Economic Press Monitor January 26 - February 1, 2020	Days:  18 25 01 08 15

economic & politics

REZONANSI: “DESPITE MANY UNFORESEEN CHALLENGES, THERE ARE OBVIOUS RESULTS OF DEVELOPMENT OF TWO MAJOR DIRECTIONS – ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND AGRICULTURE”

January 31, 2020 - Georgia’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Levan Davitashvili pointed that “Support of farmers in primary production by cultivation of perennial crops was important”.

The Minister indicated that since the launch of the program, new perennial orchards were planted on 8,400 ha, including on 2,100 ha in 2019.




TABULA: “CRRC: 65% CONSIDER THAT BREADWINNER HAS TO BE A MAN, BUT BIG PART OF FAMILIES IS KEPT BY WOMEN”

January 31, 2020 - Survey, conducted by Caucasus Research Resources Center (CRRC), showed that 65% of Georgian population consider that a family breadwinner has to be a man, Tabula reports.

However, answering a question, who is a breadwinner in their family, only 34% named men.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “LEVAN DAVITASHVILI – PLEDGE OF “CHEAP MONEY” IS KEPT IN AGRICULTURE BRANCH”

January 31, 2020 - “One of important pledges of our government was cheap monetary resources for agriculture branch”, Georgia’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Levan Davitashvili indicated. “We kept this pledge”, he declared, while reporting on the Ministry’s activity for 2019.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IN TBILISI, TRADE IN FLAMMABLE SUBSTANCES AND SECOND-HAND TIRES WILL BE FORBIDDEN”

January 30, 2020 - Tbilisi City Hall drafted the bill, which forbids trade in flammable substances and second-hand

tires in Tbilisi, the newspaper reports.

Tbilisi Vice-Mayor Irakli Khmaladze specified that according to the bill, “Tbilisi Sakrebulo will determine places, where realization is allowed and where it is not allowed”.




TABULA: “IZORIA LEAVES POST OF INTELLIGENCE SERVICE’S CHIEF AND WILL BE GEORGIA’S AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY”

January 28, 2020 - Levan Izoria leaves office of chief of Georgian Intelligence Service and will be appointed Georgia’s ambassador to Germany. As Tabula reports, while declaring this on air of Post TV, Izoria noted that this decision was made in December 2019.




KVIRIS PALITRA: “WHETHER CORRUPTION RISKS INCREASED IN GEORGIA?”

January 27, 2020 - In the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International, Georgia moved from the 41^st place down to the 44^th place.

In his interview to the newspaper, coordinator of good governance program at Georgian Center for Strategic Research and Development Levan Alapishvili indicates that “The fact that we do not improve result in the rating during 5 years, but on the contrary have it worsen is already subject of concern”.

macroeconomics & budget

REZONANSI: “HOPE DISAPPEARED: LARI STARTED DEPRECIATION INSTEAD OF STRENGTHENING”

January 30, 2020 - Strengthening of lari at the end of 2019 gave birth to hopes and expectations that the tendency will proceed in 2020 too, the newspaper notes. However, instead of strengthening, lari has started depreciation and already passed the mark of 2.9 GEL/USD, the article indicates.




FORBES GEORGIA: “COMPETITIVE INSURANCE SYSTEM AND CHALLENGES OF UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE”

January 29, 2020 - Author of opinion, published in the magazine’s blog (doctor of medicine Tengiz Verulava, director of Healthcare Policy Institute), considers that effectiveness of operation of the state program of universal healthcare by insurance companies is higher.

Insurance companies compete on volume and price of insurance packages, therefore healthcare expenses of the state decrease, the author indicates.

energy, oil & gas

REZONANSI: “MESTIA CONSUMED SAME VOLUME OF ELECTRIC POWER, AS 19 DISTRICTS ALL-TOGETHER”

January 31, 2020 - Georgia’s regional energy distributor EnergoPro Georgia reported that Mestia (municipality in mountainous Svaneti region) consumed in December 2019 the same volume of electric power, as 19 other (unnamed) municipalities of the country all-together for the same period. Electricity consumption in Mestia has practically trebled, the newspaper specified.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IN THE END, EVERYBODY HAS TO PAY ELECTRIC BILL – TURNAVA ON ELECTRICITY TARIFF PAYMENT BY SVANETI INHABITANTS”

January 29, 2020 - Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava points that in Svaneti, alpine region of the country, “unaccounted consumption has increased”. “At that, there were also suspicions that illegal mining [of cryptocurrency] was conducted to some extent there”, she specifies.




REZONANSI: “ABKHAZIA ON THE VERGE OF ENERGY COLLAPSE”

January 27, 2020 - Since January 27, electricity supply of Russia-occupied Abkhazia will be interrupted for 4 hours daily, the newspaper reports. The article says that the reason is critical decrease of water level in reservoir of Georgia’s biggest hydroelectric station EngurHES.

companies

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ARAB COMPANY PLANS TO INVEST $500M IN TERRITORY OF SHAORI LAKE”

January 28, 2020 - Arab company Israil Ahmadov Investment LLC plans to build leisure complex on the territory of Shaori Lake (Racha region). The project envisages construction of 4 hotels, yacht club and cottage zone.




REZONANSI: “OWN EMPLOYEES REBELLED AGAINST “FRONTERA””

January 28, 2020 - As the newspaper indicates, Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation and State Agency of Oil and Gas launched in July 2018 an arbitration lawsuit against American oil company Frontera because of its fail to fulfill assumed financial obligations.

In September 2018, Frontera launched a reciprocal arbitration lawsuit and demanded from the Georgian side a reparation of damages.




FORBES GEORGIA: “RATING OF LARGEST OIL COMPANIES, OPERATING IN GEORGIA”

January 27, 2020 - There are 1.13 million vehicles, registered in Georgia, of which hybrid cars account for 5%, while electric vehicles – for 1%, the magazine reports. Respectively, fuel, being consumed mostly in the country, is of traditional type.

transport & communications

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “MAYA MELIKIDZE – CHARGING OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN TBILISI WILL BE POSSIBLE ON ABOUT 300 LOCATIONS”

January 29, 2020 - Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulating Commission plans to develop this year new rules of electric vehicles’ charging.

The Commission member Maya Melikidze says that “in this part, we will consider international and European practice”.

international cooperation

TABULA: “THE US WILL IMPLEMENT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM WORTH $7M IN GEORGIA”

January 27, 2020 - Referring to Georgian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Tabula reports that the US will implement an educational program worth $7 million in Georgia.

The matter concerns the 5-year project “Achieving Student-Centered Education for a New Tomorrow” (ASCENT).

ecology & health

REZONANSI: “SALARY CUT OR DISCHARGE OF EMPLOYEES – DISPUTE BETWEEN THE MINISTRY AND CLINICS REACHES PEAK”

January 29, 2020 - Archil Chukhrukidze, vice-president of Georgian Cardiologists Association, says that estimate of expenses, sent by the Healthcare Ministry to clinics of the country, envisage decrease of salary expenses by 35%. Besides, many problems arise to patients, who cannot receive some services anymore, he declares.

finances & banking

REZONANSI: “IT BECAME CLEAR, HOW NATIONAL BANK WILL SOFTEN BANKING REGULATION SINCE MARCH”

January 30, 2020 - Introduction of banking regulation about 2 years ago caused certain problems, and all parties speak about necessity of softening, the newspaper says and notes that “the ice will be broken since March”.

“We study the details, consideration is actively conducted”, declares Koba Gvenetadze, president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG).




FORBES GEORGIA: “HEALTHCARE SYSTEM AND SISYPHEAN TOIL”

January 28, 2020 - “The system of universal healthcare works badly everywhere and if to approach critically to accumulated experience, we will see that improvement of this system is a Sisyphean toil”, considers author of the opinion, published by the magazine.

“Actually, when the most part of population is treated at the expense of the budget, none of the involved parties – neither doctors, nor managers of clinics, nor insurance companies and even patients – has incentive to care for effective use of resources”, author of the opinion specifies (Alexander Rakviashvili, professor of University of Georgia).

construction

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “WHAT WILL BE NEW OFFICE OF NATIONAL BANK, FOR WHICH CONSTRUCTION, SUPPOSEDLY, 50M LARI WILL BE SPENT”

January 30, 2020 - Construction of new A-class office of National Bank of Georgia (NBG) will cost, supposedly, 50 million lari and will take about 3-4 years, the newspaper reports.

NBG president Koba Gvenetadze said that the company, revealed by competition, already developed design of the office.