The government of Georgia has decided to subsidy substandard apples this year as well and will pay 10 tetri per per one kilogram of substandard apples.
The state subsidy will be received by those fruit processing companies that will buy 1 kg of non-standard apples from farmers for at least 24 tetri by December 15, 2023. A total amount allocated from the budget on subsidizing non-standard apples this year is unknown.
In previous years, more than GEL 22 million was allocated from the budget to subsidize substandard apples. the state program to promote the sale of non-standard apples was carried out four times; GEL 3,470,134 was allocated from the budget in 2014, GEL 4,997,824 - in 2020, GEL 3,641,272 - in 2021.
In 2022, the state subsidy for non-standard apples exceeded GEL 10 million that is a record high. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, last year fruit processing enterprises received more than 73 thousand tons of non-standard apples, farmers earned more than GEL 17.7 million.
In four years, the state spent more than GEL 22 million on subsidizing apples.