Economic Press Monitor February 20 - 26, 2022	Days:  12 19 26 05 12

economic & politics

REZONANSI: “UNFORTUNATELY, SPECULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE ON BOTH CURRENCY AND GROCERY MARKETS!”

February 25, 2022 - As a result of war between Russia and Ukraine, fuel prices are especially rising, while national currencies are on the path of a sharp depreciation and Georgian currency especially, the newspaper says.

“There will definitely be big panic fluctuations in the world”, analyst Zura Kukuladze considers.




REZONANSI: “GEORGIA’S ECONOMY HAS BEEN ALREADY HIT BY RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR”

February 25, 2022 - Nika Shengelia, vice president at Forecasting and Research Center, indicated that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will cause heavy results in Georgia too. The danger will arise in terms of rising of prices of fuel and bread, he pointed.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ARVELADZE – INVESTMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN GEORGIA AND KOREA CREATES A SOLID LEGAL FRAMEWORK, PROMOTES CAPITAL FLOW AND STIMULATES ENTREPRENEURIAL INITIATIVES”

February 24, 2022 - Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development declared that Georgia and Korea have accomplished the 2^nd round of negotiations (in the format of a videoconference) on a draft agreement on promotion and protection of investments.

The parties have agreed issues on the agenda and will continue negotiations at the next meeting.




REZONANSI: “REPAIRED AND RESTORED “ENGURHES” WORKS TOTALLY FOR THE SEPARATISTS”

February 22, 2022 - Due to low water level, operation of EngurHES is now complicated, so its daily generation does not exceed 120 MW, said Levan Mebonia, director general of this Georgia’s largest hydroelectric station.

“Currently, the electricity generated by EngurHES is completely taken by the Abkhazians, which makes up about 28% of their consumption”, Mebonia indicated, noting that Abkhaz separatists receive daily 320 MW from Russia.

macroeconomics & budget

REZONANSI: “OIL PRICE APPROACHED $100, AND GEORGIA FACES DANGER OF SHARP PRICE GROWTH!”

February 23, 2022 - In Georgia, retail price of petrol has increased recently by 3-5 tetri, and a sharp increase is expected in the near future, as global prices are rising, the newspaper says.

Levan Davitashvili, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, declared that the government is considering various models for influencing fuel prices.




FORBES GEORGIA: “INFLATION IN GEORGIA AND THE WORLD – JANUARY”

February 23, 2022 - Over the past year, prices have risen globally, but in Georgia, the growth was higher than in most countries of the world, the magazine indicates.

According to tradingeconomics.com, Georgia with January inflation of 13.9% ranks 20^th among 178 countries of the world.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “LASHA KHUTSISHVILI ON REFORM OF STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES – THIS YEAR, 2 LARGE ENTERPRISES WILL BE ADDITIONALLY SELECTED AND PROCESS OF CORPORATIZATION WILL BEGIN”

February 21, 2022 - Georgia’s Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili said that this year, corporatization of Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE) will continue. Additionally, 2 large enterprises will be selected and process of their corporatization will begin, he reported.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “FINANCE MINISTER – IN PARALLEL WITH BUDGET DEFICIT, GOVERNMENT’S DEBT WILL DECREASE IN 2022 TOO AND WILL BE BELOW 48% OF GDP”

February 21, 2022 - Georgia’s Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili declared that the budget deficit in 2022 is planned to be 4.4% of GDP. However, existing forecasts suggest that it will be possible to reduce the deficit even to 4.1%, he said.

energy, oil & gas

FORBES GEORGIA: “SHARE OF RUSSIAN GAS IN GEORGIA HAS DOUBLED”

February 24, 2022 - In 2021, Georgia’s import of Russian gas amounted in monetary expression to $77 million, which is by 108% more than in 2020. There has not been such a sharp year-on-year increase of Russian gas import until now, the article notes.

companies

TABULA: “SANCTIONED “VTB BANK” WILL CONTINUE OPERATION IN GEORGIA – NBG”

February 25, 2022 - National Bank of Georgia (NBG) declared that VTB Bank Georgia will continue its operation, taking sanctions imposed by various countries into account. If additional liquidity is needed, NBG is ready to provide the bank with corresponding financial resource.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““TBC” BECAME PARTNER OF “KONG”, THE WORLD’S LEADING CLOUD SERVICE PROVIDER”

February 23, 2022 - TBC Bank has become a partner of Kong, an American cloud service provider. This company will take part in the process of improving the API ecosystem and retraining of the employees of Georgian bank.




FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIAN BUSINESS ANGELS’ NETWORK “AXEL” INVESTED IN STARTUP “THENEO””

February 22, 2022 - Axel, Georgian business angels’ network, has made the first syndicated investment in the technology startup Theneo, the magazine reported.

The investment followed international business angels’ summit of Axel, where Theneo was among 10 startups, presented to investors.

international cooperation

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “DAVITASHVILI: WE ARE CONSIDERING POSSIBILITY OF ELECTRIC BATTERIES’ PRODUCTION WITH ONE OF THE LARGEST COMPANIES IN THE WORLD”

February 22, 2022 - “During this week, we will have meetings with manufacturers of electric vehicles”, said Levan Davitashvili, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development.

We are expecting potential investors, and in particular, “consider the possibility of electric batteries’ production with one of the largest companies in the world”, the Minister indicated.

finances & banking

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““NATIONAL BANK’S POSITION ON CONDITIONS OF TENDER ON PENSION SERVICE HAD TO BE CLEAR””

February 24, 2022 - Analyst Giorgi Tsutskiridze believes that upon determination of pension issuance, the position of National Bank of Georgia (NBG) “had to be much clearer and reasoned”.

Tsutskiridze noted that actually, taking into account number of branches and service centers countrywide, only 3 system banks can take part in the tender for pensions issuance.




FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIA – A COUNTRY OF INNOVATIONS”

February 21, 2022 - Referring to Galt&Taggart’s data for 2021, the magazine reports that market penetration of smartphones and internet in Georgia makes up 86% and 84%, respectively. According to these indicators, Georgia is one of the leading countries in the world, the article notes.