Economic Press Monitor October 3 - 9, 2021	Days:  25 02 09 16 23

economic & politics

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “REVENUE SERVICE SAYS THAT DUE TO REHABILITATION WORKS ON RUSSIAN FEDERATION’S SIDE, CUSTOMS PROCEDURES AT LARS CUSTOMS CHECKPOINT ARE CARRIED OUT WITH INTERRUPTIONS”

October 7, 2021 - Revenue Service of Georgian Finance Ministry reported that due to rehabilitation works, started on Russian Federation’s side, customs procedures at Lars customs checkpoint are carried out with interruptions.

Upon completion of rehabilitation, Kazbegi customs checkpoint (located on Georgian side) will work with a full load, the Service said.




FORBES GEORGIA: “TEMUR CHKONIA: BUSINESS VERY MUCH EXPECTS SERIOUS CHANGES IN THE COUNTRY’S GOVERNANCE”

October 6, 2021 - “Business very much expects serious changes in the country’s governance”, says Temur Chkonia, founder of Coca-Cola Bottlers Georgia. Such development should begin, which does not hinder business, he points in an interview, prepared on October 1, specifying that the main source of obstacles is “bureaucracy, which is often very difficult to overcome”.




NETGAZETI.GE: “DISTRICTS, WHERE INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES WON – PRELIMINARY RESULTS”

October 5, 2021 - By results of local elections, held in Georgia on October 2, candidates from the ruling Georgian Dream lead in most majority constituencies. However, the ruling party loses its majority in sakrebulos (local self-governance body) of several municipalities.




FORBES GEORGIA: “BIDZINA IVANISHVILI’S OFFSHORE COMPANIES APPEAR IN “PANDORA PAPERS””

October 5, 2021 - Georgia’s ex-premier, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili appeared in new materials of Pandora Papers. These materials are based on internal data of the law firm Alcogal, the magazine reports.




NETGAZETI.GE: “PRIME MINISTER THREATENS SAAKASHVILI”

October 4, 2021 - “Let him behave normally, otherwise we will add more charges to him”, Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili declared on the air of Imedi TV about former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. “I want to say with full responsibility that Saakashvili will fully serve his sentence”, he said.




REZONANSI: “SECOND ROUND IN TBILISI AND “GEORGIAN DREAM” MAJORITY IN SAKREBULO – WHAT DO RESULTS FIXED IN TBILISI MEAN”

October 4, 2021 - By results of local elections, held on October 2, votes among candidates for the post of Tbilisi Mayor were distributed as follows: Kakha Kaladze (ruling Georgian Dream) – 44.96%, Nika Melia – National Movement) – 33.9%, Giorgi Gakharia (For Georgia) – 9.33%, Anna Dolidze (For People) – 4.64%, Anna Bibilashvili (Lelo) – 2.53%.

Because of these results, there will be the 2^nd round of elections in Tbilisi, where Kaladze and Melia will compete for the post of Mayor.




REZONANSI: “BEGINNING OF COALITION GOVERNMENT – 11 REGIONAL SAKREBULOS, WHERE NO ONE WILL HAVE A MAJORITY”

October 4, 2021 - By results of local elections, held in Georgia on October 2, probably, creation of coalitions will be necessary in sakrebulos (local self-governance bodies) of 11 municipalities, the newspaper says. These include Rustavi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Zugdidi, Poti and others.




TABULA: “ECR: WE CALL UPON THE GOVERNMENT TO RELEASE SAAKASHVILI IMMEDIATELY”

October 4, 2021 - “The ECR Group is deeply concerned about the imprisonment of Mikheil Saakashvili, former pro-western President of Georgia and leader of the largest opposition party in the country, after his return from exile”, the statement reads, made by European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR).

“Mr Saakashvili was fully entitled to return to his homeland.

macroeconomics & budget

NETGAZETI.GE: “1,293,996 LARI PARK IS BEING BUILT IN BAKHMARO”

October 7, 2021 - Georgian Municipal Development Fund plans rehabilitation of recreation park in Bakhmaro (alpine resort in Guria region), which cost exceeds 1.29 million lari, reported Netgazeti.Ge. The park will occupy area of 13,805 square m.




TABULA: “BUDGETARY FINANCING OF “PUBLIC BROADCASTER” INCREASES TO A RECORD 82M”

October 6, 2021 - Financing of Georgian Public Broadcaster (Channel One) from the state budget will reach in 2022 a new record-breaking 81.8 million lari, Tabula reports. If compared with 2021, the volume has increased by 12 million lari.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “PENSION WILL INCREASE FROM JANUARY 2022”

October 5, 2021 - According to the draft state budget-2022, pensions will be indexed starting from next January. In 2022, up to 2.89 billion lari will be allocated for pension provision, which is by 285 million lari more than in 2021.

energy, oil & gas

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “COMPETITION OR ARTIFICIAL PRICE INCREASE – FUEL AT NON-BRAND PETROL STATIONS IS BY 40 TETRI CHEAPER”

October 8, 2021 - In parallel with global trends, price of oil-products in Georgia is growing too – prices of various types of petrol in retail chain have increased by 5-7 tetri on average, the newspaper reports.

Vano Mtvralashvili, chairman of Georgian Oil-Products Importers Union, forecasts that “dynamics of price growth will be continued so far”.




REZONANSI: “WILL ELECTRICITY RAISE IN PRICE ONE MORE TIME AT THE END OF THE YEAR? – GNERC IS MAIN REASON OF POPULATION IMPOVERISHMENT”

October 8, 2021 - David Narmania, chairman of Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulating Commission (GNERC), declared that consumer electricity tariff will be revised at the end of the year. The Commission explained the need by separation of distribution and supply activities at the legal level.




REZONANSI: “FUEL WILL RISE IN PRICE BY 10-15 TETRI IN THE COMING DAYS – INTERNATIONAL CRISIS WILL REACH GEORGIA”

October 6, 2021 - On international exchanges, oil price is at one of the highest levels after beginning of the pandemic, the newspaper notes. In Georgia, prices in fuel retail networks are at the same level so far, but their rise is almost inevitable, the article says.




KVIRIS PALITRA: ““I DON’T WANT TO THINK THAT “ENKA” IS THAT LAST OF MOHICANS, WHO HAD MADE SUCH INVESTMENT””

October 5, 2021 - In 2019, Georgian government selected Turkish ENKA among 20 companies, bidding for the right to implement the $800-million project of NamakhvanHES construction, but failed to protect the project from opponents and this year, ENKA Renewables declared about termination of the contract.

In an interview with the newspaper, power engineer Murman Margvelashvili comments on economic significance of ENKA’s decision.

agriculture & food

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “THIS YEAR, CITRUS HARVEST FORECAST MAKES UP 70,000 T”

October 8, 2021 - Ajara government reported that this year, projected volume of citrus harvest in the region makes up 70,000 t. Forecast of persimmon harvest makes up 3,600 t.




REZONANSI: “BREAD ROSE IN PRICE IMMEDIATELY AFTER ELECTIONS – SITUATION IS DRAMATIC IN ALL DIRECTIONS”

October 7, 2021 - Local elections ended, and bread immediately rose in price by 10 tetri, the newspaper reports. The article points that the reason is a trend on the global market, where wheat constantly growth in price.




REZONANSI: “ELECTIONS ARE OVER – WHO WILL RESTRAIN PRICE OF BREAD?”

October 6, 2021 - Giorgi Khanishvili, Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, declares that in Georgia, “bread is not cheap, but very cheap”. “Out of 105 countries of the world, bread is more expensive than ours in 102 countries”, he points, noting: “Including in countries that produce wheat and supply the world”.

tourism

FORBES GEORGIA: “IN AUGUST 2021, HOTEL OCCUPANCY RATE MADE UP 67%”

October 8, 2021 - TBC Capital reported that in August, rate of Georgian hotels’ occupancy made up 67%. At that, occupancy rate of large hotels made up 68%, decreasing by 11 percentage points (pp), if compared with 2019.