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EBRD invests in local Georgian wine producer
$1.2 million boosts Teliani Valley’s expansion
The EBRD is investing $1.2 million for an equity stake in Teliani Valley, a wine processing, bottling and distribution company in Georgia, to help expand its production facilities, improve marketing initiatives and increase sales of its high-quality wines.
The Bank’s stake will enable the owners of Teliani Valley to restore a newly acquired building in the Telavi area, replacing the existing and dilapidated rented plant. Part of the finance will also allow the company to acquire oak barrels and other equipment to improve the quality of the wine.
Jean Lemierre, President of the EBRD, in Tbilisi for the signing, said Georgia has undergone remarkable changes in recent months, and the new government faces big challenges to improve economic activity and the investment climate. Mr Lemierre added that small and medium-sized businesses like Teliani Valley will play a key role in that development, and that the Bank remains strongly committed to supporting this sector.
Established in 1997, Teliani Valley is a private company owned by two Georgian entrepreneurs. The company produces well recognised high-quality Georgian wines such as ‘Akhasheni’ and ‘Usakhelauri,’ which are popular across the Commonwealth of Independent States. Approximately 80 per cent of its products are sold in Ukraine, and sales are increasing in Kazakhstan, Russia and other CIS markets.
The funding is being provided under the EBRD’s Direct Investment Facility programme, which makes direct equity investments in medium-sized private-sector businesses, with an emphasis on countries that are at an earlier stage of transition to market economies. The EBRD is a minority shareholder in the company and will assume a Board position.
The equity financing comes on the back of a new EBRD initiative to support some of its poorest countries of operations – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – where more than 50 per cent of the population live in poverty. This early transition country initiative will aim to stimulate market activity by financing more and smaller projects, mobilising more investment, and encouraging ongoing economic reform.
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