Prior to leaving for Denmark this morning, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili held a meeting with Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli and Agriculture Minister Petre Tsiskarishvili.

The agriculture minister informed the president about the progress of this year's grape harvest, saying that 75 per cent of the grapes had already been processed. The president noted that the government would help wineries find new markets and provide advertising, though in turn the wineries would have to purchase the largest amount of grapes possible.

"I want the owners of wineries to know that we will offer them special assistance in terms of finding markets and advertising their products. We will do our utmost so that they do not spend large sums trying to get their wines to various markets. Therefore, they will easily be able to buy grapes. This year's grape harvest is very important for us. This is an issue of enormous economical and political importance for Georgia and for Kakheti, the grape harvest is of downright vital importance," Saakashvili said.

The other topic of the meeting was plans for winter, namely the distribution of gas and electricity vouchers for the vulnerable strata of the population. Saakashvili said that all needy families, teachers and pensioners would receive assistance.

A total of 35,000 tonnes of flour will be distributed to the population. The prime minister said that vouchers were already being printed and that their distribution would begin in Tbilisi on Monday.

Saakashvili commented on the presidential subsidiaries programme, saying: "We must do all we can to ensure that no-one is cold or hungry this winter. Therefore, we must allot 50 lari each for both gas and electricity to certain categories of people in Tbilisi. In the regions we must distribute monetary assistance, as well as distribute a sack of flour to each family. We must oversee this process to ensure that we finance everyone with this subsidy and that everyone receives their vouchers."

Communications Office
of the President of Georgia