Onishchenko to Visit Georgia to Discuss Resuming Wine, Water Imports

By The Moscow Times

Jan. 24, 2013

Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's chief sanitary official and the head of the Federal Consumer Protection Service, has announced plans to visit Georgia to discuss resuming supplies of Georgian wine and mineral water to the Russian market, Interfax reported Thursday.

He said he plans to head to Georgia after a meeting with the country's delegation in Moscow scheduled for Feb. 4. The meeting will focus on resuming imports of Georgian wine and the famous Borjomi mineral water, banned in 2006 after the Federal Consumer Protection Service deemed it to be of bad quality.

Although Onishchenko did not cite a specific date for when shipments could resume, he said he was hopeful to see them start again in March, Gazeta.ru reported.

Earlier, Onishchenko said that almost 30 Georgian companies had submitted documents to begin shipments, and the quality of wine had improved significantly.

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