Azerbaijani tea gains popularity in Ukraine
aea, an aromatic beverage loved by many nations, is also a part of the Azerbaijani culture. This drink is appreciated almost in all countries, since it quenches thirst, helps in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and, as scientists say, it is much better than water compensates the fluid in the body and contains antioxidants.
For the first time, small tea plantations yielded crops at the end of the 19th century in the South Caucasus region of Azerbaijan, but the development of local tea growing started only in 1932.
The necessity of growing tea in the humid regions on the coast of Azerbaijan’s Caspian Sea coast was first raised in the 1880s and 1890s; the Lankaran-Astara region attracted attention and was assessed positively in terms of tea-growing, thanks to its favorable humid subtropical climate.
In Azerbaijan tea is mainly grown in the Lankaran-Astara region. This is an area of some 5,330 sq. km. and includes Astara, Lankaran, Masalli, Lerik, Yardimli and Jalilabad regions. Tea is grown in the first four of these regions.
About 91 percent of tea production in Azerbaijan falls to the share of Lankaran. For the further development of this industry, a draft law "State Program for the Development of Tea Industry in Azerbaijan in 2017-2026" is being developed.
Moreover, the state provides entrepreneurs with concessional loans for the development of tea growing. So, entrepreneurs, working in this industry, as a whole were granted a soft loan in the amount of 10.7 million manats ($6.33 million).
Astarachay LLC was established in 2010. Raw materials used for the production of dry tea are harvested only from the plantations of the Astara and Lankaran regions. The factory, the territory of which is 5 hectares, installed the latest equipment imported from abroad. The processing capacity of the factory is 10 tons of green tea per day.
Azerbaijan has become the largest tea producer among the CIS countries. This applies not only to black tea varieties, but also to green ones. But the markets of foreign countries are still to be won by Azerbaijani tea, while it is popular only at home, despite its original taste.
Azerbaijan is taking steps to promote its aromatic and high quality tea abroad and one of such examples is the increase of the number of checkpoints in the sale of Azerbaijani tea in Ukraine.
Currently, there are 24 sales points in Ukraine for the sale of Azerbaijani tea, Azertac reported.
The majority of the sales points are located in Kiev and Kharkov cities. In Kiev, There are 15 points in Kiev and 4-in Kharkov. The number of the sales points will be increased in the near future.
Azerbaijan is considered one of the main trade partners of Ukraine among the CIS countries with the trade turnover between amounted to $334.18 million in 2016, $44.4 million of which accounted for the export from Ukraine.
Main goods imported from Ukraine to Azerbaijan remains as mainly metallurgy products, machine building products, agro-industrial products, and chemical industry products. While main goods exported from Azerbaijan to Ukraine are generally products of fuel energy industry, chemical industry products, and agro-industrial products.
The country plans to open its second Trade House in Ukraine, while the first was opened in Belarusian capital Minsk this May.