Economic Press Monitor April 11 - 17, 2021	Days:  03 10 17 24 01

economic & politics

NETGAZETI.GE: “MEETING IN KUTAISI: WHAT WAS SAID DIRECTLY ABOUT THE HES CONSTRUCTION”

April 16, 2021 - After the meeting in Kutaisi between “Defenders of Rioni Gorge” and Georgian authorities, activists, who oppose construction of NamokhvanHES, said that the authorities hypothetically allowed an option that the HES will not be built, reports Netgazeti.Ge.

The authorities confirmed that such question was really put at the meeting, but only in a hypothetical framework, the article specifies.




REZONANSI: “GET READY! EVERYTHING CAN HAPPEN AGAIN – THE GOVERNMENT PREPARES FOR THE THIRD “LOCKDOWN””

April 15, 2021 - In case if positivity rate of COVID-19 tests exceeds 4%, the country will be closed once again, the newspaper points, citing a statement of Ekaterine Tikaradze, Georgia’s Minister of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labor, Healthcare and Social Protection.

Businessman Irakli Iashvili estimates that “introduction of restrictions once again will be very bad for business”.




REZONANSI: “ACADEMICIAN NANEISHVILI: AGREEMENT ON “NAMOKHVANHES” SHOULD BE REVISED”

April 14, 2021 - In the village of Gumati, where opponents of NamokhvanHES construction are holding protest action, the police blocked the road with iron barriers, not allow the action participants to pass, the newspaper reports.

Commenting on the current situation, academician Temur Naneishvili notes that no one is disputing Georgia’s need of hydroelectric power plants.




TABULA: “TIKARADZE: WHEN POSITIVITY RATE EXCEEDS 4%, WE SHOULD START TALKING ABOUT LOCKDOWN”

April 14, 2021 - Commenting on new cases of COVID-19 in the country, Georgia’s Minister of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labor, Healthcare and Social Protection, Ekaterine Tikaradze declared: “The approach remains the same, as we had before – when the positivity rate exceeds 4%, that will be already a sign that we should start talking about lockdown, talking about closures and then talking about tightening”. “At this stage, close watch over the epidemiological situation is still underway”, she said.




FORBES GEORGIA: “EPRC: STRATEGIC VISION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR 2022-2028”

April 12, 2021 - Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) presented a strategic vision of Georgian economy development for 2022-2025, the magazine reports. Objectives are divided into 4 categories: priority task, short- and medium-term tasks and long-term reforms.




TABULA: “NGOS ON “NAMOKHVANHES”: INTERIOR MINISTRY’S ACTIONS ARE UNCONVINCING, THEY AIM TO HAMPER THE PROTEST”

April 12, 2021 - Activists, who oppose construction of NamokhvanHES, have put tents in the Rioni River gorge for several months already.

On April 11, officers of the Interior Ministry removed the protesters’ tents with excuse of expected significant increase of water level in the river.

macroeconomics & budget

TABULA: “OUT OF 9 AUCTIONED STATE-OWNED COMPANIES ONLY ONE WAS SOLD”

April 16, 2021 - Out of 9 state-owned companies, brought on privatization auction, only one was sold, Tabula reports. Total cost of the companies proposed for privatization was up to 10 million lari.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““GEORGIA SHOULD ATTRACT CREDIT WITH MUCH LOWER INTEREST RATE, OTHERWISE, EUROBONDS’ PLACEMENT CAN BE CONSIDERED UNSUCCESSFUL””

April 15, 2021 - Roman Gotsiridze, one of the leaders of oppositional National Movement and former president of National Bank of Georgia, comments on the situation in connection with Georgia’s Eurobonds.

On April 12, Georgian government covered Eurobonds worth $500 million, issued in 2011.




REZONANSI: “LARI COLLAPSES AND RUINS ECONOMY AS WELL!”

April 15, 2021 - The article brings comments of economist Ramaz Gerliani and analyst Nika Shengelia regarding lari exchange rate.

Gerliani supposes that abrupt depreciation of lari could be related to coverage of the external debt (Eurobonds worth $500 million).




TABULA: “IMF: GEORGIA WON’T BE ABLE TO REDUCE THE DEBT TO 60% LIMIT UNTIL 2023”

April 12, 2021 - IMF forecasts that Georgia’s state debt will reach 63.85% of GDP by the end of 2021. This means that the state won’t be able to bring the debt below the 60% level envisaged by the Economic Freedom Act this year too, Tabula points.

energy, oil & gas

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IRINA MILORAVA: TEST RESULTS OF THE POWER EXCHANGE WILL BE KNOWN AT THE END OF APRIL”

April 16, 2021 - Irina Milorava, director general of Georgian Power Exchange, declared that test results of the Exchange will be available already at the end of April. While speaking in the radio program “Business Partner”, she pointed that participants of test operation have to submit full applications during 3 days of trades – April 13, 14 and 15.

conflict and court

TABULA: “DIRECTOR OF BATUMI BOULEVARD, WHO OPPOSED CONSTRUCTIONS, IS DISMISSED”

April 13, 2021 - Irakli Jincharadze, director of Batumi Boulevard, who opposed development and alienation of the Boulevard territory, was dismissed from office, Tabula reports.

In its turn, Ajara Ministry of Finance and Economy attributed Jincharadze’s dismissal with violations, revealed by the State Audit Service.

companies

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““MSCI ESG” RATING OF “TBC BANK” INCREASED FROM A TO AA”

April 16, 2021 - TBC Bank Group reported that in April, TBC Bank received an MSCI ESG rating of “AA”. In 2019, the bank’s rating was “A”.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WITH INVESTMENT OF $5M, NEW PREMIUM-CLASS HOTEL OPENS IN MESTIA”

April 13, 2021 - A hotel complex of premium class will be opened in Mestia (mountainous region Svaneti) in May, the magazine reports. LLC Gistola invests $5 million for that end.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “NEW FERROALLOY ENTERPRISE WILL BE BUILT IN TERJOLA – 100 PEOPLE WILL BE EMPLOYED”

April 13, 2021 - With support of “Produce in Georgia” state program, Manganese Industries will build a new ferroalloy enterprise in Terjola municipality (Imereti region), the newspaper reports. The state handed over a land plot to the company at a symbolic price of 1 lari.

international cooperation

REZONANSI: “WHAT WILL GEORGIANS LEGALLY EMPLOYED IN ISRAEL BE PAID AND WHAT CRITERIA WILL BE USED FOR SELECTION OF CANDIDATES”

April 12, 2021 - Georgian Ministry of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labor, Healthcare and Social Protection launched on April 12 an online registration of those Georgian citizens willing to go for legal employment in Israel, which will be open throughout the year. It is planned to employ 1,000 Georgian citizens in Israel during 2021.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “WHEAT PRICE STARTED DECREASE GRADUALLY, RUSSIA FACES PROBLEM WITH GRAIN SALES”

April 14, 2021 - Levan Silagava, executive director of Georgian Wheat and Flour Producers Association, declared that “Price of Russian wheat has started to decrease, though it is more expensive today than tariffs on international exchange”.

Currently, export fee for 1 t of Russian wheat is 50 EUR, which is quite high for companies, the article notes.

tourism

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “KELLY DEGNAN – GEORGIA HAS A LOT TO OFFER IN AGRO-TOURISM”

April 13, 2021 - The US ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan declared that “Georgia has a lot to offer, in particular in agro-tourism”.

The ambassador stated this during the panel discussion “Pandemic: Opportunity or Challenge for Agricultural Sector”, organized by Georgian Farmers’ Association.