They said that the recently introduced checks involving laboratory quality inspections are taking weeks and disrupting their shipments to the Russian market vital for them. They said the resulting losses incurred by them are putting their continued operations at serious risk.
The problem was first publicized a week ago as around three dozen Armenian trucks loaded with brandy were reportedly held up by Georgian authorities pending the results of quality tests introduced by them earlier this year. The measure baffled the affected exporters, who argued that their products only transit Georgia and are not sold there.
Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan said on May 7 that he raised the matter with his Georgian counterpart during talks held in Yerevan. In his words, the Georgian side has already agreed to end physical checks on other Armenian goods bound for Russia.
The checks on brandy, a major Armenian export item, have since remained in place. Papoyan said on Tuesday that he may travel to Tbilisi soon for further talks with Georgian officials.
“I think that our economic entities are right on this,” he told journalists.
The minister spoke as owners, senior executives and other employees of five brandy distilleries and cargo firms working with them demonstrated outside the Georgian Embassy.
Hayk Shahnazarian, the owner of one such distillery, complained that because of the lengthy Georgian checks he and other brandy manufacturers have missed delivery deadlines. He said he had a contractual obligation to send a fresh batch of brandy to a Russian retailer by May 1.
“Five trucks carrying 100,000 bottlers have still not reached their destination and I may have to pay a penalty worth the cost of this consignment,” said Shahnazarian. “We’re now paying $100 a day for every truck [stuck in Georgia.] But that’s not our [biggest] loss. We could lose a market because of that and find ourselves on the brink of bankruptcy.”
“It’s not a DNA test that should take months,” said Vahrich Minasian, who runs another brandy firm. “Let them do that in two or three days if they want to. That would not be a problem.”
The Georgian ambassador to Armenia, George Sharvashidze, met with two representatives of the protesters. They said he promised to request an official explanation from relevant authorities in Tbilisi.
It is not clear whether the transit checks have also affected larger brandy firms. The biggest of them, the Yerevan Brandy Company, is a subsidiary of the French group Pernod Ricard.
According to government data, Armenia produced more than 220 billion drams ($560 million) worth of alcoholic drinks last year. Brandy accounted for most of that figure. The bulk of it is exported to Russia.