Azernews.Az

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

An event entitled “GUAM Products” was held in the residence of The Washington Post, with the participation of the embassies of GUAM countries accredited in the United States, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Embassy in the United States, on March 8.

The GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development is a regional organization of four post-Soviet states: Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova which were established in 1997.

The purpose is development of practical regional cooperation in the economic and political sphere with the participation of groups of states that have truly common interests and are seeking to deepen integration.

So, Counselor at the Azerbaijani Embassy Orhan Zeynalov addressing the event together with representatives of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, spoke about business projects, developing industrial areas, trade relations and potential opportunities of the country and also stressed the importance of joint cooperation for the development of the region.

The event featured the local wine products of the GUAM countries. The presented Azerbaijani wines of the local brand "Savalan" aroused great interest among the guests. Business representatives showed their interest about the distribution of Azerbaijani wines in the U.S. market.

At the event, guests also got acquainted with national cuisines of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The guests with great interest familiarized themselves with the corner of Azerbaijan, where samples of the country's national culture were exhibited.

The event was attended by representatives of diplomatic missions, companies and the local public.

The event was organized by the “Community Empowerment” Association and the Global Chamber.

As one the leading producers of wine in the Caspian Sea region, Azerbaijan’s contemporary wine-making ambitions developed during the 1970s by Soviet authorities who preferred to increase the wine production versus development of the grain industry.

Azerbaijan is famous for its high quality grape varieties. Five major wine-growing regions of the country are Shamakhi, Ismayilli, Gabala, Ganja, Tovuz. Local grape varieties in Azerbaijan include White Shani, Derbendi, Nail, Bayanshire, Gamashara, Ganja Pink, Bendi, Madrasa, Black Shani, Zeynabi, Misgali, Khindogni, Agdam Kechiemdzheyi, Tebrizi, and Marandi.

Currently, there are nearly 10 wineries and vineyards producing wine in the country. The largest one is Vinagro, created in 2006. It uses the Goygol Wine Plant near Ganja founded in 1860 by German immigrants. Exports to other countries are steadily growing due to good quality of Azerbaijani wine products.

Moreover, Azerbaijan Wine Manufacturers and Exporters Association was established to coordinate activities between producers and exporters of wine and winery products with the support of the Export and Investment Promotion Foundation of Azerbaijan (AZPROMO) in 2016.

Production of wine and wine-making products in Azerbaijan exceeded 1 million decalitres in 2017, of which 375,000 decalitres were exported. Thus, wine products from the country were mainly sent to Russia (338,000 decals) and China (27,000 decals).

As an example of recent success, the winners of the "Prodexpo International Wine Competition and Guide" contest were wines from Goygol Wine Plant - "Karabagh Chardonnay" gold, "Karabakh saperavi" silver, "Karabakh rose" bronze medal.

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