Economic Press Monitor October 17 - 23, 2021	Days:  09 16 23 30 06

economic & politics

TABULA: “STRASBOURG COURT DECLARED INADMISSIBLE CLAIMS AGAINST GEORGIA ON THE AUGUST WAR”

October 22, 2021 - Georgian Justice Ministry reported that the Strasbourg Court has declared inadmissible claims, related to the war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008, which were filed against Georgia. The matter concerns the complaints of residents of the Tskhinvali region – Bekoeva, Shavlokhova, et al.




FORBES GEORGIA: “IN THE GLOBAL PASSPORT INDEX, GEORGIA RANKS 34^TH AMONG 199 COUNTRIES”

October 19, 2021 - Georgia ranks 34^th among 199 countries in The Henley Passport Index, the magazine reports. As the article notes, Georgia has the “strongest” passport in the South Caucasus region.

macroeconomics & budget

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “WHY ARE INVESTMENTS IN GEORGIA DECLINING FROM YEAR TO YEAR”

October 21, 2021 - Over the past decade, almost all major investment projects in Georgia have been stopped, starting with KhudonHES, ending with the Anaklia Port and NamakhvanHES, the newspaper says. As the article notes, reduction in investments obviously is not only because of the pandemic impact.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ARCHIL MESTVIRISHVILI: WE WOULD TIGHTEN MONETARY POLICY EVEN MORE”

October 19, 2021 - Archil Mestvirishvili, vice-president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG), said that “the biggest challenge for our country in terms of monetary policy and in general, is high inflation”, which is “mainly caused by external factors”.

“If aggregated demand in previous periods was aimed at reduction of inflation, already in 2021, as we have increased economic activity, the aggregate demand no longer reduces the existing inflation”, Mestvirishvili pointed.

energy, oil & gas

REZONANSI: “ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION GROWS RAPIDLY, BUT SITUATION IN ENERGY SECTOR IS BETTER NOW”

October 20, 2021 - Georgia’s electricity consumption in September has increased by 13.5% in comparison with the same period of 2020, while local generation – by 25.5%, the newspaper reports.

Energy engineer Gia Arabidze points that growth of consumption means that the economy “works more than in the same period of last year”.

conflict and court

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “HOW MANAGED GEORGIANS TO EMBEZZLE MILLIONS OF EUROS IN GERMANY – 9,490,991 EUR, 716,642 USD AND 218,000 GBP WERE SEIZED”

October 22, 2021 - Georgian Prosecutor’s Office in cooperation with the German law enforcement agencies uncovered a transnational crime. The matter concerns 7 now detained persons, who fraudulently extorted funds from German citizens using fake phone numbers and names, the newspaper reports.




FORBES GEORGIA: “ENGLISH COURT SHOULD DETERMINE HOW MANY HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IRAKLI RUKHADZE AND HIS BUSINESS PARTNERS WILL BE CHARGED TO PAY”

October 21, 2021 - On October 18, Supreme Court of England and Wales began assessment of damage within the claim of Recovery Partners GP Limited and Revoker LLP, the magazine reports. The defendants in the case are businessman Irakli Rukhadze, his business partners Igor Alekseev and Benjamin Marson and the holding company Hunnewell Partners, established by them.

companies

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “WITHIN COOPERATION WITH EBRD, “TBC” JOINS WE.TRADE PLATFORM”

October 22, 2021 - Within the framework of cooperation with EBRD, Georgia’s largest TBC Bank joins the we.trade platform, the newspaper reports.

TBC Bank said that the platform put it and National Bank of Greece, as EBRD partners, in the “Preview Offering Program”.




NETGAZETI.GE: ““TELMICO” AND “TELASI” HAVE OVERCHARGED 1.3M LARI TO CONSUMERS – NARMANIA”

October 22, 2021 - David Narmania, chairman of Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulating Commission, declared that electricity distribution and supply companies TELASI and TELMICO have overcharged over 1.3 million lari to consumers.

The companies have adjusted this amount afterwards, Narmania said.




TABULA: ““GALT&TAGGART” SUCCESSFULLY PLACED EBRD’S PRIVATE BONDS DENOMINATED IN LARI”

October 21, 2021 - On September 30 and October 8, EBRD placed bonds, denominated in lari, Tabula reports.

Floating yield rate (coupon) on these emissions, which amount to 92 million lari and 83 million lari, is tied to 3-month Tbilisi interbank rate (TIBR).




FORBES GEORGIA: “WITH THE SUPPORT OF “SAKARTVELOS BANKI”, “GMC” COMPANY EXPANDS ACTIVITY”

October 19, 2021 - In partnership with Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia), company GMC starts production of building structures. Total cost of the project makes up 5.8 million lari, including 4.06 million lari, allocated by the bank, the magazine reports.

ecology & health

REZONANSI: “ONCE AGAIN ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE – WHEN WILL HOSPITALS BE OVERLOADED, IF NEW CASES DO NOT DECREASE”

October 20, 2021 - As of October 19, Georgia ranks 5^th in the world in terms of COVID-19 cases per 1 million people and 13^th in terms of the number of deaths.

Georgia’s daily rate of COVID-19 test positivity makes up 10.15%, the rate for past 7 days – 9.12%, for past 14 days – 8.64%.

finances & banking

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““INTEREST RATE, WHICH “LIBERTY BANK” HAS, IS MARKET INTEREST RATE””

October 20, 2021 - Giorgi Kapanadze, head of Georgian Young Businessmen and Financiers Association, declared that interest rates that Liberty Bank has set on so-called “pension loans”, are market interest rates. In particular, the rate of Liberty Bank makes up 30.65%, while other banks’ rates for elderly are within the range of 31-49%, he pointed.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “IMPORT OF RELATIVELY CHEAP FLOUR TO THE COUNTRY IMMEDIATELY INCREASED”

October 21, 2021 - Sakstat reported that 4,009 t of flour worth $1.23 million were imported to Georgia in September, against of 532 t ($146,400) in the same period of 2020. In 9 months of this year, the country’s import of flour amounted to 16,430 t ($4.9 million), of which Russia accounted for 15,801 t ($4.61 million).

construction

REZONANSI: “FALL STARTED AGAIN IN REAL ESTATE SALES”

October 20, 2021 - Over the past 2 years, despite Georgian government’s several stimulating actions on mortgage loans, rate of real estate sales is still low, the newspaper says.

According to TBC Capital, sales of residential real estate in Tbilisi in the period between October 1 and October 9 are by 9% lower in comparison with pre-pandemic 2019.




BATUMELEBI: “89 HA IN THE SEA FOR 1 LARI – CONTRACT DETAILS”

October 19, 2021 - Georgian government handed over 89 ha of sea area in Batumi to LLC Batumi Ambassador Island with the 65-year right of development at a symbolic price of 1 lari, the newspaper reports.

The project envisages creation of two artificial peninsulas and one artificial island with the relevant infrastructure.