Armenia will launch its first isotope laboratory for testing brandy quality on August 13. The announcement was made by Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan during a cabinet meeting.
“Though the lab’s daily capacity will be modest—just 3 to 4 samples—it finally resolves a 34-year-old issue. With three key isotopes, we can determine whether the brandy is made from grape spirit, enabling exports,” Papoyan said, according to Sputnik Armenia.
The minister emphasized that the new lab must obtain international accreditation to ensure its certifications are recognized abroad. “If we fail to do that, we’ll lose control of the situation,” he warned.
Papoyan noted that the government plans to allocate 98 billion drams toward export promotion by 2030. He stressed that the lack of in-country lab certification has previously hindered Armenian brandy exports and hurt its international reputation.
“A foreign country sent me lab data showing that 95% of our brandy shipments held at the border eventually passed testing. We often don’t know what we’re producing, but it turns out our product is quite good. I was genuinely surprised,” he said.
Papoyan added that in the past three days alone, 55 Armenian trucks loaded with brandy had passed through Georgia en route to Russia.
For over a month, Georgian customs held up Armenian brandy shipments for lab testing, despite the goods not being intended for the Georgian market. Papoyan said negotiations with Georgian officials led to an agreement on a mutually acceptable transit regime.
In the first quarter of 2025, brandy production in Armenia fell by nearly 40%, totaling 3.249 million liters.
