Economic Press Monitor September 5 - 11, 2021	Days:  14 04 11 18 25

economic & politics

NETGAZETI.GE: “INTEREST RATE ON THE EU PREFERENTIAL LOAN MADE UP 0.125% – DETAILS”

September 10, 2021 - Georgia refused a preferential loan from the EU, which annual interest rate made up only 0.125%, says Netgazeti.Ge.

The matter concerns 75 million EUR, the second tranche of the EU macro-financial assistance of 150 million EUR.




FORBES GEORGIA: “IN TERMS OF FOREIGN TRADE FREEDOM, GEORGIA RANKS 9^TH IN THE WORLD”

September 10, 2021 - In the rating of foreign trade freedom for 2021, the American Heritage Foundation placed Georgia the 9^th among 179 countries. Georgia got 86 points out of a possible 100.




TABULA: ““A THIRD SETBACK WITHIN ONLY TWO MONTHS” – HARTZELL ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS”

September 8, 2021 - Carl Hartzell, the EU ambassador to Georgia, negatively estimates removal of the issue of appointing the Prosecutor General from the agenda upon adoption of constitutional amendments by Georgian Parliament in first hearing (September 7), Tabula reports.

“Today’s withdrawal of the amendment is therefore a third setback within only two months, in terms of Georgia’s commitments to reform its Judiciary”, the ambassador said in his remarks on the subject.




TABULA: ““YET ANOTHER BROKEN PROMISE BY THE RULING PARTY”- THE US EMBASSY ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS”

September 8, 2021 - The US embassy in Georgia negatively estimates withdrawal of the issue of appointing the Prosecutor General from the agenda upon adoption of constitutional amendments by Georgian Parliament in first hearing (September 7), Tabula reports.

“Georgian Dream’s refusal to support the Prosecutor General amendment contradicts the party’s July 28 reiteration of its commitment to implement the judicial reforms and adopt the Constitutional amendments laid out in the April 19 Agreement”, the embassy said in a statement.




NETGAZETI.GE: “PLEDGE OF UNFULFILLED PROJECTS’ CONTINUATION – KALADZE PRESENTED ELECTION PROGRAM”

September 7, 2021 - Kakha Kaladze, current Tbilisi Mayor and the ruling Georgian Dream’s second-time nominee for this post (local elections will be held in Georgia in October), presented his election program, reports Netgazeti.Ge. At the presentation, Kaladze spoke about those projects, promised in 2017, which have not been implemented due to the pandemic.




REZONANSI: ““BLACK MARKET” OF MEDICINES BECOMES MORE AND MORE INTENSE AND EVEN ENJOYS APPROVAL”

September 7, 2021 - Relatives of infected patients tell the press that the medicine, which is crucial for COVID-19 patients, is in short supply in clinics, the newspaper reports. Clinics offer people to buy that medicine at their own expense, while it costs 4,100 lari on the “black market”.




KVIRIS PALITRA: “WHEN WILL THE ECONOMY GET OUT OF THE PANDEMIC “PIT”?”

September 6, 2021 - Giorgi Kapanadze, founder of Georgian Young Businessmen and Financiers Association, pointes “that in order our population feels economic growth, jobs must increase and unemployment must decrease, wages must grow in both public and business sectors”. “At the same time, we should not have such a high level of inflation as we have now”, he indicates.




TABULA: “GAMKRELIDZE: I AGREE, RESTRICTIONS AND REGULATIONS WERE EASED PREMATURELY”

September 6, 2021 - Amiran Gamkrelidze, director of Georgian National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC), considers that this summer, “restrictions and certain regulations were eased prematurely”.

“We eased the restrictions because business was in very difficult situation and poverty indicator and existence of people in the country were in a difficult situation”, Gamkrelidze declared on the air of PalitraNews.

macroeconomics & budget

TABULA: “THE GOVERNMENT PLANS TO FINANCE FROM THE BUDGET THE PARTNERSHIP FUND WHICH HAS A BILLION-DOLLAR DEBT”

September 10, 2021 - At the autumn session, Georgian Parliament plans to amend the law on the Georgian Partnership Fund, Tabula reports.

As the article notes, if the document is adopted, the Fund, which has a billion-dollar debt, will receive funding from the state budget.




REZONANSI: “BY THE END OF THE YEAR, THERE WILL BE UNBELIEVABLE INFLATION IN THE COUNTRY”

September 8, 2021 - Georgian consumer price index in this August has increased by 12.8% year-on-year – there has not been such high inflation in Georgia over the past 10 years, the newspaper indicates.

Lasha Kavtaradze, economist at Galt&Taggart, forecasts that taking the basic effect into account, inflation in December will be within 14%.

companies

TABULA: “IN PARTNERSHIP OF “BOG” AND “TRANSMSHENI”, A SOCIAL PROJECT WAS SUCCESSFULLY BUILT IN TSKALTUBO”

September 7, 2021 - In partnership of Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia, BOG) and Transmsheni (TransBuilder, manufacturing of building structures, construction of bridges, tunnels, etc.), a social project was implemented in Tskaltubo municipality (Imereti region).

Within the project, a 10-storey residential complex for IDPs was built on area of 30,000 square m.




FORBES GEORGIA: ““NEW VISION” UNIVERSITY BECAME OWNER OF “TORPEDO KUTAISI””

September 6, 2021 - As a result of the auction, New Vision University became owner of 100% stake in football club Torpedo Kutaisi, the magazine reports. The University has pledged to pay the club’s debts, as well as to keep it with annual budget of at least 4 million lari.

ecology & health

REZONANSI: “HOW IS A VACCINE CHOSEN IN GEORGIA – WHICH ONE IS LEADING IN THE RATING AND WHY”

September 9, 2021 - Georgian National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) reported that in the period from March 15 to September 5, vaccine of Pfizer is the leader in vaccination against COVID-19 in the country. Chinese Sinopharm and Sinovac occupy the second and third positions, being followed by AstraZeneca.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IN GEORGIA, TOTAL OF 1,285,742 VACCINATIONS WERE CARRIED OUT, 454,486 PEOPLE ARE FULLY VACCINATED – 15.9% OF ADULT POPULATION”

September 6, 2021 - Georgian National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) reported that in total, 1.29 million vaccinations against COVID-19 have been carried out in the country.

831,256 people, or 29.1% of Georgia’s adult population, have been vaccinated with 1 dose.

finances & banking

FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIAN BANKING SECTOR”

September 8, 2021 - Healthcare crisis has not ended yet, but Georgian banks have coped with the challenges quite well, the magazine notes. With high probability, banks will return to the pre-pandemic profit indicator soon, but resolution of assets’ quality problems may take more time.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “FLOUR PRICE HAS RETURNED TO CRITICAL MARK – AFTER THE ELECTIONS, IT WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP PRICE OF BREAD”

September 7, 2021 - Malkhaz Dolidze, head of Georgian Bread Producers Association, declares that wheat import becomes more expensive and it is already difficult to keep price of bread. “In order for local production to work smoothly, a relatively cheap product must arrive”, he points.

construction

FORBES GEORGIA: “CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INDUSTRY: HISTORICAL PARTING OF THE WAYS”

September 9, 2021 - As of 2020, share of construction in total output of Georgian economy made up 12.9%, while this industry accounted for 8.9% in GDP.

At that, the article says that the construction and development industry is now at the crossroads in terms of use of technical regulations.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WHAT IS POTENTIAL OF GEORGIAN REAL ESTATE ON INTERNATIONAL MAP?”

September 9, 2021 - Prices on real estate in Georgia are still low, but they are growing. Estimations say that in a few years, prices of real estate in Georgia will be equal to those in Eastern European countries, the article points.