Economic Press Monitor December 4 - 10, 2022	Days:  26 03 10 17 24

macroeconomics & budget

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “TBILISI BUDGET-2023 IS SET AT 1.768B LARI”

December 9, 2022 - Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze declared that Tbilisi budget-2023 will amount to almost 1.77 billion lari. In 2022, the volume made up 1.56 billion lari.




REZONANSI: “LARI WILL “TAKE” THE 2.60 MARK SOON - TREND OF STRENGTHENING WILL CONTINUE IN THE FIRST MONTHS OF 2023 TOO”

December 9, 2022 - National Bank of Georgia (NBG) set official exchange rate of lari for December 9 at 2.6848 GEL/USD.

Analyst Nika Shengelia thinks that if the current trend continues, the exchange rate will be within 2.65 GEL/USD.




FORBES GEORGIA: “IN TERMS OF OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL RESERVES, GEORGIA RANKS 91^ST IN THE WORLD”

December 7, 2022 - The magazine reports that in terms of official international reserves, Georgia ranks 91^st among 152 countries of the world.

As of December 31, 2021, foreign reserve assets of the National Bank of Georgia totaled to $4.27 billion.

energy, oil & gas

REZONANSI: “CONFIRMED: CHEAPENING OF FUEL IN GEORGIA WILL CONTINUE!”

December 8, 2022 - Vakhtang Iobashvili, head of Georgian Oil-Products Importers Union, indicates that “trend of fuel cheapening on global markets and in Georgia continues for months”. “This reality will not change in near future, and the price of fuel will continue to decrease gradually”, he says.

conflict and court

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “BAKUR ABULADZE – SHARE OF INVESTIGATIONS, LAUNCHED ON MONEY LAUNDERING ARTICLES, HAS INCREASED COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEARS”

December 7, 2022 - “The share of investigations, launched on money laundering articles, has increased” this year, compared to previous years, said Bakur Abuladze, Georgia’s First Deputy Prosecutor General. This “indicates an improvement in mechanisms for detecting crimes in this direction”, he stressed.

companies

NETGAZETI.GE: “IRAKLI KHABEISHVILI JOINS “ADJARISTSQALI GEORGIA” AS FINANCIAL DIRECTOR”

December 9, 2022 - Irakli Khabeishvili has been appointed financial director of Adjaristsqali Georgia. To date, the company has made the largest investment in Georgian energy sector, he noted.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WITH SUPPORT OF “TBC”, ANOTHER HOTEL, “MONARCH”, WAS BUILT IN BATUMI”

December 7, 2022 - The hotel Monarch, located in the historical part of Batumi, was opened in this June. The building for the hotel was acquired by Ins Group in 2020 with the support of TBC Bank.




FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIAN VOYAGE OF CHANGPENG ZHAO – WHAT THE FOUNDER OF “BINANCE” SAID ABOUT GEORGIA?”

December 5, 2022 - The visit to Georgia of the founder and executive head of Binance cryptocurrency exchange Changpeng Zhao, aka CZ, coincided with transition of development of crypto industry’s regulation in the country to the final phase.

“At the meeting with the government of Georgia, we discussed issues of expansion of our representation in the country, as well as recruiting employees, investments attraction and education”, Zhao said.

transport & communications

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “EU AMBASSADOR – WE ARE LOOKING AT THE “MIDDLE CORRIDOR” EXTREMELY SERIOUSLY AND ESPECIALLY NOW, IN THE CONTEXT OF RUSSIA'S BRUTAL WAR IN UKRAINE”

December 9, 2022 - Pavel Herzynski, the EU ambassador to Georgia, indicates that it is planned to renovate Georgia’s Poti port, in which European companies are involved. There are also plans to start construction of the deep-water port in

Anaklia, and European business has very high interest in this issue too, he says.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “GEORGIAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION: IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL STRATEGY ON TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS WILL BE POSSIBLE ONLY IN ACTIVE COOPERATION WITH BUSINESS OPERATORS OF RESPECTIVE PROFILE”

December 8, 2022 - Georgian Business Association held a discussion on Georgia’s National Strategy on Transport and Logistics for 2023-2030. Participants of the discussion have touched upon the challenges, existing in the field of transport and logistics, and ways to overcome them, future plans and goals.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “LEVAN DAVITASHVILI – OUR BUS STATIONS AND PARKING PLACES DO MEET INTERESTS NEITHER OF OUR CITIZENS NOR OF VISITORS”

December 6, 2022 - Our bus stations and parking places do meet interests neither of our citizens nor of visitors, declared Levan Davitashvili, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, after the government meeting on December 5.

The Minister said that a draft law on parking lots has been prepared, which will be submitted to the Parliament soon, and regulation of this sphere will be started.

ecology & health

REZONANSI: “SOON THE POPULATION WILL BUY MEDICINES 40% CHEAPER”

December 6, 2022 - The Georgian Parliament has already approved a bill, envisaging establishment of reference prices in the country.

Ilia Gudushauri, Deputy Minister of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labor, Healthcare and Social Protection, said that at the first stage, reference prices will apply to about 1,000-1,200 medicines.

finances & banking

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““BANKING SECTOR IS ALREADY IN REGIME OF PREFERENTIAL TAX BURDEN, SUPERHIGH NET PROFIT OF BANKS ALREADY FREELY PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DEVELOPMENT””

December 8, 2022 - Giorgi Tsutskiridze, former head of Georgian Banking Association, considers that “superhigh net profit of banks already freely provides an opportunity for expansion and development”. In addition, banks already “operate in a regime of different and preferential tax burden”, he points.




NETGAZETI.GE: “WHAT THE INSURANCE SECTOR THINKS ABOUT POSTPONEMENT OF THE “ESTONIAN MODEL””

December 7, 2022 - Giorgi Baratashvili, executive director of Georgian insurance company Aldagi, considers that “non-participation of the insurance sector in the Estonian model would be absolutely ruinous”. “I am glad that the government has envisaged our multiple meeting, letters, and separated the insurance sector from the financial industry as a whole”, he says.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “DEMAND TO BANKS TO RESERVE MORE CAPITAL LACKS LOGIC – BANKING ASSOCIATION”

December 5, 2022 - Following recommendation of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, National Bank of Georgia considers increase of the buffer requirement for commercial banks.

Alexander Dzneladze, president of Georgian Banking Association, does not see the need to introduce a countercyclical buffer (requirement to banks to reserve more capital) at this stage.

agriculture & food

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IN JANUARY, EGGS MAY RISE IN PRICE AGAIN”

December 5, 2022 - Zurab Chuchulashvili, director general of the egg-producer company Koda, talks about possible increase of eggs’ price by 12-15% in the next year.

Chuchulashvili indicates that problems arisen in import of Ukrainian wheat and increase in customs duties on grain in Russia, raw materials have risen in price.

construction

REZONANSI: “COST OF REPAIR WORKS HAS INCREASED ABNORMALLY”

December 6, 2022 - Construction materials in Georgia started raise in price long time ago, while now, that is added already with the increased cost of repair workers, the newspaper says.

Repair companies note that the price growth is obvious, but the demand has not decreased because of this.