Economic Press Monitor November 14 - 20, 2021	Days:  06 13 20 27 04

economic & politics

TABULA: “US: WE URGE THE GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA TO TREAT SAAKASHVILI FAIRLY AND WITH DIGNITY”

November 19, 2021 - The US State Department urges the Georgian authorities to treat Georgian ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili “fairly and with dignity”. At the same time, the released statement urges the Georgian authorities “to heed the [Georgian] Public Defender’s recommendations about appropriate treatment”.




REZONANSI: “DELIVERY OF GOODS FROM CHINA HAS LOST ITS MEANING, IMPORTERS ARE SHIFTING TO ALTERNATIVE MARKETS”

November 19, 2021 - “Cost of import from China has risen by 500%, and this process continues, there is no deterrent mechanism to cause a decline in prices”, says Irakli Iashvili, supervisory board chairman at East Gate Group. “As a result, we, import-dependent countries, have a big problem”, he notes.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““IRRESPONSIBLE STATEMENTS OF POLITICIANS HAVE DESTROYED DESIRE TO SERVE PENSIONS IN ALL BANKS” – GIORGI KAPANADZE”

November 18, 2021 - Giorgi Kapanadze, head of Georgian Young Businessmen and Financiers Association, says that current agenda includes announcement of a new tender for banking servicing of pensions and other social benefits.

In this connection, Kapanadze indicates “Regrettably, due to irresponsible and based on trampling on the particular bank’s reputation statements of a number of politicians, the banking sector has lost desire to render this service”.




TABULA: “TIKARADZE: GOVERNMENT PLANS TO REGULATE PRICE AND QUALITY OF MEDICINES BY LAW”

November 17, 2021 - Ekaterine Tikaradze, Georgia’s Minister of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labor, Healthcare and Social Protection, held a meeting in connection with regulation of prices on medicines, Tabula reports.

“The main goal of our meeting was quality of medicines, as well as price of medicines, which has been for years a very heavy burden for our population and a whole healthcare system”, Tikaradze said.




REZONANSI: “PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO WORK FOR ANY PRICE, THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF LABOR FORCE EVERYWHERE”

November 16, 2021 - There is a shortage of labor force everywhere on the labor market, the newspaper says. The article indicates that there are very few agronomists, industry experts, technologists or other high-level specialists in the country.




TABULA: “THE EC RECOGNIZED GEORGIAN COVID-CERTIFICATE”

November 16, 2021 - The European Commission declared that certificates on COVID-19 vaccination, issued in Georgia, as well as testing and recovery certificates will be equated to certificates of the EU and will be connected to unified system. The decision will enter in force on November 16.




REZONANSI: “DUE TO IMPROPER TREATMENT OF PATIENTS, CORONAVIRUS MORTALITY RATE IN THE COUNTRY IS AT ITS PEAK!”

November 16, 2021 - Healthcare professionals have reasonable suspicions that death of citizens diagnosed with COVID-19 is caused only by the fact that they were taken to hospitals, the newspaper says.

This is a rather heavy accusation, but it clearly reflects those negative attitude and distrust that generally exist in society regarding the pandemic management process, the article points.

macroeconomics & budget

FORBES GEORGIA: ““TBC CAPITAL”: RECORD HIGH INFLATION IN THE US NEGATIVELY AFFECTS LARI”

November 18, 2021 - In its weekly analytical review, TBC Capital says that as it was expected, first signs of conversion into lari have appeared. This is caused by previous expectations of the post-election (local elections in Georgia were held in October) depreciation of lari and resulted conversion from national into foreign currency, TBC Capital explained.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “NBG VICE-PRESIDENT – WE EXPECT THAT INFLATION WILL BEGIN TO DECLINE FROM SPRING NEXT YEAR”

November 15, 2021 - “We expect that inflation will begin to decline from spring next year”, said Archil Mestvirishvili, vice-president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG).

However, “there is a lot of uncertainty, perhaps the decline will not be as fast as we expected earlier”, Mestvirishvili warned.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IRAKLI KOVZANADZE – WE WILL SUPPORT THE REVISED VERSION OF THE BUDGET AND BRING IT TO THE SESSION”

November 15, 2021 - Irakli Kovzanadze, chairman of Georgian Parliament’s Fiscal Committee, declared that his Committee will support the revised version of the country’s budget-2022. The revised version envisages part of remarks and recommendations, made by the Parliament, he noted.

conflict and court

TABULA: “IVANISHVILI ON “CREDIT SUISSE”: I HAVE NOT SEEN SUCH ARROGANCE EVEN UNDER WILD CAPITALISM OF RUSSIA-GEORGIA”

November 19, 2021 - On November 17, Bloomberg spread words of Georgia’s former prime minister, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, which he said against Credit Suisse Group AG at the trial in a Bermuda court, Tabula reported. The article notes that Ivanishvili attended the trial remotely, from Tbilisi.

companies

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““LIBERTY” ISSUES ALL CREDITS ON MARKET CONDITIONS – VASIL KHODELI”

November 18, 2021 - Vasil Khodeli, director general of Liberty Bank (which serves state pensions and social benefits), indicates that there was a period, when so-called pension loans were issued with interest rate of 110%. Today, the bank operates on market conditions and the rate makes up 30.65%, he says.




FORBES GEORGIA: ““MYMARKET” ADMITTED CRYPTO PAYMENTS | INTERVIEW WITH NIKA CHILINDRISHVILI”

November 18, 2021 - When purchasing goods on MyMarket (online platform of digital commerce), it is possible now to pay with cryptocurrency, the magazine reports. The article notes that overall, 11 cryptocurrencies are available, including Bitcoin, Etherium, etc.




TABULA: “TURNAVA ON “NAMAKHVANI”: BOTH CONTINUATION OF THE PROJECT BY “ENKA” AND THEIR WITHDRAWAL FROM THE PROJECT ARE BEING CONSIDERED”

November 16, 2021 - Natia Turnava, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, declared that 2 meetings were held with ENKA (Turkish investor of NamakhvanHES construction, which decided to terminate the project contract), and there will be more meetings in near future. “Our task is to reach an agreement with ENKA without arbitration”, she said.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WITH SUPPORT OF “SAKARTVELOS BANKI”, “FACTORY 1900” WILL INCREASE THE PRODUCTION LINE 4 TIMES”

November 15, 2021 - Reusable packaging paper manufacturer Factory 1900 will increase the production line 4 times, the magazine reports. As the article says, the project is fully funded by Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia).

ecology & health

FORBES GEORGIA: “FINANCIAL SUPPORTER OF HEALTHCARE SECTOR”

November 17, 2021 - In the current year, healthcare became a separate direction in the corporate banking service of Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia). This direction was headed by Mikhail Nakashidze, who previously led the bank’s corporate banking services in Ajara, the magazine reports.




REZONANSI: “VACCINATION RATE HAS INCREASED BY 15% – IS THIS ENOUGH TO DEFEAT THE PANDEMIC AND WHAT DO DOCTORS FORECAST”

November 17, 2021 - Tamar Gabunia, Georgia’s Deputy Minister of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labor, Healthcare and Social Protection, reported that among those vaccinated against COVID-19, “a group of people above 60 years has grown in number from 28% to 44%”.

The use of “booster” doses is especially high among 18-49 years old people, the Deputy Minister said.




REZONANSI: “NEW ANTI-RECORD AND ALARMING FORECASTS – HOW LONG AND TO WHAT POINT WILL THE MORTALITY GROWTH LAST”

November 15, 2021 - As of November 14, daily COVID-19 mortality rate in Georgia makes up 81 people, which is a new anti-record, the newspaper says. In total, since the beginning of the pandemic, 10,975 people have died of the virus.