Economic Press Monitor December 18 - 24, 2022	Days:  10 17 24 31 14

economic & politics

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “NATIA TURNAVA MIGHT OCCUPY POST OF NATIONAL BANK’S PRESIDENT”

December 23, 2022 - Referring to spread information, the newspaper states that the post of president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG) may be occupied by Natia Turnava (though, does not provide any ground for this version).

Between April 2019 and this February, Turnava held the post of Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, while was elected a member of the NBG Council in June.




NETGAZETI.GE: “THE AUTHORITIES CONSIDER 12 RECOMMENDATIONS MOSTLY FULFILLED AND EXPECT THE STATUS BY 2024”

December 22, 2022 - Teimuraz Janjalia, Georgia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, declared that in February 2023, Georgia should have completed the implementation of 12 recommendations of the European Commission (which is necessary to obtain the status of EU membership candidate).

The EU plans to start assessment of Georgia’s progress within the framework of the expansion package from next March, which will be completed in autumn, Janjalia indicated.




TABULA: “INTERIOR MINISTRY BUYS 3 RESCUE AND POLICE HELICOPTERS FOR 26,500,000 EUR”

December 21, 2022 - Georgian Interior Ministry will pay 26.5 million EUR for 3 multifunctional (rescue and police) helicopters of the French producer Airbus Helicopters.

At the same time, according to the contract with the French company, Georgia will hand over its Super Puma helicopter to Airbus Helicopters.




NETGAZETI.GE: “DAVITASHVILI TALKS ABOUT USE OF PENSION FUND IN CONSTRUCTION OF WATER POWER PLANTS”

December 21, 2022 - Levan Davitashvili, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, declared that if the state participates in major energy projects, “we can both mobilize local financial resources and involve international financial institutions”.

It is also possible to “partially use the amounts from the Pension Fund for long-term projects”, the Minister said on the air of TV company Rustavi-2, speaking about the KhudonHES project (which, as it became known recently, the state has bought from an investor).

macroeconomics & budget

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS IN AJARA REGION AMOUNT TO $106M”

December 23, 2022 - Tornike Rizhvadze, chairman of Ajara government, reported that in 9 months of this year, foreign direct investment in the region totaled to $106 million. Major investments were made in real estate, transport, processing industry, he noted.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “NIKOLOZ GAGUA: MORTGAGE BONDS ARE ONE OF THE SOURCES OF LOANS’ CHEAPENING”

December 23, 2022 - Nikoloz Gagua, vice-president of National Bank of Georgia (NBG), declared that “mortgage loans are one of the sources of loans; cheapening”. “By the reliability rating, they could be on the second place, after government securities”, he noted.

energy, oil & gas

REZONANSI: “BLACK SEA CABLE WILL BE LAID IN 3 YEARS, ITS CAPACITY WILL BE EQUAL TO CAPACITY OF “ENGURHES””

December 21, 2022 - Power engineer Gia Arabidze notes that “construction of the Black Sea cable was planned to start in 2027”, “even before the EU would have joined the process”.

Now, “I think that studies will be completed in 5-6 months, in April-May, and then the construction process will begin”, Arabidze says.




FORBES GEORGIA: “A YEAR OF CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES”

December 20, 2022 - In an interview with the magazine, David Narmania, chairman of Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulating Commission, reviews the results of 2022.

One of the issues is launch of the electric power exchange, postponed until March 31 next year.




REZONANSI: “MOTOR OILS MARKET IS FLOODED WITH COUNTERFEIT PRODUCTION”

December 20, 2022 - Vakhtang Iobashvili, head of Georgian Oil-Products Importers Union, points that “quality of motor oils is a very serious problem” and “the market is flooded with counterfeit production”.

“Based on the fact that we do not have a standard, they take advantage of it”, says Iobashvili, who believes that regular inspections should be carried out.

companies

FORBES GEORGIA: “COMPANIES THAT CONSUME ELECTRICITY MOST OF ALL IN GEORGIA”

December 22, 2022 - 50 large companies, operating in Georgia, purchase electricity directly from the wholesale electricity market, bypassing energy distributors. In the first 5 months of this year, these direct consumers consumed 1.68 GWh of electricity, the magazine reports.




NETGAZETI.GE: “ONE OF THE PLOTS THAT THE CITY HALL WILL HAND OVER TO INVESTOR IN EXCHANGE FOR “BUDAPEST” IS LOCATED IN FOREST ZONE”

December 22, 2022 - Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze declared that the company, which had to build the hotel Budapest in Vake Park, will be given land plots worth $2.8 million, which is “about $3 million less than the company requested”.

According to the City Hall, one plot (4 ha) is located in the Krtsanisi area, while another (5 ha) is near Lisi Lake.




FORBES GEORGIA: “UNPRECEDENTED EMISSION OF “TEGETA HOLDING” – WITH SUPPORT OF “TBC CAPITAL”, THE COMPANY ISSUED BONDS OF 150M LARI”

December 20, 2022 - Tegeta Holding (sale and maintenance of vehicles) issued bonds worth 150 million lari. This is the so far largest emission of lari-denominated corporate bonds.




FORBES GEORGIA: “WITH ASSISTANCE OF “SAKARTVELOS BANKI” AND EBRD, COMPANY “DAILY” WILL OPEN 50 NEW BRANCHES”

December 19, 2022 - With the assistance of Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia) and EBRD, the store chain Daily will open 50 new stores by the end of 2023.

Total cost of the project makes up over 11 million lari, which will be fully directed to opening of the stores, the magazine reports.

transport & communications

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “UZBEKISTAN HAS STARTED CARGO HAULING TO EUROPE VIA GEORGIA”

December 20, 2022 - Referring to Uzbek source, the newspaper reports that Uzbekistan has started transportation of goods to Europe via the Caspian and the Black Seas. On December 16, the train set off on the route Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Bulgaria/Europe.

international cooperation

TABULA: “LEYEN: BLACK SEA UNDERWATER ELECTRIC LINE WILL TURN GEORGIA INTO ELECTRICITY HUB”

December 19, 2022 - On December 12, it became known that the EU will finance construction of the Black Sea underwater electric line.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, declared that “this is a very ambitious project that will connect us with both sides of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea”.

agriculture & food

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “VAKHTANG BEZHITASHVILI: GEORGIAN VEGETABLES AND FRUITS CANNOT ENTER EUROPE BECAUSE OF POOR QUALITY”

December 19, 2022 - Vakhtang Bezhitashvili, chairman of Georgian Association of Fruits and Vegetables’ Exporters, said that quality of Georgian vegetables and fruits, as well as their quantity, packing and price, represent a problem.

“Today, Georgian vegetables and fruits are mainly delivered to Russia, and in very small volume – to Europe”, Bezhitashvili pointed on the air of Georgian Public Broadcaster.

construction

REZONANSI: “PEAK AT REAL ESTATE MARKET IS PASSED, PRICE DECLINE WILL BE EVIDENT FOR ALL SOON”

December 23, 2022 - Zurab Lachashvili, head of the real estate agency Sigma, says that “real estate prices have increased significantly this year, and this has affected the apartments, which are on sale, as well as those, intended for rent”.

At this stage, “certain euphoria in connection with demand still exists regarding both intended for rent and intended for sale apartments”, however, “prices have declined slightly”, Lachashvili points.