Economic Press Monitor May 29 - June 4, 2022	Days:  21 28 04 11 18

economic & politics

NETGAZETI.GE: “BUSINESSMAN DAVID KHIDASHELI WAS IN JORDAN TOO”

May 31, 2022 - Businessman David Khidasheli was in Jordan together with the Georgian governmental delegation on May 28-29, Netgazeti.Ge reports. As the article notes, it is unknown in what status he accompanied Georgia’s Prime Minister.




TABULA: ““EPP”: IN GEORGIA, INFORMAL RULING HAS CAUSED THE CONTINUED EROSION OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS”

May 31, 2022 - Following initiative of Georgia’s major opposition party United National Movement, European People’s Party (EPP) released a statement on Georgia, Tabula reports.

EPP estimates that informal ruling in the country caused “the continued erosion of democratic institutions”, including judicial independence, media freedom, equal political conditions and free and fair elections.




REZONANSI: ““HELP US TO HELP YOU” – WHAT DOES THIS MESSAGE OF THE EU AMBASSADOR MEAN TO GEORGIA”

May 31, 2022 - The EU ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell said that the opinion of the European Commission on the status of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine as candidates for EU membership will be announced approximately next week. After that, there will be considerations between the member countries and a decision will be made, supposedly, within a month, he noted.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “WE WILL TAKE IN OWNERSHIP PART OF SHARES OF “BORJOMI” FROM THE SANCTIONED PERSON SO THAT THE COMPANY WAS ABLE TO OPERATE FULLY, AND THIS IS NOT TEMPORARY”

May 30, 2022 - Levan Davitashvili, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, declared that the Georgian government will take from the sanctioned person part of the shares of IDS Borjomi in ownership so that the company was able to operate fully, “and this is not temporary”.

Pass of part of the company’s shares to the ownership of the state does not circumvent sanctions, the Minister assured.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “BECAUSE OF REHABILITATION WORKS ON THE TURKISH SIDE, AGREED TERMS FOR LAUNCH OF VALE CUSTOMS CHECKPOINT HAVE BEEN EXTENDED”

May 30, 2022 - Since April 25, customs control procedures at Vale customs checkpoint are suspended on the Georgian side, because of rehabilitation works on the Turkish side.

Georgian Revenue Service reported that at the request of the Turkish side, launch of Vale checkpoint has been postponed, as the repair works will last through July.

energy, oil & gas

TABULA: ““WEG”: IN NEAR FUTURE, RUSSIA WILL NOT BE ABLE TO EXERT SIGNIFICANT PRESSURE ON GEORGIA ENERGETICALLY”

June 3, 2022 - A study conducted by the organization World Experience for Georgia (WEG) shows that in the short term, Russia does not have levers of significant pressure on Georgia in terms of power engineering.

The study notes that this concerns both termination of energy supplies and threat of such termination and use of this for political blackmail.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““SOCAR GEORGIA GAS” – FROM JULY, NATURAL GAS WILL RISE IN PRICE BY 20% FOR THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR”

June 2, 2022 - SOCAR Georgia Gas announced that starting from July 1, gas for the commercial sector in Georgian regions will rise in price by 20%, from 1.15 lari to 1.38 lari per cubic m. The company grounded the move with the price growth on the global market.




REZONANSI: “FUEL HAS DECREASED IN PRICE BY 10-20 TETRI ONLY – IS THIS THE MAXIMUM WHAT THE GOVERNMENT AND THE COMPETITION AGENCY HAVE MANAGED?”

May 31, 2022 - Recently, non-branded gas stations have reduced the cost of fuel by 5-10 tetri, while branded ones – by 20 tetri, the newspaper reports. However, experts note that no one will feel the difference, if there are no drastic changes, the article states.

conflict and court

REZONANSI: “BATUMI CITY COURT APPLIED DETENTION TO GALIP OZTURK”

June 3, 2022 - Batumi City Court applied detention to the Turkish businessman Galip Ozturk (founder of Metro Holding, which owns a number of facilities in Georgia). He is accused of large-scale drug possession (over 7 g).

companies

FORBES GEORGIA: ““LEBANESE COMPANY PLANS TO LAUNCH TOBACCO FACTORY IN GEORGIA” – THE GOVERNMENT”

June 2, 2022 - The Georgian government reported that Lebanese company plans to open a tobacco enterprise in Ajara. The government noted that the new enterprise will be mainly export-oriented.




FORBES GEORGIA: “IN PARTNERSHIP WITH “SAKARTVELOS BANKI”, AN INTERNATIONAL BRAND HOTEL “IBIS BUDGET” WAS OPENED”

May 30, 2022 - As a result of cooperation between Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia) and Beta Group, a hotel of the international budget brand Ibis Budget was opened on Akhvlediani Street in Tbilisi. The 5-storey building has 158 rooms.




FORBES GEORGIA: “RATING OF GEORGIA’S AUDIT FIRMS”

May 30, 2022 - In 2021, revenues of 15 largest audit companies, operating in Georgia, totaled to 54 million lari, increasing by 7% compared with 2020, the magazine reported. The article noted that for the past 4 years, the income of auditors has increased by almost 44%.

international cooperation

REZONANSI: “GEORGIANS WILL BE OFFERED LEGAL WORK ALREADY IN 9 COUNTRIES, BUT ALMOST NO ONE WANTS IT”

June 3, 2022 - The Georgian government is negotiating with 9 countries on legal employment of citizens. Among these countries are Portugal, Spain, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Finland, Belgium and Greece.

agriculture & food

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “GEORGIAN WINE EXPORTED TO QATAR FOR THE FIRST TIME”

June 2, 2022 - Georgian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture reported that Georgian wine has been exported to Qatar for the first time.

In particular, since May 27, the Qatar Distribution Company has placed 12 Georgian wines on its trading network.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “NINO TSILOSANI: TEA PLANTATIONS ARE MASSIVELY REPLACED BY BLUEBERRIES, HAZELNUTS, KIWIS”

June 2, 2022 - Nino Tsilosani, chair of Georgian Parliament’s Agrarian Issues Committee, declared that compared with 1985, only 2.5% of tea plantations are functioning in Georgia. “At the same time, mass replacement of tea plantations is underway, and they are being replaced by such crops as blueberries, hazelnuts, kiwi, etc.”, she pointed.