Economic Press Monitor March 28 - April 3, 2021	Days:  20 27 03 10 17

economic & politics

TABULA: “MEPS: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DEMANDS SUSPENSION OF MACRO-FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE”

April 2, 2021 - Members of the European Parliament made a joint statement in connection with persistent political crisis in Georgia, Tabula reports. “Following the refusal from the political parties to compromise, Georgia’s leaders should not expect a return to business as usual from the European Union”, the statement points.




REZONANSI: “WHEN, WHERE AND WHAT TYPE OF RESTRICTIONS WILL BE IMPOSED AND WHAT WILL THE THIRD WAVE DESTROY?”

April 1, 2021 - Georgian economy will not be able to withstand the third stage of restrictions, but despite this, the government and the country’s leading epidemiologists are more and more frequently talking about the third wave, the newspaper writes.

Ajara, Guria and villages of Imereti will be the first, where the third stage of restrictions will be set up, the article says.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “NATIA TURNAVA: WE ARE OBLIGED TO MAKE QUICKLY ALL NECESSARY MEASURES IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN MACROECONOMIC STABILITY”

April 1, 2021 - “We are obliged to make quickly all the necessary measures in order to maintain macroeconomic stability”, declares Natia Turnava, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development.

In connection with depreciation of lari, the Minister points that “There are short-term measures, in which National Bank and Finance Ministry of are involved”, including stabilizing interventions.




TABULA: “DANIELSSON DEPARTS, CRISIS REMAINS – EVERYTHING ABOUT LAST ROUND OF NEGOTIATIONS”

March 31, 2021 - Second visit of Christian Danielsson, special representative of the President of the European Council in Georgian political crisis, ended in inconclusive negotiations and a document that no party signed, Tabula reports.

The article says that the document, prepared by Danielsson and proposed to participants of the negotiations, consists of 5 points: response to issues perceived as politicized justice; ambitious electoral reform; rule of law and judicial reform; redistribution of power in the Parliament; next elections.




FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIA – A HUB”

March 29, 2021 - In the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) of 2018, the World Bank placed Georgia the 124^th among 167 countries.

The article notes that in the national strategy for logistics’ development for 2021-2023, Georgian authorities have identified main challenges and outlined certain to-be-made steps.




KVIRIS PALITRA: “WHAT AWAITS GEORGIAN ECONOMY IF THE THIRD WAVE OF LOCKDOWN IS ANNOUNCED?”

March 29, 2021 - In recent days, Georgian authorities began talking about possibility of the third wave of restrictions, reasoning this by increase of COVID-19 cases over the past 2 weeks and decrease of the masking rate, the newspaper reports.

In this connection, the article brings comment of Paata Bayrakhtari, vice-president of Georgian Young Businessmen and Financiers Association.

macroeconomics & budget

REZONANSI: “ODDITY: NATIONAL BANK BROUGHT DOLLARS FOR SALE DURING THE SHORTAGE, BUT FAILED TO MASTER THEM”

April 2, 2021 - In recent days, Georgian national currency, lari, is distinguished with depreciation and instability, the newspaper notes. However, only $27.5 million were sold out of the $40 million, brought by National Bank of Georgia (NBG) on auction.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “4 REASONS OF LARI DEPRECIATION”

April 1, 2021 - While commenting on depreciation of lari, professor Lado Papava identifies 2 external and 2 internal factors.

Among external factors, Papava indicates start of global strengthening of the US dollar.




REZONANSI: “BUSINESS AND POPULATION ARE IN PANIC – LARI RUSHES TO HISTORICAL ANTI-RECORD”

March 31, 2021 - On trading platform of Bloomberg, lari exchange rate reached 3.44 GEL/USD, while in Georgian banks and currency exchange offices – 3.5 GEL/USD, the newspaper reports. Whereas on January 1, official exchange rate made up 3.2766 GEL/USD.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““DEPRECIATION OF LARI IS CAUSED NOT BY ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL SITUATION, BUT BY WRONG POLICY””

March 30, 2021 - Economic expert Demur Giorkhelidze considers that “current depreciation of lari in Georgia is not caused by economic or financial situation, it is caused by wrong policy”. It is supported also by “artificial hype depreciation that is absolutely manageable”, he considers.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “3 FACTORS THAT MAKE LARI DEPRECIATE”

March 30, 2021 - During the past week, Georgian national currency has depreciated by about 4 tetri and official exchange rate made up 3.3718 GEL/USD. Irakli Kovzanadze, chairman of the Parliament’s Fiscal Committee, names 3 factors of lari depreciation.

conflict and court

REZONANSI: ““CARREFOUR” MAKES PRODUCERS AND DISTRIBUTORS BANKRUPT!”

March 31, 2021 - At the moment, 4 companies have filed lawsuits against Carrefour hypermarket, and by the end of this week their number will grow up to 10, the newspaper reports.

As the article specifies, one of the demands of the plaintiff companies envisages cancellation of fee for access to Carrefour chain, while another – cancellation of practice of writing-off funds without a confirmed invoice.




TABULA: “AFTER 4 YEARS, RUSUDAN KERVALISHVILI LEFT PRISON”

March 30, 2021 - Rusudan Kervalishvili, one of the founders of Center Point development company, left prison on March 30, Tabula reports. She served her 4-year imprisonment fully.

companies

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““TBC INSURANCE” REIMBURSED FARMERS’ LOSS UP TO 3M LARI IN 2019-2020”

March 29, 2021 - Insurance company TBC Insurance has been included in the state program of agricultural insurance since 2019. Within 2 years, the company reimbursed up to 3 million lari losses to farmers, the newspaper reports.

international cooperation

NETGAZETI.GE: “GERMANY INCREASED ANNUAL QUOTA FOR SEASONAL WORKS TO 5,000 PEOPLE”

April 2, 2021 - Referring to the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Netgazeti.Ge reports that 5,000 Georgians will be able to go in 2021 to seasonal agricultural works in Germany.

Until now, the quota envisaged possibility of work in Germany for 500 people.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “PEOPLE IN RURAL AREAS DO NOT WANT TO WORK FOR 40-50 LARI A DAY ANYMORE”

March 30, 2021 - There is serious shortage of manpower in Georgian regions, the newspaper points. While up to 100,000 people are ready to go to Germany to work in agricultural sector there, almost nobody wants to work in the homeland, the article says.

construction

TABULA: ““POPULATION MUST BE RELOCATED TO SAFE PLACE” – REPORT OF THE SEISMIC CENTER”

April 2, 2021 - National Center for Seismic Monitoring at Georgian Institute of Earth Sciences published an interim report on assessment of the landslide that occurred on Machavariani Street in Tbilisi, Tabula reports.

As the reason of the landslide, the report names works on expansion of Machavariani Street and rehabilitation of water supply system there, during which a deep trench was dug in the lower part of the slope.