Economic Press Monitor March 13 - 19, 2022	Days:  05 12 19 26 02

economic & politics

FORBES GEORGIA: “LIGHT AND SHADE OF CRYPTOCURRENCY IN GEORGIA”

March 17, 2022 - The magazine reports that in Georgia’s total electricity consumption, crypto-currency mining accounts for 8.5% (data of Georgian Energy and Water Regulating Commission) or even exceeds 10-14% (2017 data of the World Bank). However, it is unknown, how many miners (individuals or legal entities) produce crypto-currency in the country.




NETGAZETI.GE: “SWEDISH BANK SUSPENDED TRANSFERS TO GEORGIA – WHAT DOES IT MEAN”

March 17, 2022 - The Swedish bank Handelsbanken suspended serving remittances to Georgia, Netgazeti.Ge reported.

Handelsbanken explained the move with sanctions, imposed against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “GVENETADZE: IF INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS ARE NOT IN THE SANCTIONED LIST, COMMERCIAL BANKS HAVE THE RIGHT TO OPEN ACCOUNTS FOR THEM AFTER PASSING STANDARD PROCEDURES”

March 16, 2022 - Koba Gvenetadze, president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG), said that Georgian financial organizations, the same way as the foreign ones, will not provide services to persons, who became subjected to sanctions against Russia.

However, if individuals and organizations are not in the sanctioned list, Georgian banks have the right and can open accounts for them after passing standard procedures, Gvenetadze pointed.




REZONANSI: ““DREAM” AND PRESIDENT TURNED TO OPEN CONFRONTATION – IS IMPEACHMENT BEING PREPARED AND WHAT DECISION WILL THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT MAKE?”

March 16, 2022 - Disagreements between Georgia’s President and the Georgian Dream began after start of hostilities in Ukraine, when Salome Zurabishvili criticized the Georgian government due to excessively and, in her opinion, unjustifiably cautious position in respect to Russian invasion, the newspaper says.

Speaking in Parliament on March 14, Zurabishvili said that the government had blocked her visits to the West, but she still managed to hold personal meetings with Western leaders.




FORBES GEORGIA: “NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR GEORGIA TO BECOME A TRANSIT HUB BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA”

March 14, 2022 - Due to sanctions, imposed by the EU and the US against Russia in response to the latter’s invasion of Ukraine, the Northern Transport Corridor (via Russia) will most likely lose its importance, the magazine supposes.

The article says that such a change significantly increases the importance of the “Belt and Road” initiative’s Middle Corridor, which connects China with Europe via Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

macroeconomics & budget

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “KOBA GVENETADZE: RISKS, WHICH BUSINESS SEES, ARE REFLECTED IN TODAY’S LARI RATE”

March 18, 2022 - Koba Gvenetadze, president of the National Bank of Georgia, pointed that the Russia-Ukraine war has generated expectations that it will affect the Georgian economy to a certain extent, and, based on this, there have been fluctuations in lari exchange rate.

“We can say that the risks, which business sees today, are absorbed at this moment and reflected in the rate that we have today”, Gvenetadze said on the air of Imedi TV.




FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIA’S FOREIGN TRADE IN 2021: CLOSE TO A RECORD DEFICIT”

March 18, 2022 - Because of the pandemic, Georgia’s foreign trade turnover decreased in 2020 by 15%, while increased in 2021 by 25.6% and reached $14.3 billion, which is a record high, the magazine says.

In 2021, Georgia’s export increased by 27%, reaching $4.2 billion, while import – by 25%, up to $10.1 billion.




FORBES GEORGIA: “HOW MANY MILLIONS COST ARBITRATION DISPUTES TO GEORGIA?”

March 14, 2022 - In 2020-2021, Georgian Justice Ministry paid 82 million lari to international law firms for representation in disputes, the magazine reports. The article notes that currently, Georgia is involved in more than 10 arbitration disputes.

energy, oil & gas

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “NARMANIA – IN 2021, NATURAL GAS RECEIVED FROM RUSSIA MADE UP 15% IN OUR CONSUMPTION, WHILE ELECTRICITY – 7% – WE REALLY DO NOT HAVE A HIGH DEPENDENCE”

March 18, 2022 - “We really do not have a high dependence” on Russia in terms of import of natural gas and electricity, declared David Narmania, chairman of Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulating Commission.

Narmania reported that Georgia’s consumption of natural gas made up 2.6 billion cubic m in 2019, of which 6% was supplied from Russia, while in almost the same consumption in 2020, import from Russia made up 8%.




TABULA: “NARMANIA: “NAMAKHVANHES” MUST BE BUILT, WE CAN’T AFFORD THE LUXURY OF REFUSAL”

March 17, 2022 - NamakhvanHES must be built, considers David Narmania, chairman of Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulating Commission. “We can’t afford the luxury of refusal of such an investment, employment of so many people and to refuse reduction of import dependence instead”, he declared.

companies

FORBES GEORGIA: “DIRECTORS BOARD OF “SAKARTVELOS BANKI GROUP” HAS NEW CHAIR”

March 16, 2022 - The magazine reported that Mel Carvill has been appointed the new chair of the board of directors of Sakartvelos Banki Group (Bank of Georgia Group PLC). The article notes that Carvill’s predecessor, Neil Janin, left the post on March 10.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “THE HARDEST SPRING HAS COME NOT ONLY FOR GEORGIA, BUT FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TOO”

March 15, 2022 - Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brings hard economic results for Georgia and local consumer market is in anticipation of sharp price changes, the newspaper says.

“The greatest danger now is connected with the price of bread”, states academician Paata Koguashvili.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “CHAIRMAN OF BREAD PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION – UNTIL MAY, THE COUNTRY IS SECURED AGAINST CHANGE OF BREAD PRICE, THERE ARE STOCKS TOO”

March 15, 2022 - Until May, the country is secured against change of bread price, and there are reserves too, said Malkhaz Dolidze, chairman of Georgian Bread Producers Association. Currently, the country has stocks of wheat and flour for 2-3 months, he noted.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “KHANISHVILI – SUGAR SUPPLIES ENTER CONSTANTLY AND THERE ARE 1,600 T IN STOCKS, ON TUESDAY A SHIP WITH 1,500 T OF SUGAR WILL BE UNLOADED, ON THURSDAY 2,000 T WILL BE DELIVERED BY RAILWAY”

March 15, 2022 - Sugar supplies are conducted in an uninterrupted mode, and there are stocks in the country, assures Giorgi Khanishvili, Georgia’s First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture. He specified that Tbilisi alone has sugar stocks of 400 t, while entire country – 1,600 t.

construction

NETGAZETI.GE: “HOW MUCH RENT OF APARTMENT IN TBILISI HAS INCREASED IN PRICE”

March 14, 2022 - Over the last 2 weeks, against the background of inflow of Russian citizens to Georgia, which followed Russian invasion of Ukraine, cost of real estate rent in Tbilisi, especially in central districts, has increased, the article says. Two real estate agencies reported about a 20% increase.