Economic Press Monitor June 3 - 9, 2018	Days:  26 02 09 16 23

economic & politics

NETGAZETI.GE: “TRANSFER OF MONEY TO TOTALIZATORS’ FAKE ACCOUNTS WILL BE RESTRICTED – THE DRAFT BILL”

June 8, 2018 - Amendments, drafted by ruling team, permit participation in online gambling only by means of bank settlements, Netgazeti.Ge reports. The draft will be submitted to the Parliament in near future.




FORBES GEORGIA: “RATE OF PIRATED SOFTWARE USE DECLINED TO 81%”

June 6, 2018 - Referring to the Software Alliance, the magazine reports that Georgia’s rate of use of pirated (unlicensed) software declined in 2017 to 81%. Respective research is conducted biennially.

macroeconomics & budget

TABULA: “MPS’ SALARIES DOUBLED THROUGH ABSORPTION OF SUPPLEMENTS”

June 7, 2018 - New regulations, drafted by ruling Georgian Dream, are already submitted to the Parliament, which determine monthly salary of MP as equal to 4,624 lari, Tabula reports.

MP will receive also the sum, determined by the Parliament’s bureau, for implementation of his/her powers.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK: GEORGIAN ECONOMY WILL GROW BY 4.7%”

June 6, 2018 - Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects Georgian economy will grow in 2019 by 4.7% and will overtake by 0.2% the forecast for 2018, the newspaper reports.

According to ADB’s estimation, inflation in 2018 will reduce to 3.5% from 6% in 2017.




REZONANSI: “MORE 5% OF POPULATION BECAME IMPOVERISHED!”

June 5, 2018 - Referring to statistics, the newspaper claims that over 21% of Georgian population lives below the poverty line.

Academician Avto Silagadze supposes that number of families, which moved within the last 2 years to the poor’s’ strata makes up about 5%.




REZONANSI: “CONSTANT ACTIONS WILL STRIKE AT FIRST AT TOURISM, THEN – AT INVESTMENTS”

June 5, 2018 - There is already almost a week, protest actions in support of Zaza Saralidze (father of teenager, killed in fight in 2017) are underway, while yesterday dissatisfied staff of Tbilisi subway went on strike, the newspaper says.

Analyst Vakhtang Charaia supposes that if actions drag on for a long time, they necessarily cause problems in economy.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WHY GEORGIA CAN NOT CREATE AS MANY JOBS, AS THE REST OF THE WORLD?”

June 5, 2018 - The World Bank (WB) indicates that Georgia successfully administered policy of favorable environment provision for business, but political instability remains a considerable challenge for companies.

As the WB specifies in its research, creation of jobs will considerably facilitate poverty reduction in Georgia, however creation of jobs does not correspond to growth of economy, besides, more than a half of jobs is in the agrarian sector.

energy, oil & gas

LIBERALI: “GORI WIND POWER PLANT – THE SOURCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN GEORGIA”

June 5, 2018 - Referring to Georgian Energy Development Fund, Liberali reports that construction of 3 more wind power plants is planned in the country – in Zestaponi and Sachkhere of Imereti region and Nigoza village of Shida Kartli region.

Regarding the first wind power plant, which is located near Gori, chairman of board of Kartli Wind Power Plant Tornike Kazarashvili says that income from electricity sale amounted in last year to over 4.7 million EUR.

conflict and court

NETGAZETI.GE: “STRIKE OF DRIVERS FINISHED, THE SUBWAY RESUMED OPERATION”

June 6, 2018 - Referring to trade-union association Ertoba-2013 (Unity-2013), Netgazeti.Ge reports that Tbilisi Mayor and striking staff of the capital’s subway reached an agreement.

The subway will resume work at 14:00 on June 6.




TABULA: “TWO WORKERS DIED IN TKIBULI”

June 4, 2018 - The Interior Ministry reported that accident, which killed two workers, happened at the enterprise, registered by sole proprietor in Tkibuli.

The Ministry said that investigation is conducted under the Criminal Code’s article, which refers to violation of safety rules at mining, construction and other works.




VERSIA: “LABOR UNIONS: CHIATURA MINERS WILL NOT GO ON STRIKE”

June 4, 2018 - Referring to United Labor Unions, Liberali reports that Chiatura miners will not go on strike today.

The article notes that on June 3, agreement was reached between administration of Georgian Manganese and primary organization of the labor unions.




LIBERALI: “3 LIES OF KAKHA KALADZE – LINA GVINIANIDZE”

June 4, 2018 - Since morning on June 4, Tbilisi subway stopped operation, as drivers went on strike with demand of salaries’ increase and started a hunger strike in parallel, Liberali reports.

Lina Gvinianidze, lawyer at Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), declares that Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze tries to mislead residents of the capital in connection with the strike, the article points.

ecology & health

LIBERALI: “NEW SANITARY LANDFILL – WHAT IS CHANGING IN WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM?”

June 7, 2018 - Georgia produces about 900,000 t of waste annually, of which over 75% moves to landfill, Liberali reports.

As the article notes, there are currently 56 garbage dumps in Georgia, of which only 5 ones have environmental impact permissions.




FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIAN MEDICINE – EXPENSIVE AND LOW-PRODUCTIVE”

June 4, 2018 - In Georgia, number of doctors per 100,000 inhabitants 1.7 times exceeds same rate in European and post-Soviet countries, while number of nurses is 1.8 times lower, the magazine reports.

Efficiency of doctors (is based on number of patients, who underwent treatment during a year) in Georgia makes up 40.4, against of 43.4 – in Azerbaijan and 115.8 – in Germany, for example.

finances & banking

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “LENDERS WILL HAVE TO PAY 10,000 LARI FOR REGISTRATION”

June 8, 2018 - Private individuals, engaged in money lending, will have to pay 10,000 lari for registration, the newspaper reports. This is envisaged by amendments, drafted by the Finance Ministry.




REZONANSI: “SINCE 2019, THE NOOSE WILL BE TIGHTENED TO USURERS”

June 8, 2018 - If until now, private individuals (usurers) lent money for monthly interest of 10% on average (120% annually), the interest will be halved since 2019, the newspaper reports. New regulation has been worked out by The Finance Ministry and National Bank of Georgia (NBG).




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “KOBA GVENETADZE’S VIEWS OF FINANCIAL AND BANKING SPHERE’S PROBLEMS – EXCLUSIVE”

June 7, 2018 - In interview to the newspaper, president of National Bank of Georgia Koba Gvenetadze points that indebtedness of households grows in recent years with quite high pace. What is even more alarming, share grows of those individuals, whose debt burden is disproportionately high in respect of income, he specifies.

agriculture & food

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “HAZARDOUS DAIRY PRODUCTS – WHETHER VEGETABLE FATS ARE MIXED TO PRODUCTION ALONG WITH MILK POWDER”

June 6, 2018 - In Georgia, content of milk powder in dairy production makes up about 80%, the newspaper points.

Tamar Gobejishvili, analyst at Georgian Center for Strategic Research and Development, states that one can assume that after regulations of 2017, which prohibit use of milk powder in cheese production, the mentioned rate decreases.