By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan plans to expand the volume and geography of local wine exports, Rufat Mammadov, president of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), said on March 2 at a joint event of AZPROMO and the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of Azerbaijan.

Noting that presently Azerbaijan delivers wine mainly to Russia, Mammadov said that last year the volume of export of Azerbaijani wine abroad amounted to $6 million, which is 67 percent more than in 2016.

“The Chinese market is one of the most important directions for us,” he added, noting that this year, Azerbaijan’s wine house will open in Shanghai. It is noteworthy that last year, Azerbaijani wines worth $1 million were delivered to China.

Mammadov further said that about 60 percent of subsidies allocated for export promotion in Azerbaijan last year accounted for wine producers. In general, Azerbaijani entrepreneurs received subsidies worth 3 million manats ($1.76 million) as part of the export promotion mechanism in 2017, he added.

Currently, winemaking is a promising segment of the country’s economy and the government continues to support its development.

As many as 23 out of 38 alcohol producing companies operating in Azerbaijan are engaged in only wine production. Meanwhile, 20 of these companies are export oriented.

The country exports its wine products to Russia, China, Turkey, South Korea, France, Ukraine, Germany, Japan, Belarus, Georgia and some other countries. Thus, the Azerbaijani wine is becoming more and more popular around the world.

Source www.azernews.az