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Re: Armenian Georgian Relations
Lambs Died at Tbilisi Airport Due to Political Issue
Written by Nino Burjanadze
21/02/2011 02:56
The FINANCIAL -- Azerbaijan State Company in Georgia interfered with its contractor to sell fuel to an Armenia registered air-company. Last week a Georgian oil importer refused to fill the tanks of New Georgia, an Armenia registered Georgian airline, which was hired by Qatar state company Sheep & Livestock, importing live sheep from Georgia. It’s reported that 150 lambs died Friday at Tbilisi International Airport during the night because of cold weather conditions, putting under threat one of the most promising business relations between Georgia and Qatar.
Jamil Omran, Sales and Marketing Manager of Governmental Company of Sheep & Livestock told The FINANCIAL that the Georgian Government is now involved in solving the problem. SOCAR , Azerbaijan State company occupying the main share of oil import in Georgia, refused to comment on the incident at Tbilisi Airport . Wissol Air, which is the main fuel supplier of airlines, said it did not have enough reserves of non EU fuel to fill the airline’s tanks. “New Georgia is one of the partners of Wissol. According to the contract we are obliged to supply them with non European fuel that was currently out of stock,” Samson Pkhakadze, Chairman of Wissol Board of Directors told The FINANCIAL.
But Jamil Omran believes that the problems have roots in Azerbaijan state company SOCAR which is restricting its Georgian contractors to sell fuel to Armenia registered air-companies because of the territorial and political conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
One day before the incident, on 16 February Qatar and Georgia signed a treaty on Open Skies that would pave the way for direct flights between Doha and the Georgian capital Tbilisi .
In order not to strain the relations with its partner country the Georgian Government apologized for delaying the transportation of live sheep and is ready to compensate the loss of Qatar state company, the source told The FINANCIAL.
The taste of Georgian lamb is the main factor why Georgian domestic sheep are imported to Arabian countries. By the end of 2010 on the Georgian live sheep trade market appeared importers from Qatar. Lamb in Qatar is meant for high society and costs 4 times as much per kilo, about 17 USD more, than Australian sheep.
“Your sheep is very similar to ours, that’s why we like it,” said Jamil Omran, Sales and Marketing Manager of Governmental Company of Sheep and Livestock in Qatar. “We are the only company that has a slaughterhouse around Qatar and we import 50,000 live sheep per month and 25,000 slaughtered from Australia. This lamb is for the low-income segment of society and costs about 4 USD per kilo. The difference between your and Australian sheep is that yours has fat, although Australian sheep weighs 50-60 kilos.”
The biggest Georgian sheep, living on pastures in the mountains weighs maximum 45 kilos in the summer. In winter because of the cold and less food this 45 kilo sheep may become 28 kilo. That’s why the high trade season starts at the end of the summer and lasts till the end of November.
Jamil Omran in Georgia for the second time. He imported about 5,000 live sheep from Georgia to Qatar. His company paid 100 USD per sheep. He considers this price to be very high, but they made the exception because of it being winter.
“In Australia we pay 150 USD per sheep, but they are twice as big as yours, especially in winter. Besides this, the cost of transportation is very high, because we arrange transportation by plane. But this time our company is more concentrated on circulation and launching business relations in Georgia than on benefit. We hope prices will be regulated, which will give us the possibility to continue our business in Georgia,” said Omran.
As Omran added, the company of sheep and livestock intends, aside from all issues, to hold conversations with the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia to have their own slaughterhouse in Georgia. The transportation of slaughtered sheep is much cheaper than livestock. To transport 1,000 live sheep from Tbilisi to Doha by plane costs 95,000. A slaughtered sheep weighs three times less than a live one. Subsequently for the same price they can transport 7,000 sheep from Poti to Doha by vessel. What’s more it gives the opportunity to avoid such a transportation problem and loss as is currently being experienced.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia the number of 300,000 exported sheep by 2009 decreased by half to 150,000 by 2010, out of which 40,000 was imported to Iran, 54,000 to Yerevan, 20,000 to Arabia, 23,000 to Azerbaijan and 17,000 to Kuwait.
As brokers say the reason for trade collapse in 2010 could be extremely high and unregulated prices which were no longer acceptable for exporters. But in January 2011 the whole number of exported sheep in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Azerbaijan and Yerevan was 17,000. This business is quite new in our country, only started in 2008. At that time the average sheep cost was 65-70 GEL.
“The shepherds who own the flocks are mostly people of low intellect who can’t make proper calculations. By 2010 they tripled the prices of livestock to 100 USD more than it was two years ago. That’s why exporters stopped trade or lessened the number of sheep they imported to their country. This year they started to regulate the prices and the market has started recovering, to reach or exceed the figures in 2009,” said Ilia Giorgadze, one of the Georgian brokers.
Veriko Gulua, head of the National Service of Food Safety, Veterinary and Plant Safety, noted that in Georgia there already exist 23 slaughterhouses in several regions, but as Giorgadze explains, these slaughterhouses aren’t solely for sheep. After adopting new regulations, that a farmer can’t slaughter livestock at home because of sanitary norms, the Ministry of Agriculture built slaughterhouses in Natakhtari, Kharajala, Asindza, Khashuri and in many other regions. However despite this, sheep exporters don’t use this option, they prefer to buy live sheep or make their own slaughterhouses here. They need not only flesh but also wool. Most exporters who enter the Georgian sheep trade market are governmental organizations. Iranians still remain the dominant exporters on the Georgian sheep trade market, who buy livestock for their high days.
“Iranians have a tradition for their holy days like Ramazan (Ramadan), where rich men buy a sheep and give it to a poor man. For that reason, they prefer smaller sheep. The smaller the lamb the less they pay. That’s why they say our sheep is the optimal size for this case,” added Giorgadze.
By the end of November 2010 there occurred a problem between Iranian and Georgian sheep traders. Imported sheep from Georgia brought a disease called Turkish to Iranian flocks. Because of this fact Iran cancelled sheep export from Georgia till the end of the winter, although they have already paid for the rest of the livestock. As experts say, Turkish is a winter disease, provoked by frost, which is treatable.
Yet in April 2010 Beka Gonashvili, Chairman of the Sheep-breeder Association was talking about the necessity of regular vaccination. He considered that sheep vaccination being carried out only in Ninotsminda, in the border region, was a great mistake, because it was necessary for each live sheep throughout the country. As he said the disease could stop business which was expected to increase by 350,000 in two years.
The biggest issue sheep-breeders face is the lack of winter pastures. 90% of the pastures were given away without any projects and someone was hired who doesn’t have any relation with sheep. Initial cost for pasture land is very low and they rehire it at significantly higher prices, which influence the prime cost of a live sheep. The exact calculation of the cost of breeding one live sheep isn’t available yet, but it could be 50-60 GEL, so the Association estimates. Not only pastures but also brokers influence the prices of livestock.
“I wish I could have direct contact with sheep breeders here, it would give me the possibility to pay less than I do through brokers. Some of the brokers make deals with sheep breeders through others, which is again an extra cost. But it’s very hard in winter in Georgia to collect a good amount of livestock, because they are distributed throughout several regions,” said Omran.
These days many people that can deal with contacts, but have absolutely no connection with sheep breeding, have started brokering on the sheep trade market. As Giorgadze explained, criminal issues like cheating and fraud are common on this market. This is a business where a large amount of money can be earned in a small period of time.
Lambs Died at Tbilisi Airport Due to Political Issue
Written by Nino Burjanadze
21/02/2011 02:56
The FINANCIAL -- Azerbaijan State Company in Georgia interfered with its contractor to sell fuel to an Armenia registered air-company. Last week a Georgian oil importer refused to fill the tanks of New Georgia, an Armenia registered Georgian airline, which was hired by Qatar state company Sheep & Livestock, importing live sheep from Georgia. It’s reported that 150 lambs died Friday at Tbilisi International Airport during the night because of cold weather conditions, putting under threat one of the most promising business relations between Georgia and Qatar.
Jamil Omran, Sales and Marketing Manager of Governmental Company of Sheep & Livestock told The FINANCIAL that the Georgian Government is now involved in solving the problem. SOCAR , Azerbaijan State company occupying the main share of oil import in Georgia, refused to comment on the incident at Tbilisi Airport . Wissol Air, which is the main fuel supplier of airlines, said it did not have enough reserves of non EU fuel to fill the airline’s tanks. “New Georgia is one of the partners of Wissol. According to the contract we are obliged to supply them with non European fuel that was currently out of stock,” Samson Pkhakadze, Chairman of Wissol Board of Directors told The FINANCIAL.
But Jamil Omran believes that the problems have roots in Azerbaijan state company SOCAR which is restricting its Georgian contractors to sell fuel to Armenia registered air-companies because of the territorial and political conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
One day before the incident, on 16 February Qatar and Georgia signed a treaty on Open Skies that would pave the way for direct flights between Doha and the Georgian capital Tbilisi .
In order not to strain the relations with its partner country the Georgian Government apologized for delaying the transportation of live sheep and is ready to compensate the loss of Qatar state company, the source told The FINANCIAL.
The taste of Georgian lamb is the main factor why Georgian domestic sheep are imported to Arabian countries. By the end of 2010 on the Georgian live sheep trade market appeared importers from Qatar. Lamb in Qatar is meant for high society and costs 4 times as much per kilo, about 17 USD more, than Australian sheep.
“Your sheep is very similar to ours, that’s why we like it,” said Jamil Omran, Sales and Marketing Manager of Governmental Company of Sheep and Livestock in Qatar. “We are the only company that has a slaughterhouse around Qatar and we import 50,000 live sheep per month and 25,000 slaughtered from Australia. This lamb is for the low-income segment of society and costs about 4 USD per kilo. The difference between your and Australian sheep is that yours has fat, although Australian sheep weighs 50-60 kilos.”
The biggest Georgian sheep, living on pastures in the mountains weighs maximum 45 kilos in the summer. In winter because of the cold and less food this 45 kilo sheep may become 28 kilo. That’s why the high trade season starts at the end of the summer and lasts till the end of November.
Jamil Omran in Georgia for the second time. He imported about 5,000 live sheep from Georgia to Qatar. His company paid 100 USD per sheep. He considers this price to be very high, but they made the exception because of it being winter.
“In Australia we pay 150 USD per sheep, but they are twice as big as yours, especially in winter. Besides this, the cost of transportation is very high, because we arrange transportation by plane. But this time our company is more concentrated on circulation and launching business relations in Georgia than on benefit. We hope prices will be regulated, which will give us the possibility to continue our business in Georgia,” said Omran.
As Omran added, the company of sheep and livestock intends, aside from all issues, to hold conversations with the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia to have their own slaughterhouse in Georgia. The transportation of slaughtered sheep is much cheaper than livestock. To transport 1,000 live sheep from Tbilisi to Doha by plane costs 95,000. A slaughtered sheep weighs three times less than a live one. Subsequently for the same price they can transport 7,000 sheep from Poti to Doha by vessel. What’s more it gives the opportunity to avoid such a transportation problem and loss as is currently being experienced.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia the number of 300,000 exported sheep by 2009 decreased by half to 150,000 by 2010, out of which 40,000 was imported to Iran, 54,000 to Yerevan, 20,000 to Arabia, 23,000 to Azerbaijan and 17,000 to Kuwait.
As brokers say the reason for trade collapse in 2010 could be extremely high and unregulated prices which were no longer acceptable for exporters. But in January 2011 the whole number of exported sheep in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Azerbaijan and Yerevan was 17,000. This business is quite new in our country, only started in 2008. At that time the average sheep cost was 65-70 GEL.
“The shepherds who own the flocks are mostly people of low intellect who can’t make proper calculations. By 2010 they tripled the prices of livestock to 100 USD more than it was two years ago. That’s why exporters stopped trade or lessened the number of sheep they imported to their country. This year they started to regulate the prices and the market has started recovering, to reach or exceed the figures in 2009,” said Ilia Giorgadze, one of the Georgian brokers.
Veriko Gulua, head of the National Service of Food Safety, Veterinary and Plant Safety, noted that in Georgia there already exist 23 slaughterhouses in several regions, but as Giorgadze explains, these slaughterhouses aren’t solely for sheep. After adopting new regulations, that a farmer can’t slaughter livestock at home because of sanitary norms, the Ministry of Agriculture built slaughterhouses in Natakhtari, Kharajala, Asindza, Khashuri and in many other regions. However despite this, sheep exporters don’t use this option, they prefer to buy live sheep or make their own slaughterhouses here. They need not only flesh but also wool. Most exporters who enter the Georgian sheep trade market are governmental organizations. Iranians still remain the dominant exporters on the Georgian sheep trade market, who buy livestock for their high days.
“Iranians have a tradition for their holy days like Ramazan (Ramadan), where rich men buy a sheep and give it to a poor man. For that reason, they prefer smaller sheep. The smaller the lamb the less they pay. That’s why they say our sheep is the optimal size for this case,” added Giorgadze.
By the end of November 2010 there occurred a problem between Iranian and Georgian sheep traders. Imported sheep from Georgia brought a disease called Turkish to Iranian flocks. Because of this fact Iran cancelled sheep export from Georgia till the end of the winter, although they have already paid for the rest of the livestock. As experts say, Turkish is a winter disease, provoked by frost, which is treatable.
Yet in April 2010 Beka Gonashvili, Chairman of the Sheep-breeder Association was talking about the necessity of regular vaccination. He considered that sheep vaccination being carried out only in Ninotsminda, in the border region, was a great mistake, because it was necessary for each live sheep throughout the country. As he said the disease could stop business which was expected to increase by 350,000 in two years.
The biggest issue sheep-breeders face is the lack of winter pastures. 90% of the pastures were given away without any projects and someone was hired who doesn’t have any relation with sheep. Initial cost for pasture land is very low and they rehire it at significantly higher prices, which influence the prime cost of a live sheep. The exact calculation of the cost of breeding one live sheep isn’t available yet, but it could be 50-60 GEL, so the Association estimates. Not only pastures but also brokers influence the prices of livestock.
“I wish I could have direct contact with sheep breeders here, it would give me the possibility to pay less than I do through brokers. Some of the brokers make deals with sheep breeders through others, which is again an extra cost. But it’s very hard in winter in Georgia to collect a good amount of livestock, because they are distributed throughout several regions,” said Omran.
These days many people that can deal with contacts, but have absolutely no connection with sheep breeding, have started brokering on the sheep trade market. As Giorgadze explained, criminal issues like cheating and fraud are common on this market. This is a business where a large amount of money can be earned in a small period of time.
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