Economic Press Monitor January 19 - 25, 2020	Days:  11 18 25 01 08

economic & politics

REZONANSI: “AS ALWAYS, WE SHOULD EXPECT ALMOST NOTHING FROM DAVOS”

January 24, 2020 - Within the World Economic Forum in Davos, Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia holds meetings with representatives of international business circles.

Paata Sheshelidze, founder of New Economic School – Georgia, indicates that “Georgia participates in this forum for years, but no economic breakthrough is noticeable”.




TABULA: “CONGRESSMEN TO GAKHARIA: POLITICIZATION OF ANAKLIA DEEP-WATER PORT PROJECT IS ALARMING”

January 23, 2020 - The bipartisan letter, which the US congressmen have sent to Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, concerns along with other questions, the project of deep-water port Anaklia too, Tabula says.

“Politicization of the project of deep-water port Anaklia is alarming”, declare the congressmen (Republicans Adam Kinzinger and Michael McCaul and Democrats Gerry Connolly and Eliot Engel).




FORBES GEORGIA: “ANAKLIA AND GEORGIA’S PLACE ON “THE NEW TRADE SILK ROAD””

January 23, 2020 - The article reviews history of Anaklia settlement on Georgian Black Sea coast and indicates that idea of construction of a seaport there “has deep historical roots”.

The article mentions the Soviet-era project of Anaklia port, designed in early 1980-ies by professor Archil Kiknadze and architect Giorgi Metreveli, but points that this attempt was unsuccessful.




FORBES GEORGIA: “INVESTMENT CLIMATE AS PART OF INFRASTRUCTURE FOR RAPID ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT”

January 23, 2020 - One of important components of environment, favorable for mass small and medium investment projects, is maximum elimination of a language barrier for investors in Georgia, consider authors of the article (Revaz Vashakidze, founder of Chirina, and Avtandil Gogol, founder of Capital Locus).

As the authors note, potential investors represent neighboring countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Turkey.




TABULA: “FOUR CONGRESSMEN WROTE ONE MORE LETTER TO GIORGI GAKHARIA”

January 22, 2020 - Four members of the US Congress sent the letter to Georgian Prime Minister “with grave concerns over political targeting and declining economic trend”, Tabula reports with reference to Twitter. These congressmen are Republicans Adam Kinzinger and Michael McCaul and Democrats Gerry Connolly and Eliot Engel.




NETGAZETI.GE: “EUROPARLIAMENTARIANS CRITICIZE “GEORGIAN DREAM””

January 22, 2020 - Members of European Parliament criticize Georgian authorities for abandon of promised transition to fully proportional electoral system and prosecution of opponents, Netgazeti.Ge reports. As the article notes, hearings on situation in Georgia was held in European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “INSURANCE SECTOR FACES UNSOLVED CHALLENGES – LAW ON OBLIGATORY INSURANCE “GOT STUCK” IN THE PARLIAMENT”

January 20, 2020 - Devi Khechinashvili, chairman of board at Georgian Insurance Companies Association, says that fate of the law “On Car Owners’ Liability Insurance” is still unclear.

The bill of obligatory liability insurance of car owners was submitted in the country’s Parliament at the end of 2018, but even its consideration is not started yet, the newspaper notes.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “TAMAR ZHVANIA GOT 800,000 LARI IN 2013-2019, OF WHICH 300,000 WERE BONUSES AND SUPPLEMENTS”

January 20, 2020 - Media project Detector of Wastes reported that chair of Georgian Central Election Commission Tamar Zhvania received 798,602 lari as compensation in 2013-2019. Out of this sum, 299,000 lari were bonuses and supplements.

macroeconomics & budget

NETGAZETI.GE: “SALE OF GOVERNMENTAL TSKNETI DACHAS FAILED”

January 23, 2020 - The governmental dachas in Tskneti (Tbilisi suburb), which were put within the state project “100 Investment Offers for Business” on auction on December 23, 2019, were not sold, Netgazeti.Ge reports.

The article notes that Georgian National Agency of State Property does not say, when and on what conditions the new tender will be announced.




REZONANSI: “GEORGIA LOSES LEADERSHIP IN THE REGION IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH RATE”

January 22, 2020 - Basic scenario of National Bank of Georgia forecasts the country’s real GDP growth in 2020 at 4.5%, while in medium-term period – at 5%.

The UN also expects in Georgia growth of 4.5%.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “DAVID SAGANELIDZE – PARTNERSHIP FUND SHOULD NOT BE FINANCED FROM THE BUDGET”

January 21, 2020 - David Saganelidze, executive director of Georgian Partnership Fund, points that the Fund is financed by subsidiaries, but “in recent years, it was not financed in fact”.

“These enterprises have own problems, own plan of rehabilitation, they invest received income in own development”, Saganelidze declares and adds: “Therefore, we should not be on their dividends”.




KVIRIS PALITRA: “INVENTORY OF “SHADOW ECONOMY” IS TO START”

January 20, 2020 - This year, Sakstat plans to conduct study of not observed economy in two sectors – education and real estate.

Georgian statistics service considers that volume of not observed, i.e. shadow economy in these two sectors (activity of private tutors and apartments leasing) can be quite big, while total share of shadow economy can reach about 13%, the article specifies.

energy, oil & gas

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ONE MORE POSTPONED PROJECT – DATE OF CONSTRUCTION OF UNDERGROUND GAS STORAGE IS POSTPONED UNTIL 2024, INSTEAD OF 2020”

January 24, 2020 - Initially, deadline of completion of the project on underground gas storage construction in Georgia was December 31, 2020, the newspaper points. However, Georgia and Secretariat of European Energy Union reached an agreement on

extension of the deadline until 2021, the article specifies.

companies

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “PLANT, MANUFACTURING COMPONENTS OF CARS, WILL BE BUILT IN POTI”

January 24, 2020 - The newspaper reports that construction of plant on production of components of cars was started in Poti free industrial zone. The plant is planned to complete in the current year.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “TBILISI – POOR CITY WITH MULTI-MILLION MALLS”

January 24, 2020 - In Tbilisi, more and more large-scale malls (shopping centers) are opened annually, the newspaper says. The article reviews financial performance of major centers.




TABULA: “TSERETELI: “TV PIRVELI” PAYS TAXES AND WE CHALLENGE PRO-GOVERNMENTAL CHANNELS TO PAY MILLIONS”

January 22, 2020 - Collection of payments, imposed on banking accounts of TV Pirveli on December 23, 2019, is removed, founder of this broadcasting company Vato Tsereteli posted on Facebook. “Through credit, heavy burden for the channel or anyhow – it does not matter”, he noted.




FORBES GEORGIA: ““RMG” HOLDING OF RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRES”

January 20, 2020 - Referring to reporting of RMG Gold (precious metal mining), the magazine reports that income of the company in 2018 amounted to 209.95 million lari. If compared with 2017, the volume has increased by 5.1%.

ecology & health

TABULA: “ZURAB CHIABERASHVILI: MEDICINES’ ACCESSIBILITY REMAINS A SERIOUS PROBLEM”

January 21, 2020 - Zurab Chiaberashvili, MP from oppositional European Georgia and former healthcare minister in the government of United National Movement, says that access to medicines still remains a problem in the country.

“Starting from August 2019, number of registered beneficiaries of the subsidized drugs program is decreasing, whereas purchase of drugs is one of serious problems in this country”, Chiaberashvili declared at the news briefing.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “MEDICAL BUSINESS AT THE EXPENSE OF THE BUDGET – HOW PARTICULAR BUSINESS GROUPS GROW RICH AT THE EXPENSE OF UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE PROGRAM”

January 21, 2020 - In the current year, budget of the Georgian healthcare makes up 4.35 billion lari, while it is did not exceed 3.97 billion lari in the previous year, the article indicates. At that, the healthcare budget of 2019 exceeded Georgia’s total state budget of 2006 (3.8 billion lari).

agriculture & food

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “TAKING INTO ACCOUNT CURRENT SITUATION ON INTERNATIONAL MARKETS, FLOUR PRICE CAN RISE IN PRICE BY 1-2 LARI”

January 21, 2020 - Levan Silagava, executive director of Georgian Association of Wheat and Flour Producers, indicates that now, two factors act mainly on international exchanges: Russia’s decision on quoting and the US-China agreement, increasing supplies of American wheat to China.

In respect of Georgian market, we think that factor of Russian quoting will not be reflected seriously in flour price at first stage, Silagava declares.