Russian regulator finds drop in quality of Georgian wines days after anti-Russian demonstrations begin in Tbilisi
Russia’s Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) issued an announcement saying that the quality of Georgian alcohol products has been in decline for several years.
According to the agency, the quantity of substandard Georgian alcohol nearly tripled to 203,000 liters between 2014 and 2018, necessitating new quality controls for Georgian imports to Russia. Data from Georgia’s federal wine agency indicates that almost half of Georgian wine exports go to Russia, and Russian federal data indicates that Georgia is consistently the third- or fourth-largest exporter of wine to Russia in the world.
Georgian-Russian relations took a sharp downturn after anti-Russian protests broke out in Tbilisi on June 20. Beginning July 8, each country will prohibit passenger flights from landing in the other country.
On the ground in Tbilisi
- ‘We don’t shoot at our own people’ On the ground during violent clashes with police at Tbilisi’s anti-Russian protest
- Photos from the June 20 protest outside Georgia's Parliament in Tbilisi
- ‘Handlers speaking the American version of the English language were guiding the Georgian journalists’ Sergey Gavrilov, the Russian lawmaker who sparked outrage and protests in Tbilisi, says he was framed by ‘radical liberals’ and ‘fake news’