Economic Press Monitor February 14 - 20, 2021	Days:  30 06 20 27 06

economic & politics

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““UNSTABLE MARKET CONDITIONS, OF COURSE, HAVE NEGATIVE IMPACT ON BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS””

February 19, 2021 - “Unstable market conditions, of course, negatively affect business environment, business confidence and, accordingly, prospects of the country’s economic development”, says Soso Pkhakadze, president of Georgian Business Association.

Pkhakadze points: “Sustainable, predictable political and economic environment is particularly important for business, providing and grounding stable development”.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “RESTRICTION ON MOVEMENT SHOULD PROBABLY REMAIN FOR A LONGER TIME – NATIA TURNAVA”

February 18, 2021 - Natia Turnava, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, declared that restriction on night movement (imposed by the country’s government in response to the COVID-19 outbreak) “should probably remain for a longer time”. “Exactly this restriction will give us an opportunity to open boldly at least closed spaces of restaurant, gyms, etc.”, she noted.




FORBES GEORGIA: ““WE SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO ONGOING EVENTS IN CHINA” – DIRECTOR GENERAL OF “GEORGIAN POST””

February 17, 2021 - Levan Chikvaidze, director general of Georgian Post, supposes that in case of privatization of this state-owned company, the pandemic may even increase value of this asset, “If we take into account the increased volume of e-commerce”.

Last week, Chikvaidze said that interest to gradual alienation of Georgian Post has been already expressed both on local and on international levels, but did not specify, which part will be alienated at the first stage, the magazine notes.




REZONANSI: “IN 2 DAYS, OVER 60,000 PEOPLE EXPRESSED THEIR DESIRE TO ESCAPE FROM THE COUNTRY”

February 17, 2021 - Georgian citizens are allowed to work legally in Germany on temporary jobs for up to 3 months, mainly in the agricultural sector. During just 2 days, passed since launch of corresponding web portal, more than 60,000 people have passed registration, the newspaper reports.




TABULA: “SINCE 2014, BIDZINA IVANISHVILI’S RELATIVE HAS WON TENDERS FOR 15M LARI”

February 17, 2021 - Since 2014, businessman Murman Togonidze won tenders in Imereti region with total cost over 15 million lari, Tabula reports, referring to non-governmental organization Waste Detector.

Togonidze is husband of sister-in-law of billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream Bidzina Ivanishvili’s sister.




REZONANSI: “CONFUSION: THE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES DIDN’T REACH ENTREPRENEURS”

February 16, 2021 - Georgian government decided to subsidize during 2021 an increased cost of electricity to those companies, which create production of primary consumption, but many entrepreneurs will be unable to take advantage of the benefit, the newspaper says. As the article points, a week, provided for registration to potential subsidy recipients, was not enough.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “9.5 EUR PER HOUR – GEORGIANS WILL BE ABLE TO BE LEGALLY EMPLOYED IN GERMANY”

February 15, 2021 - Citizens of Georgia will be able to be legally employed on German labor market for a period of 1-3 months, the newspaper reports. Employment will be possible in seasonal jobs in agricultural sector.

macroeconomics & budget

FORBES GEORGIA: “HOW GEORGIA’S GDP PER CAPITA HAS CHANGED IN PAST EIGHT YEARS”

February 19, 2021 - Referring to IMF, the magazine reports that Georgia’s GDP per capita amounted in 2012 to $4,409. As a result of recession in 2020, this showing makes up $4,405 now.




FORBES GEORGIA: “10 MOST EXPENSIVE STATE PROGRAMS”

February 16, 2021 - In 2021, more than 18 billion lari should be spent from Georgia’s state budget, including 8.8 billion lari for 10 most expensive programs, the magazine reports. The article brings list of these 10 programs.

energy, oil & gas

REZONANSI: “RISE OF NATURAL GAS PRICE FOR BUSINESS BY 24 TETRI WAS POSTPONED FOR 1 MONTH ONLY”

February 16, 2021 - For commercial consumers (except bakeries) of Tbilisi Energy (Tbilisi gas distribution company), natural gas will rise in price from February instead of January, the newspaper reports.

As the article notes, the company decided to postpone the tariff increase for 1 month, aiming to ease burden for business, 2 days ago, but did not announced this information yet.

conflict and court

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “APPEAL OF “ENKA” COMPANY TO GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT’S COMMITTEE ON BRANCH ECONOMY AND ECONOMIC POLICY”

February 17, 2021 - Opponents of construction of NamakhvanHES have filed a petition to the Georgian Parliament, which claims that the project “endangers not only nature of Rioni River gorge, but also residents of Lechkhumi and Kutaisi, as well as sustainable development of the region”.

In response to this petition, Turkish company ENKA, which implements the project, stated that “Authors of the petition mislead the population” and the petition was filed “without any grounding and sound arguments”.




REZONANSI: “IRRESPONSIBILITY OF “SAKNAKHSHIRI” HAS REACHED ITS PEAK – “THEY LIE EVERYWHERE ABOUT EVERYTHING””

February 15, 2021 - Employees of area #4 at Dzidziguri mine in Tkibuli went on strike, protesting salary policy of their employer company, the newspaper reports.

Saknakhshiri (Georgian Coal) assures that the company tried to learn cause of the problem as soon as it aroused.

companies

TABULA: “WITH SUPPORT OF “SAKARTVELOS BANKI”, GEORGIAN COMPANY IMPLEMENTS PROJECTS ALREADY IN ARMENIA”

February 19, 2021 - With the support of Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia), Caucasus Road Project implements projects, besides Georgia, in Armenia too, Tabula reports.

Namely, Georgian company is building a bridge in Yerevan.




FORBES GEORGIA: ““SCOPE RATINGS” KEPT “B+” CREDIT RATING TO “LISI DEVELOPMENT””

February 16, 2021 - International rating company Scope Ratings has kept credit rating of Georgian development company Lisi Development at the level of “B+”, the magazine reports. Rating of the company’s bonds (“BB-”) did not changed either.

transport & communications

TABULA: “TURNAVA: WE ARE IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH ANOTHER LOW-COST AIRLINE, I WILL NOT NAME IT NOW”

February 18, 2021 - Natia Turnava, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, announced that Hungarian Wizz Air, which is the main low-cost airline for Georgia, is ready to resume flights from April.

Besides, “We are in negotiations with another low-cost airline”, which “wants to start flights in the region”, the Minister said.




REZONANSI: “KUTAISI – 30 LARI, KHASHURI – 20 LARI, BATUMI – 50 LARI -PASSENGERS ARE INVITED BOTH AT BUS STATIONS AND IN SOCIAL NETWORK”

February 18, 2021 - At this stage, Georgian government does not plan to resume work of intercity transport in the country, though movement between cities is still carried out illegally, but at a tripled price, the newspaper reports.

As the article specifies, citizens at bus stations are mainly served by minivans.

international cooperation

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “NATIA TURNAVA: USAID’S ECONOMIC SECURITY PROGRAM WILL HELP US DEVELOP A TOURISM RECOVERY STRATEGY”

February 15, 2021 - Natia Turnava, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, declared that the USAID-backed economic security program assists Georgian side to develop strategy for restoring tourism in the post-COVID period.

The program provides also support to those, employed in the sector, to overcome difficulties, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minister said.