Economic Press Monitor December 5 - 11, 2021	Days:  27 04 11 18 25

economic & politics

TABULA: “HEALTHCARE MINISTER EKATERINE TIKARADZE RESIGNED”

December 10, 2021 - Ekaterine Tikaradze has resigned from the post of Georgia’s Minister of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labor, Healthcare and Social Protection, which she had held since September 2019. At news briefing (held in the evening of December 9), she declared that she remains a member of the political council of the ruling Georgian Dream and will continue work for the healthcare sector from this platform.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““BOTH NBG PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MONETARY POLICY DOCUMENT””

December 9, 2021 - Irakli Kovzanadze, chairman of the Parliament’s Fiscal Committee, thinks that besides president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG), members of the NBG Council should also assume responsibility for the monetary policy document. In future, NBG should envisage this requirement of the Committee, he pointed.




REZONANSI: “POPULATION SHOULD BREATHE A SIGH, BUT PHARMACEUTICAL BUSINESS SHOULD DEVELOP TOO”

December 9, 2021 - High cost of medicines has worried the population for a long time, and Georgian Prime Minister decided to settle the issue in such a way that neither population, nor business is affected, the newspaper says.

According to Georgian government’s calculations, new regulations will help decrease prices of medicines by 40-50%, which will reduce the healthcare costs of each family by at least 15%.




TABULA: “BEKAURI’S STATEMENT ON MEDIA REGULATION IS ALARMING – “COALITION FOR MEDIA ADVOCACY””

December 7, 2021 - Kakha Bekauri, chairman of Georgian National Communication Commission, wants introduction of additional regulations for the media, in particular, for TV and radio broadcasters.

In response, the Coalition for Media Advocacy declared that Bekauri’s statement is alarming and contains a real danger of restricting the freedom of expression of critical opinion in the country.

macroeconomics & budget

NETGAZETI.GE: “WHAT IMPACT DOES DEPRECIATION OF TURKISH LIRA HAVE ON GEORGIA”

December 8, 2021 - The article reviews the reasons for depreciation of Turkish lira and its impact on Georgian economy. Turkey is one of Georgia's main trading partners.




FORBES GEORGIA: “AIR BUBBLE IN REAL ECONOMIC GROWTH FOR 8 MONTHS OF 2021”

December 7, 2021 - Average rate of Georgia’s real economic growth for 8 months of this year made up 12%, where an air bubble could be, says author of the article, senior consultant of PMCG Mikhail Kukava.

As Kukava notes, the pandemic has generated an unprecedented phenomenon in economy – delayed demand.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WHAT CAUSED HIGH INFLATION AND WHEN SHOULD WE EXPECT ITS DECREASE?”

December 6, 2021 - Koba Gvenetadze, president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG), analyzes in the article the problem of high inflation that arose against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He indicates that the year 2021 turned out to be problematic in terms of inflation on a global scale, and highlights the rise in food prices.

energy, oil & gas

FORBES GEORGIA: “WHAT KALADZE AND THE “DREAMING” GOVERNMENT DID NOT GIVE TO GEORGIA’S ENERGY SECTOR”

December 10, 2021 - The article offers considerations about mistakes, which government of Georgian Dream made in Georgian energy sector from 2012 to 2021.

Author of the article (Mikhail Machavariani, MP from United National Movement in 2008-2016) considers that the ruling party not only lacks a consistent policy in the energy sector, but also has no policy at all.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ECONOMY MINISTRY – FIRST PHASE OF CONSTRUCTION OF UNDERGROUND GAS STORAGE WILL BEGIN IN 2022”

December 9, 2021 - David Tvalabeishvili, Georgia’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, declared that the 1^st phase of construction of underground gas storage facility is planned to launch in the next year. The project will be implemented with participation of the German Credit Bank for Reconstruction (KfW), while negotiations with other groups are also underway, he said.

conflict and court

TABULA: “CLAIM OF JARJI AKIMIDZE AND DAVID DVALI ON “RUSTAVI-2” CASE IS NOT SATISFIED”

December 9, 2021 - Tbilisi City Court did not satisfy suit of Jarji Akimidze and David Dvali, which they filed with demand of return 60% stake in broadcasting company Rustavi-2, Tabula reports. The TV company remains in whole ownership of Kibar Khalvashi.




TABULA: “TURNAVA: REGARDLESS TO HOW LITIGATION WITH “INTERRAO” ENDS, IT WILL NOT AFFECT THE TARIFFS FOR POPULATION”

December 7, 2021 - Natia Turnava, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, declared that the Stockholm International Arbitration partially satisfied the claim of InterRAO (indirect owned of energy assets in Georgia), which demanded compensation of $200 million, but the Arbitration confirmed only $80 million.

Georgia has appealed against the ruling, the Minister said, assuring that “regardless to how the litigation ends, it will not affect the [electricity] tariffs for the population”.

companies

TABULA: “HOW ONLINE GAMBLING BUSINESS WORKS IN GEORGIA”

December 10, 2021 - Georgian Gambling Association reported that in 2020, turnover of online gambling totaled to 32 billion lari, of which the sums, won by customers, made up 31 billion lari.

Combined revenues of 6 companies, operating in this industry, made up only 3% of total turnover, or 960 million lari, the Association indicated.




FORBES GEORGIA: “MAIN MEASURE OF “SAKARTVELOS BANKI” - INTERVIEW WITH NUTSA GOGILASHVILI”

December 8, 2021 - Nutsa Gogilashvili, head of customer satisfaction and human capital management at Georgia’s second largest Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia), reviews situation in this field in an interview with the magazine.

Gogilashvili notes that in order to manage relations with customers, the bank cooperates with Salesforce platform.




FORBES GEORGIA: “ELECTRICITY GENERATED FROM WASTE - INTERVIEW WITH PANTELEIMON IOSAVA”

December 8, 2021 - Panteleimon Iosava, founder of Georgian Alternative Energy company, talks in an interview with the magazine about generation of electricity through recycling of waste. Today, the main activity of the company is processing of rubber (including used tires) and technical elements by the method of pyrolysis, he says.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““GALT&TAGGART” ACCOMPLISHED THE LARGEST M&A TRANSACTION IN REAL ESTATE SECTOR IN 2021”

December 6, 2021 - Galt&Taggart accomplished the largest merger-acquisition (M&A) transaction in the real estate sector in 2021, the newspaper reports.

In particular, this investment company has assisted Georgia Capital to sell portfolio of commercial real estate worth $30 million.

transport & communications

FORBES GEORGIA: “IN TERMS OF INFRASTRUCTURE, GEORGIA RANKS THE 73^RD IN THE WORLD”

December 10, 2021 - In the latest Global Competitiveness Report, published annually by the World Economic Forum, Georgia ranks the 74^th among 141 countries, while the 73^rd – in the infrastructure ranking, the magazine reports.

As the article notes, 2020 was an exception, when the reports was not published due to the pandemic, and the current rating is actually of the year 2019.

international cooperation

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “DEFENSE DEPARTMENT WILL RECEIVE SUPPORT PACKAGE WORTH 12.75M EUR FROM THE EU COUNCIL IN THE FORM OF MEDICAL AND ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT”

December 7, 2021 - The European Council, within the framework of the European Peace Facility (EPF), approved a support package for Georgia, which envisages handover to Georgia of non-lethal medical and engineering equipment, as well as civilian-type mobility means, the newspaper reports.

As the article notes, the support package, calculated for 36 months, amounts to 12.75 million EUR.

ecology & health

TABULA: “GAMKRELIDZE: WE HAVE A SHAMEFUL RATE OF MASK WEARING – 28%”

December 6, 2021 - Amiran Gamkrelidze, head of Georgian National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, believes that the rate of wearing masks in both closed and open spaces should increase. “We have a shameful rate of mask wearing – 28%”, he points.

agriculture & food

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “LEVAN SILAGAVA – TWO CHALLENGES ARE EXPECTED IN CONNECTION WITH BREAD PRICE”

December 6, 2021 - Levan Silagava, executive director of Georgian Wheat and Flour Producers Association, said that 2 challenges are expected in connection with the bread price.

According to Silagava, the first challenge is quota, set by Russia (Georgia’s main wheat supplier) on wheat export.