Economic Press Monitor March 19 - 25, 2023	Days:  25 04 11 18 25

economic & politics

REZONANSI: “IRAKLI LEKVINADZE: TODAY, BASIC CONSUMPTION PRODUCTS’ PRICE DISCREPANCY IN RETAIL CHAINS IS QUITE NOTICEABLE”

March 21, 2023 - Irakli Lekvinadze, head of Georgian National Competition Agency, said that 10 essential food products with a significant share in the consumer basket were selected in February.

In relation to these products, an analysis of price markups was carried out, from prime cost of imports to the time of delivery to retail chains and then in relation to prices on the shelves in the retail sector, Lekvinadze stated, adding that as a result, quite high markups were identified.




REZONANSI: “CHANGES IN PARLIAMENT AND GOVERNMENT – WHAT PROCESSES ARE TAKING PLACE WITHIN THE RULING TEAM”

March 21, 2023 - Members of the ruling Georgian Dream faction – Vladimir Chachibaia, David Sergeenko and Irakli Kovzanadze chairman of the Fiscal Committee), are leaving the Georgian Parliament. Mikheil Chkhenkeli, Georgian Minister of Education and Science, also left the post.




NETGAZETI.GE: “PROPERTY ABROAD OF DEPUTIES-SUPPORTERS OF THE RUSSIAN LAW”

March 21, 2023 - Netgazeti.Ge has found out what property is owned abroad by members of the Georgian Parliament, who supported the draft law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” (which caused mass protests and is called “Russian law” in Georgian society). The article reports about property of 7 MPs (in total, 76 MPs supported the draft law).




TABULA: “HEALTHCARE: STARTING FROM MARCH 18, MARGIN PRICES WILL BE ENACTED FOR ADDITIONAL 300 PRODUCTS”

March 20, 2023 - Georgian Ministry of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labor, Healthcare and Social Protection declared that starting from March 18, reference prices will be enacted for additional 300 medicines for chronic and oncological diseases. In total, the upper price limit already applies to more than 1,100 medicines in Georgia.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “NATIONAL COMPETITION AGENCY LAUNCHED INVESTIGATION ON TOBACCO MARKET”

March 20, 2023 - Following complaint of an economic agent, Georgian National Competition Agency has launched an investigation into the tobacco market.

The Agency said that the matter concerns possible violations in connection with certain types of cigarettes.

macroeconomics & budget

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “WHAT PROBLEM CAN WE SEE IN BIG MONEY ENTERED FROM RUSSIA?”

March 20, 2023 - Roman Gotsiridze, opposition MP and ex-president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG), posted a comment on social media regarding high growth of remittances from Russia to Georgia. During the last one year, Georgia received $2.5 billion from Russia that way, he indicated.

energy, oil & gas

FORBES GEORGIA: “RENEWABLE ENERGY AND GEORGIA”

March 21, 2023 - “Construction of regulatory hydroelectric power plants really has not the pace today that I personally would like”, points author of the article (David Narmania, chairman of Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulating Commission). “However, the facilitating mechanisms, enacted by the Georgian government, give me grounds for optimism”, he adds.

construction

TABULA: “TOMORROW, “GOTSIRIDZE” SUBWAY WILL RESUME ITS WORK”

March 20, 2023 - Tbilisi City Hall declared that the subway station Gotsiridze will resume its work from March 18.

In order to rehabilitate this station, a contract for 3.15 million lari was signed with LLC Kaiser in 2020.