Economic Press Monitor June 12 - 18, 2022	Days:  04 11 18 25 02

economic & politics

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ALLIANCE: TOBACCO INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO MANIPULATE CURRENT WAR IN UKRAINE”

June 17, 2022 - Regulation on standardized packing of tobacco goods was supposed to enter in force in Georgia on January 1, 2018, but was postponed until December 31, 2022. Now, a bill has been initiated in the Georgian Parliament, which postpones this obligation for another 2 years.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““CUSTOMS OFFICERS HAVE STOPPED MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO TRANSPORT CERTAIN EQUIPMENT AND FOOD TO RUSSIA””

June 17, 2022 - Giorgi Kakauridze, Georgia’s Deputy Finance Minister, assures that deliveries from any country of products, which are manufactured in the EU and prohibited for delivery to Russia, are controlled. “There was an attempt to deliver [to Russia] and they stopped it, including, as I remember, an attempt to transport certain equipment, food products that were produced in Europe”, he noted.




REZONANSI: “IN A WEEK, STATES WILL FIX AT THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL THEIR OPINION ON GROUND OF THE CONCLUSIONS THAT WILL BE PUBLISHED TOMORROW – HARTZELL”

June 17, 2022 - Conclusions on assignment Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidate countries for EU membership should be published on June 17.

The EU ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell stated that these conclusions should be considered by the EU member states.




TABULA: “VISA-FREE TRAVEL ENACTED BETWEEN GEORGIA AND UAE”

June 15, 2022 - Georgian Foreign Ministry declared that the visa-free regime between Georgia and the UAE has entered in force.

Holders of ordinary passports of both countries will be able to stay at the territory of another country for up to 90 days after entry.




NETGAZETI.GE: ““ANTI-GEORGIAN” – GARIBASHVILI ON EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT’S RESOLUTION”

June 14, 2022 - Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili noted that the resolution on Georgia, approved by the European Parliament, is “anti-Georgian” and “anti-state”.

Netgazeti.Ge points that part of the resolution, which relates to Georgia, differs from the support expressed for Moldova and Ukraine.




TABULA: “DEGNAN: THE US WISH TO DRAG GEORGIA INTO THE WAR IS 100% RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION”

June 14, 2022 - “For 30 years, the United States has been working toward Georgia’s full integration into the Euro-Atlantic community of nations. Almost everything that we have done and are doing here in Georgia is designed to support the people of Georgia’s desire to be part of the European Union and to be part of NATO”, the US ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan declared.




FORBES GEORGIA: “PRESIDENT: “THERE IS NOBODY, TO WHOM WE SHOULD SACRIFICE OUR FUTURE… INCLUDING TO IVANISHVILI””

June 13, 2022 - Georgia’s President Salome Zurabishvili declared that she planned to pay visits to France, Poland and possibly Ukraine. However, “I received again a refusal for these visits” from the Georgian government, she said.

macroeconomics & budget

FORBES GEORGIA: “INFLATION IN GEORGIA AND THE WORLD – MAY-JUNE”

June 16, 2022 - In January-May, inflation in Georgia made up 7.6%, while in May, annual inflation made up 13.3%. Referring to tradingeconomics.com, the magazine points that in terms of inflation in May, Georgia ranks 40^th among 178 countries.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “GIORGI KAKAURIDZE: ACCORDING TO UPDATED FORECAST, ANNUAL INFLATION RATE MAKES UP 9.1%”

June 14, 2022 - Giorgi Kakauridze, Georgia’s Deputy Finance Minister, declared that according to the updated forecast for 2022, the inflation rate in Georgia makes up 9.1%. In 2021, inflation made up 9.6%, and, “unfortunately, this dynamics continues this year too”, he noted.

companies

FORBES GEORGIA: “WITH SUPPORT OF “TBC”, FIRST ECOTOURISM PROJECT “KASS LAND” WAS LAUNCHED IN THE PROTECTED AREA”

June 16, 2022 - The Israeli company Kass Land implemented carried out an ecotourism project in Georgia’s protected area in the village of Dashbashi (Tsalka municipality), in which it invested 120 million lari. In particular, a glass bridge with a length of 240 m was constructed.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WINNERS OF 150,000-LARI GRANT PROGRAM OF GITA BECAME KNOWN”

June 16, 2022 - Georgian Innovations and Technologies Agency (GITA) has identified 20 startups, winners of the grant co-financing program, the magazine reports.

As the article notes, this year the volume of grants was increased from 100,000 to 150,000 lari, and 230 startups applied for co-financing.




TABULA: ““SHARK TANK GEORGIA” – 26 FUNDED AND INVESTMENT OF OVER 3M IN GEORGIAN BUSINESS”

June 14, 2022 - As part of the TV show Shark Tank Georgia, 2 deals of international standard were concluded for the first time this year, 12 project participants were financed and a new investment of 1.5 million lari was made, Tabula reports.

The article notes that during the 2 seasons of the project, 26 participants were financed and over 3 million lari was invested in Georgian business.




TABULA: “WITH SUPPORT OF “SAKARTVELOS BANKI”, “AGRO MANAGEMENT GROUP” EXPANDED HAZELNUT BUSINESS IN LAGODEKHI”

June 13, 2022 - Agri Management Group has acquired hazelnut drying and storing enterprise in Lagodekhi (Kakheti region). The initial investment in the project amounted to 1.5 million lari, which was fully allocated by Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia), Tabula reports.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WITH SUPPORT OF “TBC”, ANOTHER HOTEL OF “INN GROUP” WAS OPENED”

June 13, 2022 - Another hotel of Inn Group has been opened in Kutaisi (Imereti region). Kutaisi Inn has 100 rooms and employs 85 people.

transport & communications

NETGAZETI.GE: “PARLIAMENT IS WORKING ON INCREASE OF FINES FOR AVOIDANCE OF TECHNICAL INSPECTIONS”

June 17, 2022 - Giorgi Shiolashvili, executive director of non-governmental organization Technical Inspection for Safety, reported that a bill regarding raise of fines for avoidance of technical inspection is planned to initiate in the Parliament.

Shiolashvili specified that in case of not passing the inspection within 30 days after the deadline, the first fine will still amount to 50 lari, but subsequent fines will be increased.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WHETHER THE SOUTH CAUCASUS TO BECOME A TRANSIT HUB BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA?”

June 13, 2022 - Because of war in Ukraine, waged by Russia, transit from Europe to Asia through the South Caucasus has grown quite a lot, the magazine points.

On March 31, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkey signed an agreement in order to promote growth of regional transportation potential.

international cooperation

FORBES GEORGIA: “WITH SUPPORT OF “SAKARTVELOS BANKI”, FIRST EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF “GLOBALIZE” WAS SUCCESSFULLY HELD IN PARIS”

June 15, 2022 - With the support of Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia), Globalize (a professional association of Georgians, living in various countries of the world) held a European conference in Paris.

Participants joined the conference from Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Malta, France and Georgia.

agriculture & food

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “WITHIN THE STATE PROGRAM, FARMERS BOUGHT AGRICULTURAL GOODS WORTH OVER 11M LARI”

June 16, 2022 - Georgian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture reported that within the state program for assistance to agricultural land owners, 132,729 farmers have already activated their agrocards. In specialized trade facilities, they already cashed 11.39 million lari for acquisition of agricultural goods, the Ministry said.

construction

REZONANSI: “ABNORMAL HYPE ON REAL ESTATE MARKET HAS SUBSIDED”

June 15, 2022 - After outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, demand on the Georgian real estate market hiked so much (due to migrants) that a shortage emerged of apartments for rent, the newspaper says.

Vazha Mebagishvili, advisors board member at the National Real Estate Association, points that demand on the rental market has relatively decreased in the current quarter, but prices are still at their peak.