottles, or around $100-$120 million, a year
over the next five years. From 20 percent to 25 percent of the deals could make use
of factoring.
During the course of a teleconference, Kindzmarauli Marani chief
Irakli Talakhadze said his company was looking to deliver around a
million bottles of wine to the Russian market for the year. “We are
hoping to deliver one million bottles or more in one calendar year,” he
said.
Total deliveries of Georgian wine to Russia, Talakhadze estimated, could amount to 20-25 million bottles.
Georgia now exports wine to forty-four countries. Ukraine accounts
for 45 percent of Georgia’s exports, Kazakhstan for 20 percent, and Belarus for 8 percent,
General Director at VTB (Georgia) Archil Kontselidze said. Georgia
exported 35 million liters of wine to Russia in 2005, he said.
