Currently, a very difficult situation has developed in the grain-producing industry of Georgia, which creates a danger that farmers will not be able to repay the loans they have taken, and this, in turn, will lead to their mass bankruptcy. Nikoloz Beniaidze, head of the Grain Producers Association of Georgia, made such a statement on July 4, Business Georgia reports.
“At the moment, only 10% of last year’s wheat has been sold, and a new crop is added to this, which has already been 20-30% harvested. But there are problems with purchase prices – wheat is not sold even at net cost. The Prime Minister’s order, which was supposed to give an advantage to local producers, is either not implemented at all, or is partially implemented,” the expert said.
According to him, Georgian mills do not buy local grain, as they consider it too expensive, but for producers, even this price – 40-45 tetri per kilogram – is too low, since the cost of grain is at least 80 tetri, that is, almost 2 times the purchase price.
In this regard, according to N. Benianidze, there is a real risk that Georgian farmers will refuse to plant a new grain crop and, as a result, the country will lose this sector of the economy, despite the fact that even now 80% of grain consumption in Georgia is imported.
“Flour imports into the country continue as the cost of flour in Russia continues to decline. Even with the import duties imposed by the Georgian government on flour, imports are still profitable. Therefore, it turns out that the new tax has no effect,” said the head of the Association.
Source: Apkinform