Winemaking in Armenia needs licensing - President of Vine and Wine  Foundation

ArmInfo.The interest of foreign investors in the field of winemaking and viticulture in Armenia is growing from year to year, Zaruhi Muradyan, President of the Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia, told ArmInfo. 

In particular, according to the Fund, if by 2016 the volume of  investments in the industry amounted to only 3.7 billion drams, then  during the period from 2016 to 2022, investments in the field of  winemaking and viticulture in Armenia increased almost 10 times,  amounting to 35 billion drams.

Such investment interest, according to Muradyan, is primarily due to  the simplification of the procedure for doing business in Armenia.  Moreover, if in European countries there are certain regulatory  restrictions for the wine business, including due to the shortage of  free land and production sites, which makes it difficult to expand  the business, then in Armenia there is sufficient potential for its  development and the procedure for entering the market has been  simplified.

However, according to the head of the Fund, there is nevertheless a  need in the country, if not to tighten the requirements for the  field, then to regulate it. In this regard, she noted that licensing  of winemakers could be considered as one of the possible tools for  this. The problem is that if conscientious producers make serious  investments in the field, introduce new technologies and invite  experts, then there are producers who do not take the matter  seriously, produce low-quality products and create additional  reputational costs for Armenian winemaking. And today, as the head of  the Fund noted, the issue of increasing the image of Armenian wine in  international markets is extremely important, as evidenced by the  assessments of quite serious experts in the field.

"Therefore, we believe that our sphere also needs state regulation,"  Muradyan said, explaining that in order to eliminate such risks, it  would be good if winemaking in Armenia were not carried out by random  people, but by those who constantly invest serious investments in it  and interested in long-term business. "And despite the fact that  there is an opinion that unscrupulous producers will sooner or later  be forced out of the market, nevertheless, their low-quality products  seriously hinder the work to give Armenia an international image as a  wine-producing country," she noted.

According to the RA Statistical Committee, in January-November 2023.  12.5 million liters were produced in Armenia. wine, which exceeds the  year-ago figure by 14.1% (versus a 2.7% reduction a year earlier).