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

economic & politics

TABULA: “OMBUDSMAN ON “TV PIRVELI”: THE RULING IS NOT JUSTIFIED AND CONTRADICTS THE LAW”

March 12, 2021 - Tbilisi City Court allowed the Prosecutor’s Office to withdraw materials from TV Pirveli.

Georgian Ombudsman Nino Lomjaria declared that this decision is not justified from the point of view of both national and European human rights legislations.




FORBES GEORGIA: “ACCORDING TO “FORBES”, BIDZINA IVANISHVILI’S PROPERTY HAS DECREASED TO $3.3B”

March 12, 2021 - Forbes estimates that property of Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s former Prime Minister and founder of ruling Georgian Dream, has decreased by $1.5 billion and makes up $3.3 billion now. The assessment does not explain the reduction.




REZONANSI: “95,000 PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING FOR 300 JOBS – IT'S A DISASTER!”

March 11, 2021 - Over 95,000 applicants are registered in total on web platform of the program for legal employment in Germany (seasonal, for 3 months in agriculture), the newspaper reports. At that, as the article notes, German side has offered only 300 vacancies so far.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “GEORGIAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION URGES AUTHORITIES TO SHIFT RESTRICTION ON NIGHT MOVEMENT TO 23:00”

March 10, 2021 - Soso Pkhakadze, president of Georgian Business Association, indicates that the most important thing for the business sector today is full opening of economy and further easing of restrictions, imposed in response to COVID-19 outbreak. “First of all, it is necessary to cancel restriction on movement during night hours or to shift it for at least 2 hours”, he says.

macroeconomics & budget

REZONANSI: “INVESTMENTS CATASTROPHICALLY REDUCED AND WHAT HAVE ARRIVED, WAS NOT USED FOR THE ECONOMY”

March 12, 2021 - In 2020, foreign direct investments in Georgia amounted to $616.9 million, decreasing by 52.9% in comparison with the adjusted data for 2019. Last time, such heavy indicators were fixed in the country 15 years ago, the newspaper points.

energy, oil & gas

FORBES GEORGIA: “HOW MUCH ELECTRICITY IS CONSUMED FOR MINING IN GEORGIA?”

March 11, 2021 - Natia Turnava, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, declared that “Mining companies consumed 2% of our total consumption [of electricity] in 2020”.

Namely, in 2020, BFDC Georgia (Georgian data center of Bitfury) consumed 132 million kWh, which made up 1.08% of the country’s total consumption.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IS IT POSSIBLE TO SUBSTITUTE “NAMOKHVANI” WITH SOLAR POWER PLANTS?”

March 11, 2021 - Power engineer Murman Margvelashvili posted in social network his consideration, whether substitution of NamokhvanHES with solar power plants is possible.

As Margvelashvili points, NamokhvanHES with capacity of 433 MW will generate 1,500 GWh of electricity, and in order to generate the same volume, a solar power plant with capacity of 1,150 MW is required.




REZONANSI: “FUEL IN GEORGIA WILL RISE IN PRICE UP TO 3 LARI SOON?”

March 10, 2021 - In connection with oil prices, economic expert David Ebralidze indicates: “Recent trend on global markets is towards price rising. Supposedly, this trend will last”.




TABULA: “TURNAVA: DUE TO “NO TO HES” CAMPAIGN, HYDROPOWER INDUSTRY FELL BEHIND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT”

March 9, 2021 - “As you know, Georgian economy has been developing quite rapidly during the past 10 years”, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava said. “However, hydropower industry and construction of hydroelectric stations have fallen behind this process due to a number of problems, including the “No to HES” campaign”, she pointed.

transport & communications

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “TRAVEL BY BLUE MINIBUSES WILL COST 50 TETRI INSTEAD OF 80 TETRI”

March 10, 2021 - From April 1, new blue minibuses will be included in the integrated public transport network of Tbilisi and travel will cost 50 tetri instead of 80, the newspaper reports.

This is envisaged by the city government’s working program on public transport for 2021-2023.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““BIGGEST POTENTIAL TO ATTRACT CARGO FOR ANAKLIA PORT HAVE CHINESE INVESTORS””

March 9, 2021 - “Within the framework of the Anaklia [port] project, a new investor has to ensure attraction of such partners in the West and the East, who will not only invest money, but will also provide freight traffic”, says Vakhtang Charaia, director of Analysis and Forecasting Center at Tbilisi State University.

“Perhaps, because of in Georgia’s Western aspirations, it is considered a good tone to have only and only American or European investor, but we should consider Chinese investors too”, Charaia states.

ecology & health

REZONANSI: “IN THREE MONTHS, NEW “EXPLOSION” COULD HAPPEN – RATE OF MASKING DROPPED TO 43%”

March 10, 2021 - Amiran Gamkrelidze, head of Georgian National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, says that rate of masking in Georgia (to prevent spread of COVID-19) has dropped to 43%. This can cause a deterioration of epidemic situation, he warns.




FORBES GEORGIA: “UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE IN GEORGIA – SUCCESSES AND BARRIERS”

March 9, 2021 - The article states that universal healthcare program, which was launched in Georgia in 2013, has improved the population’s access to healthcare services.

However, launch of the program had to be followed by systemic reforms that, on the one hand, would have improved quality of medical services, while on the other hand, would have made profitable public or private investments in healthcare, says author of the article, Mariam Jashi, regional chair for Eastern Europe and Central Asia of global network of parliamentarians against infectious diseases (UNITE).