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Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia create joint wine brand

30 December 2009 12:02 (UTC +04:00)

Artush Mkrtchyan said the â€œCaucasian bouquetâ€ project was implemented with financial support of the International Alert of the UK and U.S. embassy in Armenia within the framework of the program â€œBusiness and conflictâ€. The direct implementing agency of the project in Armenia is Gyumri Development Foundation and Armenian office of the Caucasus Business Development Network.

Mkrtchyan noted that 17 sorts of white and red wine presented by Armenia, 13 sorts presented by Georgian winemakers and 9 by Azerbaijani winemakers had been chosen in the end. He said without the participation of the one of the involved countries the idea of â€œCaucasian bouquetâ€ would lose its importance. Therefore, we are preparing a letter to Azerbaijani Prime Minister to get permission for participation of Armenian wines and winemakers in the presentation ceremonies in Baku.

Azerbaijanâ€™s Cabinet of Ministers told APA that the Azerbaijani government had not received an appeal concerning the presentation of the â€œCaucasian bouquetâ€ brand.

Director of Azerbaijan Scientific-Research of Wine Trade Tariyel Panahov told APA that the issue on creating wine brand â€œCaucasian bouquetâ€ appeared some years ago. Meeting took place in Georgia, discussions were held in connection with it. According to Panahov, in general t is possible to implement such joint projects, there are reports that talks are being held about it.
â€œThe issue on creating a joint brand should be studied thoroughly and justified from scientific point of view. The second issue is connected with the number of the chosen brands. It is impossible to understand why 9 brands have been chosen from Azerbaijan, 13 from Georgia and 17 from Armenia. Actually, Azerbaijanâ€™s potential is much bigger than that of Armenia and Georgia. We have world-famous wine brands,â€ he said.

Panahov considers that this proposal should have been made by Azerbaijan. He says though it seems impossible to create a joint brand under the present circumstances from political aspect, Azerbaijan should support such an initiative.
â€œBut there is a problem. There is no guarantee that Armenia will not counterfeit Azerbaijanâ€™s products. This factor should be taken into consideration,â€ he said.