Economic Press Monitor March 26 - April 1, 2023	Days:  18 25 01 08 15

economic & politics

REZONANSI: “RE-EXPORT OF CARS IS AT HISTORICAL MAXIMUM – THERE WAS NO SUCH RESULT UNTIL NOW”

March 30, 2023 - In January-February, 13,501 cars worth $236.8 million were re-exported from Georgia.

Lasha Darbaiseli, chairman of Georgian Car Importers Union, says that demand has especially grown in Central Asian countries.




REZONANSI: “CANDIDATE STATUS, “SECOND FRONT” AND THE INCIDENT OF GUBAZ SANIKIDZE – MAIN TWISTS AND TURNS OF GARIBASHVILI’S SPEECH”

March 27, 2023 - On March 24, the Georgian Parliament listened during several hours to speech of Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

The Premier’s appearance before the Parliament was requested by 9 opposition MPs to clarify what steps have been made by the Georgian government after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war and why the defense budget in relation to GDP was reduced, the article says.




REZONANSI: “THE PRESIDENT’S “REBELLION” – WHY DID ZURABISHVILI CHANGE HER RHETORIC ABOUT IVANISHVILI AND WHY DOES SHE NOT RULE OUT AMNESTY OF SAAKASHVILI ANYMORE”

March 27, 2023 - During her interview with TV Pirveli, Georgia’s President Salome Zurabishvili for the first time called Bidzina Ivanishvili (billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream) an “oligarch”. At the same time, she said: “Ivanishvili’s problem is bigger than oligarchism.




NETGAZETI.GE: “IF GEORGIA WANTS MEMBERSHIP, IT MUST JOIN THE EU SECURITY POLICY – BAERBOCK”

March 27, 2023 - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock declared that if Georgia wants to become a member of the EU, it must join the EU security policy, support it and fulfill 12 recommendations (set by the European Commission as precondition for assigning the status of EU membership candidate).

She stressed that Russia is a bigger challenge for its neighbors than for countries geographically located in other territories, and therefore support for international measures is important.

macroeconomics & budget

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “MESTVIRISHVILI – INFLATION HAS TENDENCY OF DECREASE, WHICH ALLOWS US TO START PHASED EXIT FROM TIGHTENED MONETARY POLICY”

March 30, 2023 - “Inflation has a full-blown tendency of decrease, and it is expected that this will continue in the coming months too”, declared Archil Mestvirishvili, acting president of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG). In the second half of the year, inflation will be below the target, he pointed.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ACCORDING TO ALL FORECASTS, LARI WILL PROBABLY MAINTAIN A STRENGTHENING TREND IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR – TSUTSKIRIDZE”

March 29, 2023 - “According to all forecasts, lari will probably maintain a strengthening trend in the first half of the year”, says analyst Giorgi Tsutskiridze. “All macroeconomic factors related to lari exchange rate are positive”, he notes.

energy, oil & gas

REZONANSI: “ELECTRICITY TARIFF WILL NOT CHANGE IN FUTURE EITHER”

March 31, 2023 - “If any parameter does not deteriorate significantly, no increase in gas, as well as electricity, bills is expected”, David Narmania, chairman of Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulating Commission, assures.

Narmania notes that the Commission set natural gas tariffs for a period of 5 years in December 2022.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IN JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2023, IMPORT OF PETROL AND DIESEL FUEL DECREASED BY 4.6%”

March 30, 2023 - Georgian Oil-Products Importers Union reported that in January-February, import of petrol and diesel fuel to Georgia amounted to 174,100 t, which is by 4.6% lower compared with the same period of last year. In particular, import of petrol amounted to 81,800 t, of diesel – 92,300 t.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IMPACT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY ON CLIMATE CHANGE”

March 28, 2023 - In energy, consumed by Georgia in 2020, 78% was derived from fossil fuel sources (coal, oil, gas), while share of renewable energy made up 19%, indicates author of the article, Giorgi Mukhigulishvili from World Experience for Georgia (WEG).

Georgia is working on an integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), according to which, in order to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, renewable sources should account by 2030 for 27.4% of the consumed energy.

conflict and court

FORBES GEORGIA: “ENGLISH COURT CHARGED IRAKLI RUKHADZE AND HIS PARTNERS TO PAY COMPENSATION OF $170M”

March 29, 2023 - On March 2, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales upheld the lower instance’s verdict, which charged businessman Irakli Rukhadze and his business partners to pay compensation of $170 million.

According to Forbes, Rukhadze has already started payment of compensation to Revoker and Recovery Partners.

companies

BATUMELEBI: “AJARA GOVERNMENT SOLD LAND IN KOBULETI TO A COMPANY THAT WAS ESTABLISHED 7 MONTHS BEFORE THE AUCTION”

March 31, 2023 - A land plot of 11,235 square m in the beach area of Kobuleti was sold at auction for 4.46 million lari. Ajara Finance Ministry had tried to sell this site since 2019.




FORBES GEORGIA: “TAMAZ GIORGADZE’S “RAISIN” ATTRACTED 60M EUR – “GOLDMAN SACHS” IS AMONG INVESTORS”

March 27, 2023 - The fintech company Raisin, founded in Germany by Georgian entrepreneur Tamaz Giorgadze, attracted investments of 60 million EUR.

Among the investors are the British investment company M&G Investments and the American bank Goldman Sachs.

transport & communications

REZONANSI: “PARLIAMENT WILL RETURN TO THE ISSUE OF THIRD PARTY INSURANCE, COMPULSORY FOR CAR OWNERS, THIS SPRING”

March 28, 2023 - The bill, envisaging introduction of compulsory for car owners insurance of liability against third parties, was registered in the Georgian Parliament on December 31, 2018, but no specific decision was made since that, the newspaper points.

David Songulashvili, chairman of the Parliament’s Committee on Branch Economy and Economic Policy, said that the Parliament will consider this issue during the current spring session.

international cooperation

REZONANSI: “AZERBAIJAN BANNED IMPORT OF CARS OVER 10 YEARS OLD – A BIG CHANGE IS EXPECTED IN RE-EXPORT”

March 31, 2023 - From April 28, cars over 10 years old will be banned from import to Azerbaijan. In Georgia, such a requirement will enter in force from 2024.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “CORN STOCK IS ALMOST EXHAUSTED, FARMERS ARE PLANNING TO HARVEST MORE CROPS THIS YEAR”

March 29, 2023 - Koba Kobaladze, head of the International Association for Agriculture Development, considers the technological lag the main problem in production of corn in Georgia.

Problems arise especially in the direction of land melioration and, accordingly, without irrigation, the yield could not really increase, Kobaladze points.




REZONANSI: “FLOUR HAS DECREASED IN PRICE BY AT LEAST 20 LARI, PRICE OF BREAD HAS NOT DECREASED BY EVEN 1 TETRI”

March 28, 2023 - In Georgia, 1 sack of flour of the highest quality costs 57-58 lari now, which is at least 20 lari lower compared to the same period of last year, the newspaper reports.

When bread price began to get raise, exactly increased prices of flour was one of the main factors, whereas now no one is talking about reduction of bread price, the article notes.