Categories
Journalistic Survey
Articles
Reportage
Analitic
Photo Reportage
Exclusive
Interview
Foreign Media about Georgia
Editorial
Position
Reader's opinion
Blog
Themes
Children's Rights
Women's Rights
Justice
Refugees/IDPs
Minorities
Media
Army
Health
Corruption
Elections
Education
Penitentiary
Religion
Others

Peasants from Shida Kartli Request to Open Russian Market for Georgian Products

December 19, 2012

Levan Sepiskveradze, Shida Kartli

Residents of villages in Prone Gorge, Shida Kartli, hope Russian market will open for them. Locals believe their social problems will be resolved after Russian market is opened for Georgian people. Gorge residents hope negotiations between special envoy of the government of Georgia and chief sanitary of Russia will end with opened Russian market for Georgian products and traditional fruit from Shida Kartli – apple and peach will be sold in Russia at reasonable price.

Resident of Satsikhuri village in Prone Gorge Giorgi Tsabadze told humanrights.ge that peasants from Shida Kartli remember much bad from the Russian government but economy and politics are different fields and embargo on trading shall not be attached to the occupation of territories. He added that when local peasants sold their harvest in Russia, it was easier to keep their families and they did not cope with economic hardship like they do now.

Giorgi Tsabadze, resident of Prone gorge: “Those, who do not know how difficult it is to look after the fruit-trees to get harvest, might believe that when Russian market was open we earned easy money. It is too expensive to look after the fruit-trees but we are not lazy to work; if they open market, we will have chance to sell our harvest at a reasonable price. After Russian market was closed, our apple had no value in Tbilisi market and several locals even did not collect harvest in the gardens. Then those fruit-trees dried off. We need a stimulus and then you will see how rich fruit-gardens we will have.”

Many peasants in Shida Kartli already speak about laying out new fruit-gardens. Locals say most part of their old gardens is not good enough to get necessary amount and quality of harvest. So, if Russian market opens and peasants will have chance to get cheap credits from banks, they will lay out new gardens by all means. Peasants from Shida Kartli said they can risk taking loans if market is opened for their products.

Peasants from Prone gorge and Gori district started to lay out new gardens when fruit-recycling factory was opened in Agara and juice factory Kampa in Gori. Kampa still works in Gori but they accept small amount of fruit from locals. President of Georgia opened the Agara Fruit Recycling Factory with huge ceremony two years ago but soon it stopped and locals cannot deliver their fruit-harvest there.

Mevlud Kakhabrishvili, resident of Shavshvebi village in Gori district: “In the past, our village was famous with rich harvest of fruit. Later, when collective farms ruined, pipes of irrigation system were stolen and sold as scrap iron; we remained without irrigation system and our fruit-gardens dried out. Short time ago, we were promised to arrange new irrigation system but nobody kept that promise. Then we were told enterprises will be opened in Shida Kartli which would accept our fruit. We used to fetch water from river by cars to irrigate gardens and do you know what happened?! Nobody accepted our fruit in those enterprises and we remained without attention. Everybody in Shida Kartli dreams about Russian market. Do you think every peasant sold fruit in Russia? Either Ossetian people or guys from Tbilisi used to arrive here by trucks, purchased apple from local peasants and then sold them in Russia. They earned good money and we were also satisfied with it.”

Although new government of Georgia has already declared readiness to launch negotiations with Russian authority on opening Russian market for Georgian people, the process is going on slower than peasants from Shida Kartli hoped. However, it is real perspective and senior officials of the Russian government also confirm it.

Official representative of the Foreign Ministry of Russia Aleksander Lukashevich confirmed with journalists that they had started working on allowing Georgian products in Russian territory. “Russian people loved and still love Georgian fruit and wine; I mean true Georgian fruit and wine. Foreign Ministry does not work on opening markets but we will assist resolution of this problem. At this stage I cannot speak about achieved agreement but the process is going on towards resolution and it is good.”

Georgian agricultural products and wine cannot be exported to Russia without permission of Genadi Onishchenko, the chief sanitary of Russia. As usually, Onishchenko is careful in his statements and justifies his caution by quality of Georgian products.

“I will not agree introduction of Georgian fruit and particularly of wine into Russian market in February. If we go back to the start of negotiations, they could enter Russian market long ago. Here we have ideological and not economical problems; I doubt everything will be resolved in February,” said Onishchenko. However, the chief sanitary added that Georgian products will return to Russian market earlier or later because Russian customers have accustomed and love Georgian fruit and wine for many years.

Georgian Prime-Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said process of opening Russian market for Georgian products has already started. Special Envoy for Relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze and Minister of Agriculture Davit Kirvalidze work in this direction.

Ivanishvili speaks about plans of the new government with regard to the development of agriculture. He said in spring of 2013 unprecedented amount of land will be ploughed in Georgia. There are several main problems including lack of irrigation systems. The government intends to work on this problem from winter. They also intend to import tractors and moto-blocks.

Ivanishvili said, another problem is that 80% of villagers do not have their plots registered in CRA. Prime Minister thinks it was artificially caused by previous government because National Movement tried to gain extra oppression tools on population.

Peasants from Shida Kartli are not fully aware of “lower lawyers” of Russian-Georgian politics and they are less interested in the opinions of Russian politicians about their Georgian colleagues and vice versa.

A resident of Ptsa village in Kareli district Vladimer Kakaladze told humanrights.ge: “Politician’s duty is to do some good for his country; as for peasants, they can earn their living by hard-work without politicians’ efforts. During many years, politicians only hindered our work. Now it is time for politicians to prove that they really bother about people. Let them make Russia to open market and we will believe that money spent on their salaries is not wasted.”

Peasants from Prone gorge said positive result of negotiations with Russia is the most important for them when market will be opened and they will have chance to sell fruit in Russia.

News