Economic Press Monitor November 7 - 13, 2021	Days:  30 06 13 20 27

economic & politics

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ANDRIUS KUBILIUS: PERHAPS GEORGIANS WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE – EITHER “GEORGIAN DREAM” OR EU”

November 11, 2021 - MEP Andrius Kubilius declared that the way, Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream treats the country’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili is “very bad”. However, “I don’t believe that my statements will prompt the ruling party to change its actions”, he noted.




REZONANSI: “UKRAINE SENDS A NOTE TO GEORGIA – TWO MISTAKES OF THE AUTHORITIES AND A CHANCE FOR SAAKASHVILI’S EXTRADITION”

November 10, 2021 - Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a protest note to Georgia in connection with relocation of Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili to a prison hospital, the newspaper reports.

“Stay of Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili in penitentiary institution causes risks”, the note says.




TABULA: “PARENTS GAVE IRAKLI GARIBASHVILI 150,000 LARI – DECLARATION”

November 10, 2021 - Declaration of Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili says that his parents gave him savings of 150,000 lari.

The declaration also indicates that Garibashvili owns 3 apartments in Tbilisi, total cost of which makes up 506,000 lari.




REZONANSI: “CONTROL OF GREEN CARDS WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT – “THERE WILL BE STRICTNESS FOR 1-2 MONTHS, AND THEN THEY WILL STOP””

November 9, 2021 - In the context of the pandemic, everyone welcomes enactment of the “Green Card” (or “Green Passport”) system in Georgia since December, but almost no one expects that the regulations will be executed, the newspaper says.

The fact that this restriction does not apply to shopping malls, some experts assess as a step towards business protection, the article notes.

macroeconomics & budget

REZONANSI: “UTILITY PAYMENTS WILL NO LONGER BE FUNDED TO 80% OF POPULATION”

November 11, 2021 - Georgian Finance Ministry reported that from January through September, the country’s government has spent 118.6 million lari on subsidizing utility bills of the population. Of which, 35.4 million lari was allocated for subsidizing of the electricity tariff that has increased since January.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “AS OF OCTOBER 2021, AMOUNT FROM PRIVATIZATION OF PROPERTY, PUT UP FOR AUCTION BY THE STATE, TOTALED TO 281,732,500 LARI”

November 9, 2021 - As of this October, the state had auctioned property with total starting cost of 486.66 million lari, the newspaper reports.

Auctions were successfully completed on the property of 198.37 million lari.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IRAKLI KOVZANADZE SAYS THAT THERE IS A NUMBER OF AMENDMENTS IN REVISED VERSION OF THE DRAFT STATE BUDGET-2022”

November 8, 2021 - Irakli Kovzanadze, chairman of Georgian Parliament’s Fiscal Committee, said that Georgian government made a number of amendments in the revised version of the draft state budget-2022.

The revised version envisages part of comments and suggestions, made during initial draft’s consideration in the Parliament, Kovzanadze noted.

energy, oil & gas

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF GEORGIAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION SHAVLEG MISHVELADZE SPEAKS ABOUT RISE OF FUEL PRICES AND SEARCH OF POSSIBLE WAY OUT”

November 12, 2021 - Shavleg Mishveladze, deputy Executive Director of Georgian Business Association, considers that the way to solve the problems, connected with growth of fuel prices, should be sought in change of excise tax.

“Should the excise tax be floating, should it be halved or even canceled, this is responsibility of concrete departments and the government”, Mishveladze indicates.




FORBES GEORGIA: “NEW NATURAL GAS MARKET IS BEING FORMED IN GEORGIA”

November 11, 2021 - In early September, Georgian government approved a new concept aimed at creation of natural gas exchange in Georgia and liberalization of the market.

In an interview with the magazine, Gocha Shonia, a member of Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulating Commission, points that the concept does not specify clearly prescribed terms for creation of the exchange, as envisaged in case of the electric power market model.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “OIL SEARCH OPERATIONS ON THE BLACK SEA SHELF TO START IN MAY 2022”

November 10, 2021 - Georgian Oil and Gas Agency declared that oil exploration works on the Black Sea shelf will start in May 2022.

The works will be carried out by the Austrian OMV Petrom, which has a 7-year action plan in Georgia.




REZONANSI: “GAS HAS NOT OFFICIALLY RISEN IN PRICE YET, WHILE THEY ARE ALREADY TALKING ABOUT ADDITIONAL INCREASE OF THE TARIFF”

November 10, 2021 - From December 1, gas will rise in price for businesses in Georgian regions, the newspaper says, noting that the rise is grounded with depreciation of the national currency, despite the fact that lari has been stable already for a long time.

Power engineer Temur Chichinadze does not exclude that in near future, gas for business will rise in price more, but notes that there is no reasons for the tariff growth, the article says.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “WHEN WILL THE COUNTRY TURN TO DIFFERENTIATED DAY-NIGHT TARIFFS – NARMANIA’S EXPLANATION”

November 9, 2021 - David Narmania, chairman of Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulating Commission, indicated that since October 1, utility companies are obliged to install smart meters in all new buildings.

Regarding houses with old meters, we will approve utility companies’ investment plans for their replacement in the near future, Narmania said, speaking in the Parliament.




REZONANSI: “TREND IN AVIATION KEROSENE IMPORT HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY AND THE GREATEST GROWTH HAS BEEN RECORDED”

November 9, 2021 - Vano Mtvralashvili, head of Georgian Oil-Products Importers Union, estimates that trend in the import of aviation kerosene has changed dramatically and the greatest growth has been recorded.

In January-October, Georgia’s import of aviation kerosene totaled to 73,500 t, which by 54.7% exceeds the showing of the same period of 2020 and is by 11.4% less compared with the same period of pre-pandemic 2019.

companies

FORBES GEORGIA: ““ZUGDIDI MALL” IS BEING BUILT IN ZUGDIDI”

November 8, 2021 - Consulting company Cushman&Wakefield reported that construction of Zugdidi Mall in Zugdidi, the first modern trade center in Samegrelo region, will be completed by the end of this year. The facility will begin operation with a full load in spring 2022.

agriculture & food

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IN 2021, OLIVES’ YIELD IN GEORGIA INCREASED ABOUT 2.5 TIMES”

November 12, 2021 - This year, olives’ yield in Georgia has increased about 2.5 times compared with the previous year, the Olive Association reported. As the Association noted, 200 t of olives have been already collected at this stage, and the harvesting will continue until end of this month.




REZONANSI: “SLIGHTLY CHEAPENED SUNFLOWER OIL MAY RISE IN PRICE AT ONCE”

November 12, 2021 - From December, Russia, the largest importer of sunflower oil to Georgia, will increase customs duties on export of this product, the newspaper reports.

The article specifies that in January-September, Georgia purchased 25,257 t of sunflower oil worth $36.96 million, of which Russia accounted for 87.7%.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““PRICE OF BREAD COULD CHANGE, BUT IT WILL NOT CHANGE PAINFULLY, PERHAPS IT WILL BE WITHIN 5-10 TETRI””

November 8, 2021 - Malkhaz Dolidze, chairman of Georgian Bread Producers Association, declared that “price of bread could change, but it will not change painfully, perhaps it will be within 5-10 tetri”. The price of bread will not change probably until the New Year, he noted.