Economic Press Monitor March 12 - 18, 2023	Days:  04 11 18 25 01

economic & politics

TABULA: “THE UK WILL ASSIST MOLDOVA AND GEORGIA FINANCIALLY”

March 17, 2023 - The UK government declared about intention to provide financial assistance to Moldova and Georgia.

In particular, 10 million GBP will be allocated to Moldova to support economic and governance reforms, while 500,000 GBP will be allocated to Georgia to strengthen security of the parliamentary elections in 2024.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT IN GLOBAL ECONOMY AND GEORGIA IN 2023?”

March 17, 2023 - The IMF, the World Bank and EBRD forecast Georgia’s economic growth at 4% in 2023. In its turn, the Georgian government projects the growth at the level of 5%.




REZONANSI: “PRODUCTS ARE NOT GETTING CHEAPER – DISTRIBUTORS AND RETAIL CHAINS SPEND TIME IN MUTUAL ACCUSATIONS”

March 16, 2023 - Iva Chkonia, head of Georgian Distributors Association, says that “today, foodstuff is getting cheaper on the consumer market, but only within the framework of promo action, which is unacceptable for the population”.

“Products will really get cheaper, if retail chains do not demand high cashbacks, bonuses and other payments from us”, Chkonia points.




FORBES GEORGIA: “ELECTRIC CABLE, CFD MECHANISM AND AGENTS OF FOREIGN INFLUENCE | INTERVIEW WITH SEBASTIAN MOLINEUS”

March 15, 2023 - The magazine publishes an interview with Sebastian Molineus, the World Bank (WB) regional director for the South Caucasus.

Molineus says that currently, the WB is assisting Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and Georgian State Electrosystem in conducting a feasibility study of the projects of the Black Sea underwater electric and internet cables.




TABULA: “LACK OF IMPARTIALITY – VENICE COMMISSION’S OPINION ON DE-OLIGARCHIZATION LAW”

March 15, 2023 - The interim opinion of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe says that Georgia’s draft law “On De-oligarchization” contains several insufficiently explained terms and there is a danger of its use by the government against the opposition.

The Georgian Parliament has already adopted the document in 2 hearings, after which it was sent to the Venice Commission.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IN 6 MONTHS, FOREIGN CITIZENS HAVE RE-REGISTERED 1,956 LAND PLOTS IN GEORGIA – MOSTLY, CITIZENS OF RUSSIA”

March 14, 2023 - Referring to Georgian Justice Ministry, InterPressNews news agency reported that in the period from April 20 to October 20, 2022, 1,720 foreign citizens registered ownership for 1,956 non-agricultural land plots in Georgia. The largest number (950 sites) was registered by 874 Russian citizens, the agency specified.




REZONANSI: “ECONOMY GOT A BLOW OF CERTAIN INTENSITY, BUT HAS WITHSTOOD THIS TIME”

March 14, 2023 - Giorgi Kacharava, executive director of the EU-Georgia Business Council, states that events, developed in Georgia during the past few weeks, “have not been facilitating to implementation of certain projects”.

“One company called us and said it could suspend the investment project because of events of the past few weeks”, Kacharava said, adding: “We will try to get this investor back”.




NETGAZETI.GE: “RECENT EVENTS IN GEORGIA AND SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA – WHAT SULLIVAN DISCUSSED WITH ZURABISHVILI”

March 13, 2023 - Georgia’s President Salome Zurabishvili met in Washington DC with Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor to President Biden.

Among other issues, the parties considered sanctions imposed on Russia by the US and over 30 partner countries.




TABULA: ““GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT IS GOING AGAINST A EURO-ATLANTIC FUTURE” – “EPP” RESOLUTION”

March 13, 2023 - “The course of the Georgian government in recent years indicates a clear backsliding of democracy”, emergency resolution of the European People’s Party (EPP) says.

“The positioning of the government of Georgia regarding the Russian aggression against Ukraine – including a malicious and absurd propaganda campaign that the EU and US are pressuring the administration of Georgia to start military action against Russia, replicating Russian disinformation narratives – raises alarm”, the document says.

macroeconomics & budget

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““INFLATION HAS A DOWNWARD TREND – UNLESS SOME SPECIAL SHOCK SHOWS ITSELF, THIS TREND SHOULD CONTINUE””

March 16, 2023 - Archil Mestvirishvili, vice-president of National Bank of Georgia, stated that inflation tends to decrease unless some special shock shows itself.

“Expectations have improved in the last period”, influenced by the exchange rate and the dynamics of inflation, Mestvirishvili said.




FORBES GEORGIA: “MEDIAN SALARY IN GEORGIAN IT-SECTOR MAKES UP 4,500 LARI | “TECHSURVEY” 2022”

March 15, 2023 - Referring to analysis of TechSurvey 2022, the magazine reports that the median monthly salary in Georgian IT-sector makes up 4,500 lari. The survey covered 376 people.




TABULA: ““SHPOTI”: 11,775,000 LARI WAS SPENT ON CONSTRUCTION OF THEATER IN POTI, THE BUILDING IS IN EMERGENCY CONDITION”

March 14, 2023 - Shpoti (Concern), a youth initiative group of the city of Poti, reported that up to 11.78 million lari has been spent on construction of a theater in Poti, but the building is in an emergency condition.

In 2014, the Georgian Dream government solemnly opened the theater, but the roof leaked in a month, then the ceiling collapsed, and the theater was closed.

energy, oil & gas

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““RESOURCE FOR REDUCING FUEL PRICES STILL EXISTS – TARGET FOR “EURO REGULAR” SHOULD BE CLOSE TO 2 LARI””

March 14, 2023 - “According to our expectations, the resource for reducing fuel prices still exists”, declared Levan Davitashvili, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development. Target for Euro Regular should be close to 2 lari, he told journalists.

companies

FORBES GEORGIA: “WITH SUPPORT OF “SAKARTVELOS BANKI”, “ROYAL TULIP” HOTEL WAS OPENED IN TBILISI”

March 16, 2023 - A 5-star Royal Tulip hotel with 120 rooms was opened in Tbilisi. Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia) has allocated $5.32 million for this project.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “FROM MAY 28, A NEW AIRLINE “SUNEXPRESS” WILL OPERATE IN TBILISI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT”

March 13, 2023 - The Turkish-German airline SunExpress will launch operation in Georgia, Georgian Airports Association reported.

The airline will fly to Tbilisi from 3 Turkish cities: Ankara, Antalya and Izmir.

transport & communications

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “FERRY SERVICE BETWEEN THE PORTS OF BATUMI AND CONSTANTA WILL START IN MAY”

March 13, 2023 - Tamar Ioseliani, head of the Georgian Maritime Transport Agency, said in the air of Georgian Public Broadcaster that starting from May, the Ukrainian company UkrFerry plans to launch a ferry service between the Georgian port of Batumi and Romania’s Constanta. UkrFerry will operate 1 voyage per week, she noted.

international cooperation

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “AZERBAIJAN INCREASES INVESTMENTS IN GEORGIAN SECTION OF BAKU-TBILISI-KARS RAILWAY”

March 16, 2023 - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared that Azerbaijan will additionally invest over $120 million in the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. The volume of cargo transportations by this railway will grow from 1 million t to 5 million t, he noted.

agriculture & food

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “GEORGIA BECAME CHAIR COUNTRY OF THE WORLD WINE TRADE GROUP”

March 17, 2023 - Georgia became the chair of the World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) for a period of 1 year. The decision was made at the WWTG meeting in Brussels.

construction

REZONANSI: “AT LAST, FEE FOR APARTMENTS RENT IN TBILISI STARTED TO DECREASE!”

March 17, 2023 - Prices on the Georgian real estate market already started decline, although so far change concerns only the rent, the newspaper says. Whereas in the sales, prices are still rising.




NETGAZETI.GE: “COLLAPSED SLOPE ON RIKOTI: VIOLATIONS IN CONSTRUCTION AND SUPERVISION COMPANIES”

March 15, 2023 - On March 13, a slope collapsed on the Ubisa-Shorapani section of the East-West highway (E60). Georgian Roads Department attributed the accident with landslide processes, accelerated by heavy precipitation.