Economic Press Monitor February 26 - March 4, 2023	Days:  18 25 04 11 18

economic & politics

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “YOUNG FINANCIERS AND BUSINESSMEN ASSOCIATION ISSUES RECOMMENDATIONS ON FOOD PRICE REGULATION”

March 2, 2023 - Georgian Young Financiers and Businessmen Association indicates that one of the key reasons for high food prices on the local market is problems in relations between producers and retail sector.

Namely, the retail sector requests a substantial sum from producers, as guarantee for placing products on trade shelves, the Association explains.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ACCORDING TO PROSPERITY INDEX, GEORGIA HAS BEEN NAMED AMONG THE WORLD’S TOP TEN FOR 10-YEAR PROGRESS”

March 2, 2023 - In the Prosperity Index for 2023, Legatum Institute places Georgia the 53^rd among 167 countries. Georgia is ahead of all neighboring countries, while among the post-Soviet countries, it lags behind only the Baltic states.




REZONANSI: “IN A WEEK, PRICES OF CHEAP TURKISH MEDICINES INCREASED IN PHARMACIES BY 100-300%”

March 1, 2023 - This year, the Georgian government set an upper limit for medicines prices, so-called reference prices, but as soon as this decision entered in force, pharmacy chains increased prices for cheap Turkish medicines and thus tried to compensate the shortage, the newspaper says.

Irakli Margvelashvili, head of the Association of Pharmaceutical Companies’ Representatives, explains that medicines in Turkey have risen in price by 33.6%, which would inevitably affect prices in Georgia.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““IN CASE OF REGULATION, THERE WILL BE A DANGER TO THE PACE OF DEVELOPMENT OF RETAIL CHAINS, THERE WILL BE A NEED TO REDUCE THE LABOR FORCE””

February 27, 2023 - The economic team of the Georgian government is working on a draft law on fair trade.

In this connection, Sophio Kashakashvili, executive director of Georgian Retailers Association, said that “if regulations are enacted, the sector, of course, will continue to work, but there will be a danger for the pace of development of the sector”.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““WE ARE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT CONSTANT ANTI-UKRAINIAN RHETORIC, UNFRIENDLY STATEMENTS OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE “GEORGIAN DREAM” AND THE GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA””

February 27, 2023 - “We are very concerned about constant anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, unfriendly statements of representatives of the Georgian government”, declared Andrei Kasyanov, interim charge d’affaires of Ukraine in Georgia.

At the briefing, Kasyanov expressed also concern about “regular anti-Ukrainian actions organized by pro-Russian forces near Ukrainian embassy in Georgia”.




TABULA: “GEORGIAN SEEKERS OF ASYLUM IN EUROPE HAVE DOUBLED IN NUMBER – EUAA”

February 27, 2023 - The EU Asylum Agency (EUAA) reported that in 2022, the number of applications from Georgian citizens seeking asylum in the EU and the Schengen countries amounted to 28,797. If compared with 2021, the number has almost doubled, EUAA noted.

macroeconomics & budget

REZONANSI: “LARI IS AT THE FIRMEST LEVEL FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS – THE LIMIT OF 2.60 HAS BEEN OVERCOME AND THE EXCHANGE RATE WILL CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN”

March 2, 2023 - Today, Georgian national currency is at the firmest level for the last 5 years, the newspaper says, specifying that since the outbreak of year, lari has improved its position by 10 points. If on January 1, the exchange rate was 2.71 GEL/USD, today it is 2.61 GEL/USD.




FORBES GEORGIA: “BY FORECAST FOR 2023, GEORGIA IS IN THE TOP FIVE IN TERMS OF HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE – “VISUAL CAPITALIST””

February 28, 2023 - In the rating of unemployment forecasts for 2023, published by online publication Visual Capitalist, Georgia occupies the 4^th position (among 100 countries). The rating is based on data from the IMF’s Economic Outlook report.

companies

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““SOCAR GEORGIA GAS” HAS A NEW DIRECTOR GENERAL”

March 1, 2023 - Mariam Valishvili has become the new director general of SOCAR Georgia Gas. She replaced Azer Mamadov in the office.




TABULA: ““WIZZ AIR” CANCELS FLIGHTS TO MOLDOVA FROM MARCH 14”

March 1, 2023 - Hungarian low-coster Wizz Air cancels flights Moldova from March 14. The company said in a statement that “As a result of recent developments in Moldova”, the country’s airspace in in “the high, but not imminent, risk”.

international cooperation

TABULA: “TOBACCO, COCOA, FLOUR – HOW HAS IMPORT FROM UKRAINE CHANGED AFTER OUTBREAK OF WAR UNTIL PRESENT?”

March 2, 2023 - Sakstat reported that Ukraine ranks 9^th among Georgia’s trade partners, accounting for 2.7% in total foreign turnover of the country. In 2022, the turnover amounted to $507 million (decreasing by 33.2% compared to 2021), of which export from Georgia made up $232 million, import from Ukraine – $278 million.

finances & banking

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IF IT WERE NOT THIS REGULATION OF LENDING, 20% OF HOUSEHOLDS WOULD BE INSOLVENT TODAY – GVENETADZE”

February 28, 2023 - Koba Gvenetadze, president of the National Bank of Georgia estimates that responsible lending was “avoidance of a pre-known crisis” and a reform for the population benefit.

“If lending continued without regulation, under the old conditions, more than 20% of households would be insolvent today, while today this rate does not exceed 4%”, Gvenetadze points.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “OTAR SHAMUGIA: MANY IMPORTANT PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED THIS YEAR IN DIRECTION OF AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION”

February 28, 2023 - In an interview with the newspaper, Otar Shamugia, Georgia’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, talks about the programs that should be implemented during 2023.

In particular, the Minister says that after growth of the budget of the target program of development of the processing and storage sector up to 25 million lari, it is planned to co-finance up to 60 new enterprises.




REZONANSI: “REDUCTION OF FOOD PRICES HAS NOT STARTED YET, BUT PROMISES HAVE BECOME EVEN MORE “CONVINCING””

February 28, 2023 - Food accounts for the largest share in Georgia’s inflation, and in order to stabilize the current situation, the Georgian government has intervened in the settlement of the issue and is conducting negotiations, the article says.

“We are actively participate in the negotiations”, said Iva Chkonia, head of the Georgian Business Association of Distributors.

tourism

FORBES GEORGIA: “IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM RANKING, GEORGIA IS ON THE 44^TH PLACE”

March 1, 2023 - In the rating of travel and tourism development, Georgia ranks 44^th among 117 countries with 4.3 points (out of 7 possible). The rating is based on the index, published by World Economic Forum (reflects data of 2021, published in May 2022).