Economic Press Monitor September 3 - 9, 2023	Days:  12 02 09 16 23

economic & politics

REZONANSI: ““CANDIDATE STATUS REQUIRES MERITS” – WHAT MESSAGES BORRELL BROUGHT TO GEORGIA AND WHAT HIS FIRST STATEMENTS INDICATE”

September 8, 2023 - Doors of the EU are open to Georgia, and we want to support you on the path to EU membership, but the application for EU membership is also a serious commitment, said upon arrival in Tbilisi the EU High Representative, Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell.

According to Borrell, status of the EU membership candidate should be earned by serious reforms and fidelity to European values, and “much remains yet to do” in this regard.




REZONANSI: “FROM OCTOBER, CAR PRICES ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE EVEN FURTHER”

September 6, 2023 - Since August 1, export/re-export from Georgia to Russia and Belarus of cars, delivered from the US, has been banned, while from September 26, a similar restriction will apply to cars, delivered from the EU.

Lasha Darbaiseli, chairman of the Georgian Car Importers Union, indicates: “If the Russian market is no longer available for our car business, this will not be a big loss for the local market and re-export, since Georgia does not depend on the Russian market”.




TABULA: “AMBASSADOR OF CHINA: CHINESE COMPANIES HAVE NO PROBLEM IN JOINING CONSTRUCTION OF ANAKLIA PORT”

September 6, 2023 - In case of good conditions, “Chinese companies have no problem in be involved in construction of the Anaklia port or other projects”, declares Chinese ambassador to Georgia Zhou Qian.

Regarding the Middle Corridor, the ambassador points that “without China and the EU, we will not achieve success in the Middle Corridor”, since “important thing in the Middle Corridor is logistics between China and the EU”.




NETGAZETI.GE: ““DYNAMIC” INSTEAD OF “HIGH-RISK” – NAMES OF PENSION PORTFOLIOS ARE CHANGING”

September 6, 2023 - Georgia Parliament is considering a bill, which changes the names of investment portfolios of participants in accumulative pension scheme.

In particular, a low-risk portfolio will be called a conservative investment portfolio, a medium-risk one – balanced, while a high-risk one – dynamic.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF ECONOMY STARTED ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR SELECTION OF INVESTOR FOR CONSTRUCTION OF SUKHUMI AIRPORT”

September 5, 2023 - Russian Ministry of Economy began accepting applications for construction of the Sukhumi airport, the newspaper reports, referring to the publication of Echo of Caucasus. Acceptance of applications will end on September 15.

macroeconomics & budget

NETGAZETI.GE: “40,000-LARI PROPERTY TAX CAP SHOULD BE RAISED – INITIATIVE OF ROMAN GOTSIRIDZE”

September 8, 2023 - MP Roman Gotsiridze (Eurooptimists group) registers in Georgian Parliament an initiative on amendment of the procedure for property tax payment.

Under current law, property tax is paid by a family owning property, if total income of its members exceeds 40,000 lari annually, while according to Gotsiridze’s proposal, the upper limit should be raised to 60,000 lari.




BATUMELEBI: “BATUMI SPORTS PALACE WILL PURCHASE GYMNASTICS EQUIPMENT OF 1.1M”

September 6, 2023 - Batumi Sports Palace announced a tender for procurement of sports equipment worth 1.18 million lari. The procurement refers to equipment for gymnastics only.




BATUMELEBI: “BATUMI CITY HALL SELLS PERMISSION TO PLACE STREET ADVERTISING – INITIAL PRICE MAKES UP 8M LARI”

September 6, 2023 - Batumi City Hall announced an auction to obtain permission to place street advertising. The electronic auction will expire on September 26.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “YOUNG FINANCIERS AND BUSINESSMEN ASSOCIATION WELCOMES THE PARLIAMENT’S DECISION TO PLACE PENSION SAVINGS IN LOW-RISK ASSETS UNTIL 2028”

September 6, 2023 - Georgian Young Financiers and Businessmen Association welcomes adoption by the Parliament of Georgia in first and second hearings of the legislative amendments, according to which citizens’ pension savings will be placed in low-risk assets until January 1, 2028.

Since August 6 of this year, citizens had to choose themselves the risk portfolio in which they want to invest their savings.




REZONANSI: “BENEFIT OF GAS CHEAPENING WILL BE FULLY APPROPRIATED BY BUSINESS”

September 5, 2023 - Tbilisi Energy (Tbilisi gas distributor) decreased tariff for commercial consumers by 11 tetri. However, manufacturing companies do not even consider decrease of prices, the newspaper points.




BATUMELEBI: “WAGE RISE OF 393,000 LARI WAS ISSUED WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION – AUDIT ON FINANCIAL MONITORING SERVICE”

September 4, 2023 - Employees of Georgian Financial Monitoring Service got rise in wage of 196,817 lari in 2021, and 196,367 lari – in 2022 (393,784 lari in total).

However, this agency could provide neither documentation, describing overtime work assigned to employees, nor confirmation of fulfillment of such work, Georgian State Audit Service indicated in the report.

energy, oil & gas

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “FROM TODAY, “TBILISI ENERGY” REDUCES COMMERCIAL TARIFF”

September 4, 2023 - Since September 1, Tbilisi Energy (Tbilisi gas distribution company) has reduced the tariff for non-household (commercial) consumers by 11 tetri. The new tariff makes up 1.24 lari per cubic m (VAT inclusive).




REZONANSI: “WHY THERE IS NO ELECTRICITY IN ABKHAZIA – “IN WINTER, THEY HAVE LIGHT FOR 2-3 HOURS AND THERE ARE BLACKOUTS EVEN IN SUMMER””

September 4, 2023 - Mamuka Areshidze, expert on Caucasus issues, indicates that the issue of electricity is the most problematic in Abkhazia (Russia-occupied region of Georgia). Abkhazia has no gas supply, accordingly, electricity consumption is very high, he notes.

companies

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““TSKALTUBO” IS SOLD FOR 2.6M”

September 8, 2023 - The building and territory of former sanatorium Tskaltubo were sold for 2.6 million lari, Georgian National Agency for State Property reported.

The property was acquired by LLC Golden Towers, established in 2020.




FORBES GEORGIA: ““SAKARTVELOS BANKI” ATTRACTED FINANCIAL RESOURCE OF $50M FROM “CITI””

September 5, 2023 - Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia) has attracted financial resource of $50 million from Citi. This resource will be used to finance operations in the field of trade of large, small and medium-sized businesses.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “FIRST PHASE OF “PETRA SEA RESORT” CONSTRUCTION IN TSIKHISDZIRI WILL BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF 2025”

September 5, 2023 - The first phase of construction of Petra Sea Resort multifunctional complex in Tsikhisdziri (Ajara) will be completed by the end of 2025. According to the newspaper, “several tens of millions of dollars” will be invested in the project.

international cooperation

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “TO CREATE NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESSES, A MEMORANDUM IS SIGNED BETWEEN “SAKARTVELOS BANKS” AND EBRD”

September 8, 2023 - Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia) and EBRD signed a memorandum on cooperation. The memorandum aims to promote the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Georgia.

agriculture & food

TABULA: “GRAPES BEATEN BY HAIL IN KAKHETI WILL BE PURCHASED BY THE STATE”

September 4, 2023 - On September 2, strong hail and wind damaged crops in the Kakheti region of Georgia. Alexi Pitskhelauri, mayor of Akhmeta municipality, said that vineyards in the affected area were destroyed by almost 100%.

tourism

REZONANSI: “SUMMER TOURISM STILL DID NOT PAY ITS WAY – THE SEASON DID NOT FAIL, BUT ALL ARE DISSATISFIED”

September 6, 2023 - The current summer tourist season in Georgia did not show the expected results, the newspaper points.

The cause of the problem, first of all, was an explosion at Kakhovka hydroelectric station (Ukraine), because of which many refrained from resting on the Black Sea shore.