Economic Press Monitor June 4 - 10, 2023	Days:  27 03 10 17 24

economic & politics

BATUMELEBI: “LAND, REGISTERED IN 2023-2024, WILL NOT BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT UPON ASSIGNMENT OF POINTS”

June 8, 2023 - Georgian government decided not to take into account land, which primary registration was held between January 1, 2023 and January 1, 2025, upon assessment of households’ economic and social situation during the same period (for the purpose of allowance issuing). Respective decree of the government entered in force on June 7.




TABULA: “PRESIDENT: INDEPENDENCE OF KHUTSISHVILI WAS PROBLEMATIC – THAT IS CONFIRMED ALSO BY BLACKMAIL OF THE GOVERNMENT”

June 8, 2023 - Giorgi Mskhlidze, parliamentary secretary of Georgian President, confirms that the President Salome Zurabishvili really considered nomination of the Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili in the Council of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).

Professionalism, experience and qualification of Khutsishvili “met criteria”, but “one of the most essential criteria – independence of the candidate, was problematic”, Mskhlidze says.




REZONANSI: “WHAT ARE PROSPECTS FOR OBTAINING THE STATUS OF CANDIDATE – “THE POSITIVE TREND IS SEEN FROM EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S SIDE””

June 8, 2023 - Pawel Herczynski, the EU ambassador to Georgia, said that “there is a midpoint for Georgia now”, “the country is at the crossroad, where the issue concerns integration with the EU”. “It is extremely important that the dialog between Georgia and 27 EU member states was as intensive, as it is just possible”, he pointed.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “RULE OF GEORGIAN CITIZENSHIP GRANTING CHANGES”

June 6, 2023 - Rati Bregadze, Georgia’s Minister of Justice, declared that the government of the country decided “to simplify these procedures as much as possible to those our compatriots, who will decide to obtain citizenship of Georgia”.

In particular, persons wishing to obtain citizenship should pass exam (knowledge of Georgian) at the Agency of State Services Development before submission of application on citizenship granting.

macroeconomics & budget

FORBES GEORGIA: “IN TERMS OF THE GOVERNMENT DEBT, GEORGIA IS ON THE 138^TH PLACE IN THE WORLD”

June 7, 2023 - According to the IMF, debt of Georgian government in relation to the country’s GDP in 2022 made up 39.8%. By this showing, Georgia is on the 138^th place among 188 countries of the world.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WHAT CAUSED GROWTH OF GEORGIAN ECONOMY IN 2022?”

June 7, 2023 - In 2022, Georgian economy has increased by 10.1% that corresponds to the 11^th place in a world.

High growth was generally recorded in small countries with tourism-dependent economy, to which number Georgia belongs.




REZONANSI: “INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORTATION COST DECREASED BY ALMOST 90%, BUT NOTHING GOT CHEAPER IN GEORGIA”

June 7, 2023 - Transportation rates on global market dropped by almost 90%. The World Container Index makes up now $1,380 against of peak of $11,109 in 2021.




REZONANSI: “BECAUSE OF UNEXPECTED AND ILLOGICAL DEVALUATION, LARI LOST TRUST AT ONCE”

June 5, 2023 - Until recent, lari was strengthened to 2.47 GEL/USD, but unexpectedly the rate dropped to 2.64 GEL/USD, the newspaper says.

Alexander Dzneladze, head of Georgian Banking Association, says: “We expected depreciation, but more likely, after summer”.

energy, oil & gas

TABULA: “NARMANIA: GROWTH OF TARIFFS IN THE SECTOR OF ELECTRIC POWER IS NOT EXPECTED DURING 1-1.5 YEARS AT LEAST”

June 9, 2023 - David Narmania, chairman of Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulating Commission, declared that “in the near future, growth of tariffs in the sector of electric power is not expected during 1-1.5 years at least”. “For natural gas, we set longer period, and growth is not expected here too”, he said.

conflict and court

BATUMELEBI: “3 OBJECTS OF “RETRO” ARE CLOSED, VIOLATION OF SAFETY NORMS IS REVEALED – INSPECTION ”

June 6, 2023 - On June 5, the owner of Retro restaurant was detained in Batumi upon beating of the waiter. On the same day, 15 employees left the restaurant.

companies

NETGAZETI.GE: “WHAT THE COMPANY, CONNECTED WITH CHILDREN OF VANO CHKHARTISHVILI, WANTS TO BUILD IN SHINDISI”

June 9, 2023 - LLC Tabakhmela Smart Development plans development of own land plot on the territory of the village Shindisi in Tbilisi, building “townhouses” there.

The company is founded on April 27 this year, and its legal address is the village Tsavkisi, located near Shindisi.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “GEORGIAN-KAZAKH JOINT VENTURE WILL BUILT MULTIMODAL TERMINAL OF $10M IN POTI”

June 5, 2023 - Project of construction of the multimodal terminal in Poti will be implemented with participation of PTC Holding (Kazakhstan). For that end, agreement was signed on June 2 between PTC Holding and the Georgian partners.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ON VAZHA-PSHAVELA AVENUE, 37-STOREY COMPLEX WILL BE BUILT”

June 5, 2023 - In Tbilisi, on the territory of former hotel Abkhazia (Vazha Pshavela Ave. 25), construction of the 37-storey building is planned. The project is implemented by Wissol Group with investments for $70 million.




FORBES GEORGIA: ““LSG SOLUTIONS” JOINED THE PROJECT OF “TELEGRAPH” HOTEL OF “SILK DEVELOPMENT””

June 5, 2023 - Silk Development implements the project of construction of Telegraph hotel in Tbilisi worth 60 million EUR with the financial support of TBC Bank and Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia).

Now, LSG Solutions, the company of construction management, design and consulting services, joined the project.

finances & banking

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““AT THE END OF THE MONTH, THERE WERE TWO LARGE TRANSACTIONS, WHICH COINCIDED – BECAUSE OF THIS, WE DECIDED TO HELP THE MARKET AND CONDUCTED INTERVENTION””

June 9, 2023 - Archil Mestvirishvili, acting president of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), declared: “We are active on the forex market from the second half of last year, mainly in terms of buying” currency.

“At that, when we have an opportunity to stabilize short-term fluctuations on the forex market, we conduct interventions, including sell of currency too”, Mestvirishvili pointed.




REZONANSI: ““NOW, THERE IS A CERTAIN GAME, THEY TRY TO FOIST OFF DOLLARS, BOUGHT FOR CHEAP, ON THE POPULATION AND BUSINESS FOR HIGH PRICE””

June 6, 2023 - Galt&Taggart estimates that in 2023, weighted average rate of lari against the US dollar will make up 2.55 GEL/USD.

We attribute recent devaluation of lari to a one-time factor, as currency influx remains strong and tourism revenues grow sharply, declares the company.