Pashinyan believes that Armenian 'cognac' should be called brandy, not cognac
YEREVAN, 31 October. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan believes that 'Armenian cognac' should be called 'brandy', not cognac.
At the government session on Thursday, Pashinyan embarked on a lengthy discussion on the origin of words 'champagne' and 'cognac.'
'Champagne or cognac were originally not just drinks, but geographical names of provinces in France, and part of the problems Armenian exporters of these drinks face are related to this,' he said.
He said that champagne is not just sparkling wine, but sparkling wine that is produced from grapes grown in the French region of Champagne. ‘The same is true for cognac. Cognac is also the name of the region, it refers to the brandy that is produced in the Cognac region from grapes grown there,’ Pashinyan said.
He said that cognac is an intangible value in France, and other countries that produce brandy and call it 'cognac' praise their products without noticing the sneers from the outside.
To give an example, Pashinyan cited a common phrase that 'there is no ‘jermuk’ in Dilijan (Dilijan and Jermuk are the names of resort towns in Armenia, ‘jermuk’ is a famous mineral water from the springs of the same name near the town of Jermuk. Sometimes, by analogy, mineral water of other local brands are also called "jermuk".
Pashinyan said that this problem concerns, first of all, the ministries of education and economy. He recalled that a programme to rename Armenian brandy is being implemented in Armenia with EU support.
‘Unless we solve these problems, we cannot have our economy integrated with developed economies,’ Pashinyan believes."
Earlier the Ministry of Economy said that 'Armenian cognac' brand name will be re-branded into 'Armenian brandy.' The EU was informed about the new name of Armenian cognac during the 5th session of the Armenia-EU partnership trade commission held on 17 October 2023.
The ministry said an official letter was also sent to the relevant directorate of the European Commission. The new name will allow to advertise Armenian brandy, control its export to foreign markets, as well as its quality. -0-
