BORJOMI mineral water is probably Georgia's best-known brand. It is popular across the former Soviet Union where some see it as an effective hangover cure. The water comes from the mountainside near the resort town of Borjomi in central Georgia. In a park in Borjomi is the green pavilion pictured on the water's slender glass bottles. Even in February, a few visitors stopped by to sip the original water from the pavilion’s two battered taps. (It tastes stronger than the bottled product.)
In recent years Borjomi has become a symbol of Georgia's relations with Russia. The drink has been popular with Russians from the time Tsarist soldiers stumbled upon the springs in the 1830s, through to the Soviet era and the troubled 1990s. In 2006, two years before the “little war” between Russia and Georgia, Russia banned the water, supposedly for health reasons, along with Georgia's celebrated wine.
Now Borjomi may soon be returning to Russia. Gennadiy Onishchenko, Russia's chief sanitary inspector, appears to have reversed his 2006 verdict against Borjomi. Moreover, in January Russia-based Alfa Group bought a controlling share in Borjomi in a $300m deal according to Kommersant, a Russian newspaper. Other Georgian mineral water brands have already been sighted by Russians.
This may be related to warmer Georgia-Russia relations due to the election last year as Georgia’s prime minister of Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his billions in Russia. Mr Ivanishvili’s ruling Georgian Dream coalition asks that Georgia “no longer be in the list of differences between the West and Russia”, according to a list of foreign policy priorities published last week.
Even so, traces of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia are everywhere. Driving towards Borjomi from Tbilisi, the minibus passes Tserovani, a village built to house Georgians who fled South Ossetia during the war. It consists of about 2,000 identical houses. Driving on through the mountains just beyond Borjomi, entire stretches of the Borjomi-Kharagauli national park have been reduced to charred tree-trunks. Russian helicopters allegedly bombed the area in August 2008 in search of Georgian military equipment. (Russia has denied any involvement.) “This is the face of Russia”, says a Georgian passenger, nodding towards the burnt-out land.
Even if Georgian wine and mineral water return to Russia, they may not thrive. Over the last seven years, Borjomi lost its niche in the Russian mineral water market, where it once accounted for 13% of the market, to mid-range domestic brands. According to the company's boss, Zaza Kikvadze, Borjomi will now target the market's premium segmentwith French brands such as Evian and Perrier as its main rivals. Similarly, Georgian wine now faces new competition from Latin American wines and others in Russia.
Moreover, Russia and Georgia remain divided over the question of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two regions in Georgia. Since the 19th Century, Borjomi water has been associated with health benefits. Some wounds take a long time to heal.
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