Economic Press Monitor July 3 - 9, 2022	Days:  25 02 09 16 23

economic & politics

NETGAZETI.GE: “IVANISHVILI THINKS THAT ACTION OF “CREDIT SUISSE” IS CONNECTED WITH GEORGIAN POLITICS”

July 8, 2022 - MKD law firm reported that on July 5, Bidzina Ivanishvili (billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream) received a letter from the Credit Suisse, which refers to a resolution of the European Parliament calling on the European Council to consider imposition of sanctions against him.

The bank said that the resolution stipulated regulatory obligations on the part of the bank, and the bank’s trust will not be able to carry out its actions without consent of the court.




FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIA IN THE GLOBAL FREEDOM RANKING”

July 7, 2022 - Georgia ranks 110^th among 210 countries in the “Freedom in the World” ranking of the American organization Freedom House, the magazine reports. With 58 points, Georgia is in the group of partially free countries.




TABULA: “FREE SPACE PER EACH OCCUPIED PERSON SHOULD BE AT LEAST 2 M² – GOVERNMENT DECREE”

July 6, 2022 - The Georgian government approved technical regulations, which oblige employers to meet the minimum requirements of safety and health in their workspace, Tabula reports.

In particular, free space per each occupied should be at least 2 square m.




TABULA: ““THE PLAN IS SUPERFICIAL AND IS NOT AIMED AT THE CONTENT” – “HOME, TO EUROPE” ON “DREAM”’S INITIATIVE”

July 4, 2022 - On July 1, Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the Georgian Dream, presented a plan on how the ruling party is going to fulfill the conditions of the European Commission (in order to assign Georgia the status of the EU membership candidate country).

Popular movement Home, to Europe estimates “the plan presented by the ruling party is superficial”.




REZONANSI: “PARLIAMENT BEGINS WORK ON THE DRAFT LAW ON DE-OLIGARCHIZATION – APPROXIMATE DEADLINES FOR PRESENTATION AND APPROVAL ARE KNOWN”

July 4, 2022 - Irakli Kobakhidze, leader of the parliamentary majority and chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, declared that a working group will be created at the Parliament’s Committee on Legal Issues, which will work on a draft law on de-oligarchization, the newspaper reports.

The group will include representatives of all parliamentary parties and the civil sector, Kobakhidze said.




NETGAZETI.GE: “PLANS OF KOBAKHIDZE AND RADICAL OPPOSITION HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON WITH NATIONAL ACCORD – ZURABISHVILI”

July 4, 2022 - Georgia’s President Salome Zurabishvili declared that in Georgia, “everyone – the position or the opposition has picked up and recognized the need for national accord”.

However, Zurabishvili considers that the stated plans “have nothing in common with either a real national accord, or an action plan necessary to obtain” the status of the EU membership candidate.

macroeconomics & budget

REZONANSI: “LARI WILL STRENGTHEN TO 2.80 OR EVEN MORE”

July 7, 2022 - After big depreciation and instability, caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, Georgian national currency has been strengthening since April this year, the newspaper indicates.

Otar Nadaraia, chief economist at TBC Capital, expects that lari will strengthen to 2.8 GEL/USD.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ENTREPRENEURS EMPLOYED IN TOURISM SECTOR ARE EXEMPTED FROM PROPERTY TAX”

July 5, 2022 - Georgian Finance Ministry’s Revenue Service reported that business entities, engaged in the tourism sector (as well as in sectors, equaled to it), are exempted from property tax for 2021 (which declaration should be made in 2022). The decision was made in order to mitigate the economic damage, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

energy, oil & gas

BATUMELEBI: “INTERNATIONAL ENERGY EXPERT: GEORGIA IS READY FOR AN HOURLY MARKET”

July 8, 2022 - Tron Engebrethsen, new directors’ board member at Adjaristskali Georgia / ShuakheviHES, notes that “opening of the energy market in all countries was a political, not a sectoral change”. Engebrethsen, who has been working in the energy sector for over 40 years, was a senior vice president of the Norwegian Statkraft.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““SOCAR” COMPANY SELLS FUEL IN GEORGIA AT 3 TIMES HIGHER PRICE THAN IN AZERBAIJAN”

July 6, 2022 - Paata Bayrakhtari, vice president of Georgian Young Businessmen and Financiers Association, said that the average price per 1 liter of diesel in Azerbaijan makes up 0.8 manats (about 1.38 lari), while Azerbaijani SOCAR sells fuel in Georgia for 4.55 lari. Accordingly, the price in Georgia is 3.2 times higher on average than the price in Azerbaijan, he posted on social media.




REZONANSI: “CHANNEL OF CHEAP FUEL IS GRADUALLY CLOSING, PETROL IS GETTING MORE EXPENSIVE AND NO PROSPECT OF PRICE DECREASE EXISTS ANY LONGER”

July 5, 2022 - Over the past week, petrol has risen in price by 15-20 tetri and the trend is expected to continue, the newspaper says. On the local market, diesel price reached 4.7 lari per 1 l, while petrol costs within the range of 3-3.15 lari.

companies

FORBES GEORGIA: ““RADISSON HOTEL GROUP” EXPANDS ITS SCALE IN GEORGIA – THE COMPANY SIGNED AGREEMENT ON CONSTRUCTION OF “RADISSON BLU RESORT&RESIDENCES BATUMI, GONIO” JOINTLY WITH “NEXT GROUP””

July 8, 2022 - Radisson Hotel Group declared about signing of agreement with the Next Group, through which its portfolio in Georgia has increased up to 9 hotels.

Radisson Blu Resort&Residences Batumi, Gonio will be open in the 1^st quarter of 2026.




TABULA: “WITH ASSISTANCE OF “GALT&TAGGART”, 21 COMPANIES HAVE REGISTERED IN THE CAPITAL MARKET SUPPORT PROGRAM”

July 7, 2022 - Capital market support program continues in Georgia, being backed financially of EBRD and the EU. The first stage of the program, led by Galt&Taggart and BDO Georgia, scoped study of the Georgian capital market’s potential and obstacles.




NETGAZETI.GE: “WHAT FORMER RUSSIAN OFFICIAL PLANS TO DO AT THE MIKHAILOV HOSPITAL?”

July 7, 2022 - On the territory of former Mikhailov Clinic (a building of 19^th century) on Agmashenebeli Avenue in Tbilisi, a so-called art center should be arranged. At this stage, selection of the concept is being underway.

transport & communications

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““CLASSIC OLIGOPOLY HAS BEEN LASTING FOR DECADES – COST OF UNLIMITED INTERNET HAS ALMOST DOUBLED COMPARED TO LAST YEAR””

July 4, 2022 - Mobile operators MagtiCom and SilkNet decided to increase cost of their packs of unlimited mobile internet from August, which will almost double compared to the last year.

Giorgi Kepuladze, founder of the non-governmental organization Society and Banks, says that operators “must justify to consumers, why tariffs have been increased”.

ecology & health

REZONANSI: “IN RECENT PERIOD, SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN CORONAVIRUS CASES HAS BEEN NOTICED – WE EXPECT A PEAK BY AUTUMN – TENGIZ TSERTSVADZE”

July 6, 2022 - Tengiz Tsertsvadze, director of the Tbilisi Hospital of Infectious Diseases, noted that in the recent period, a significant growth of new cases of COVID-19 is observed in Georgia, as well as around the world.

“Summer is ahead, an active tourist season, and we expect the peak in growth of COVID cases by autumn”, Tsertsvadze posted on social media.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “WHEAT BECOMES NOTICEABLY CHEAPER IN THE WORLD, AND SITUATION IN GEORGIA IS CHANGING FOR THE BETTER TOO”

July 6, 2022 - Levan Silagava, head of Georgian Wheat and Flour Producers Association, indicates that “there is a background of general cheapening” in the world in terms of wheat prices.

“However, wheat price is still high here [in Georgia], as the factor of Russia and Ukraine acts rather, which is problematic, because the ports of Ukraine are blocked”, Silagava notes.

tourism

FORBES GEORGIA: ““TBC” HOSTED AN EVENT “AJARA: REVIEW OF TOURISM AND REAL ESTATE” IN BATUMI”

July 5, 2022 - TBC Capital forecasts that Georgia’s economy will grow by 10% in 2022, while growth in Ajara will make up 18.5%. At the same time, annual inflation in the region in May this year made up 13.9%.