Georgia

Official Drought Cost Georgian Agriculture Dlrs 237 Million
Associated Press, August 30, 2000

A devastating drought in the Caucasus this summer has cost Georgia about 464 million lari (237 million dollars) in lost crops and other damage, an agricultural official said Wednesday. The drought ruined grain crops in the country's southeast, said Mata Bigvava, a spokesman for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. More than 70 percent of the country's wheat crop was destroyed, the ministry has reported. President Eduard Shevardnadze has asked the United Nations for disaster aid, including seed grain for next year's planting. Hot and dry weather also gripped neighboring Armenia this summer.