Economic Press Monitor September 19 - 25, 2021	Days:  11 18 25 02 09

economic & politics

NETGAZETI.GE: “GIGIADZE: WE SEE EROSION OF GEORGIA-EU PARTNERSHIP”

September 23, 2021 - Files, which supposedly leaked from Georgian State Security Service, reveal that the Service is wiretapping the diplomatic corps, accredited in the country, says Netgazeti.Ge.

In particular, the file, dated March 23, contains details of discussion of risks, associated with Georgian Orthodox Church and the pandemic, which Carl Hartzell, the EU ambassador to Georgia, and his colleague had a day before, the article reports.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “PREMIER – OUR TASK WAS AND IS TO REDUCE THE EXTERNAL DEBT”

September 20, 2021 - “Our task was and is to reduce the external debt”, declared Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili. Last year, the government borrowed $3 billion, and the country’s external debt has reached 60% of GDP, he pointed.




REZONANSI: “WHAT HAS THE LOTTERY CHANGED – DESPITE ENCOURAGEMENT, NUMBER OF THOSE, WHO WANT TO GET VACCINATED, DECREASES”

September 20, 2021 - Over the past week, after introduction of lottery promoting involvement of people in the process of vaccination against COVID-19, number of people, vaccinated with two doses, increased by 107,206 people, the newspaper reports.

As of today, 24.6% of Georgian population has been fully vaccinated.

macroeconomics & budget

REZONANSI: “IN RECENT YEARS, NO NEW JOBS HAVE BEEN CREATED IN THE COUNTRY”

September 24, 2021 - The data, brought in the article, shows that number of employed in Georgia decreased by 12,600 in the period from 2015 to 2019, and by 81,300 in the period from 2019 to the 2^nd quarter of 2021.

The IMF report indicates that the unemployment rate in Georgia is one of the highest in the region.




REZONANSI: “INCOME TAX OF 20% IS ALREADY HIGH FOR GEORGIA”

September 23, 2021 - The 20% income tax, which all employees pay from their salaries, has been in effect in Georgia since 2009.

The latest IMF document points that Georgia’s income tax of 20% is a heavy burden for the low-income and vulnerable population.




REZONANSI: “WILL THE PENSION INCREASE IN 2022?”

September 21, 2021 - Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili pointed that pension, “when we came to power, was 110 lari, next year it will be 300 lari, it is already 270 lari”. “I think that indexation system that we have introduced will solve the problem that is constantly associated with issue of increase or non-increase of pensions”, he stated.




TABULA: “TORNIKE RIZHVADZE: ARTIFICIAL ISLAND WILL BE BUILT IN BATUMI”

September 20, 2021 - Head of Ajara government Tornike Rizhvadze declared that an artificial island in the shape of a palm tree will be built in Batumi. He stated this on the air of TV company Imedi and noted that agreement is already reached with a specific investment group (not named).

energy, oil & gas

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““JAPAN WATCHES WITH GREAT INTEREST YOUR COUNTRY’S POTENTIAL, SO “TEPCO” DECIDED TO MAKE THE FIRST INVESTMENT””

September 21, 2021 - “Because of the landscape, Georgia has enormous hydropower potential, which gives an opportunity for growth of generation”, declared Japanese ambassador to Georgia, Imamura Akira. “Japan watches with great interest your country’s potential”, he said in an interview with the platform For Energy Future.

conflict and court

NETGAZETI.GE: “WHAT HAPPENS AFTER TERMINATION OF “NAMAKHVANHES” CONTRACT – 3 SCENARIOS”

September 23, 2021 - Turkish company ENKA declared that Georgian government was notified about termination of the contract on construction of NamakhvanHES in the Rioni River gorge, indicating as the reason violation of terms of the contract by Georgian government and force majeure.

In its turn, Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development said on September 22 that it had received a preliminary notification from the investor about “possible withdrawal from the project” in a month.

companies

FORBES GEORGIA: “COMPANY “ENERGON” COMPLETES REHABILITATION OF “ENGURHES””

September 22, 2021 - Major part of rehabilitation works on EngurHES has been completed. The works cost 30 million EUR in total, of which 8 million EUR cost rehabilitation of the tunnel alone.




TABULA: “WITH SUPPORT OF “SAKARTVELOS BANKI”, “WINE KAKHETI” COMPLETED CONSTRUCTION OF NEW ENTERPRISE IN TELAVI”

September 22, 2021 - In partnership with Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia), Wine Kakheti has completed construction of a new enterprise on 1 ha in Telavi (Kakheti region). Investments of the bank amounted to 1.5 million lari.

transport & communications

FORBES GEORGIA: “FOR FUNCTIONING OF BAKU-TBILISI-KARS RAILWAY PROJECT WITH FULL LOAD, THE COUNTRIES AGREED TO APPLY JOINT MEASURES”

September 24, 2021 - For functioning of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway with a full load, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are planning to apply joint measures, the magazine reports.

In particular, the strategy of increasing volume of traffic and construction of new terminals in Akhalkalaki (Georgia) and Kars (Turkey) are considered.

international cooperation

NETGAZETI.GE: “TURKEY IS READY TO SUPPLY US WITH MEDICINES AT A LOW PRICE – HEALTHCARE MINISTRY”

September 24, 2021 - Georgian Ministry of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labor, Healthcare and Social Protection reported that Turkey expresses readiness to increase availability of medicines at public procurement in Georgia. In particular, the matter concerns supply of pharmaceutical products at a low price, the Ministry said.

ecology & health

REZONANSI: “WHICH REGIONS ARE ON THE VERGE OF VACCINATION FAILURE – LEADERS AND OUTSIDERS OF VACCINATION IN GEORGIA”

September 22, 2021 - The newspaper reports that in terms of vaccination against COVID-19, the best situation is in Tbilisi and Ajara. In turn, the worst indicators are recorded in the regions of Kakheti, Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli, where vaccination is on the verge of failure.

finances & banking

FORBES GEORGIA: “BANK BONDS, SECURED WITH MORTGAGE”

September 21, 2021 - The practice of transforming loans into liquid instruments is still at its early stage in Georgia, the magazine notes. The article points that as sources of financing or/and liquidity management of commercial banks, mainly deposits, bonds, loans from international financial institutions and National Bank of Georgia (NBG) are used.




KVIRIS PALITRA: “WHEN WILL IT BE POSSIBLE TO GET OUT OF THE DEBT PIT”

September 20, 2021 - Georgian credit bureau CreditInfo reported that as of this August, 1.8 million people in the country own 29.12 billion lari to the financial sector in total. As of July, 88.36% of borrowers took loans from banks in the amount of 26.88 billion lari.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “THE GOVERNMENT, SUPPOSEDLY, WILL ALLOW NO MORE ANOTHER INCREASE IN BREAD PRICE”

September 22, 2021 - Growth of bread price, with a high probability, will start in Georgia after elections in local self-governments (October 2), the newspaper suggests.

Malkhaz Dolidze, head of Georgian Bread Producers Association, said that wheat is rising in price on international market and cost of 1 t makes up about $300.

construction

FORBES GEORGIA: “TSKALTUBO PUTS ON A NEW SHAPE”

September 23, 2021 - Tskaltubo, spa resort in Imereti region of Georgia, is a kind of monument of Soviet monumental ambitions and architecture, on the one hand, and those destruction and stagnation, which followed collapse of the USSR, on the other hand, the magazine says.

In December 2020, a group of local and foreign experts, on behalf of Georgian Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, started work on a conceptual master plan of Tskaltubo development.