Gegham Gevorgyan, the acting Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia, participated in the annual event of the Armenian Wine-Making and Wine-Making Fund, which was also attended by representatives of wine-making companies, international organizations.
Acting RA Minister of Agriculture Gegham Gevorgyan welcomed the audience and highlighted the activities of the Foundation as a successful platform for public-private partnership, expressing hope that thanks to the team’s consolidated, creative team, success and achievements in the field will be continuous. He also added that a development strategy is under development, under which a clear action plan will be developed for the development of viticulture, winemaking and brandy.
The Executive Director of the Armenian Wine and Viticulture Foundation, Zaruhi Muradyan, thoroughly presented current and current programs implemented by the Foundation in the current year, including the development of grape plant mapping concept, grape phyllochaser-based nursery, introduction of geographical wine system, preserving grape varieties collected in collector gardens, etc. also touched upon the dynamics of winemaking industry development. According to him, despite the fact that this year, due to climatic conditions, we had a decline in production, but as a result of the implemented projects, about 30% of export growth was registered in the first six months of the year as compared to the same period last year. Tangible growth is also observed in the domestic wine consumption market. Thus, if in previous years this index was 1.2 liters per person, in 2018 it reached 2.6 liters per person.
The products of winemaking companies have been exhibited at various international exhibitions, resulting in numerous contracts with foreign partners. Armenian wines are already represented in more than 30 countries; the main markets for sales are Russia, the USA, Switzerland, Ukraine, Georgia, China and France.
“The Viticulture and Winemaking Foundation works closely with our producers, each project we represent to the government, we agree with producers in advance,” added Zaruhi Muradyan.
Varoujan Muradyan, a representative of Van Armentel, is optimistic about the quality of the year. “This year the volume of production and export has grown by 35-40%. we feel that wine-consuming countries need new chemistry and we have the wines we can buy and market, “he added. According to Varuzhan Muradyan, the foundation is the driving force that drives them without which they can not succeed in many issues.
The founder of Voskehat Vineyards, Garush Samvelyan, noted that viniculture in Armenia has recently been revived, and for the further development of the field it is necessary to bring grapes to modern standards, increase grape seedlings and ensure the balanced development of grape cultivars.

Source:  Ministry of Agriculture official web site.