Economic Press Monitor December 22 - 28, 2019	Days:  14 21 28 11 18

economic & politics

REZONANSI: ““DANGER IS VERY SERIOUS” – TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OR WITHDRAWAL OF THE LICENSE – WHAT DESTINY EXPECTS “REBELLIOUS” TV COMPANIES”

December 27, 2019 - Georgian Revenue Service used a collection in respect of 3 TV companies – Rustavi-2, TV Pirveli and Kavkasia. That has happened, when 2 TV companies did not pay an old debt yet – Imedi (19 million lari) and member of Imedi holding Maestro (8 million lari), the newspaper stressed.




REZONANSI: “THE GOVERNMENT RAISES SINCE JANUARY DUTY OF 112 INSTEAD OF CANCELLATION”

December 26, 2019 - Service fee of Georgian Center for Public Safety Management “112” could increase from 20 tetri up to 50 tetri a month, the newspaper reports.

The article indicates that the Parliament approved in the 3^rd hearing a package of legislative amendments, charging subscribers of fixed and mobile telephone service will monthly duty in favor of “112”, which size will be determined by the government resolution.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “SINCE 2020, CARS PRICE COULD DECREASE – ARMENIAN MARKET IS CLOSED FOR CAR DEALERS”

December 26, 2019 - Because of change of customs clearance conditions by Armenia, member of the Eurasian Customs Union, export of cars from Georgia to this country can stop from next year, the newspaper says.

As the article notes, today unified tax of 10% acts in Armenia for cars, delivered from the third countries, but since 2020, the payment will be defined depending on age and engine capacity of the car.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “PENSION AGENCY IN HOPE FOR PRAYER – WHAT ARE PROSPECTS OF REFORM”

December 25, 2019 - Levan Surguladze reported his resignation from the post of director of Georgian Pension Agency on December 9 and declared that he will pray for success of pension reform in the country.

Lawyer Levan Alapishvili specifies that sums, which are accumulated in the Pension Agency, are currently placed on deposits in National Bank of Georgia and Georgian commercial banks.




NETGAZETI.GE: “THE US URGES GEORGIA TO ENSURE JUSTICE, FREE FROM POLITICAL BIAS”

December 24, 2019 - “The United States supports a secure, prosperous, and democratic Georgia”, the US State Department declares.

“We urge the Georgian government to reinforce its commitment to the principles of democracy, individual liberty, and rule of law by ensuring that its judicial and prosecutorial system is free of political bias”, says the statement, released by press speaker of the State Department.




NETGAZETI.GE: ““THESE ARE PRIVATE SUMS OF LOYAL TO US ENTITIES” – TALAKVADZE ON FINANCING OF TROLL PAGES”

December 23, 2019 - According to Facebook, 39 accounts, 344 pages and 13 groups were cancelled in Georgia, after it was established that these pages were used by people having false accounts.

These pages, which criticized opposition parties and various civil groups, were connected with Panda advertising agency and Georgian authorities, Facebook indicated.

macroeconomics & budget

REZONANSI: “THERE WAS NO SUCH “EXPENSIVE YEAR” SINCE 2008”

December 27, 2019 - Statistician Soso Archvadze points that since 2008, there was no such “expensive” year in Georgia.

One of the reasons of this is depreciation of lari against of the US dollar, Archvadze says.




TABULA: “THE CITY HALL WILL SPEND 2.5M FOR INSTALLATION OF BENCHES ON CHAVCHAVADZE AVENUE”

December 27, 2019 - For installation of benches on rehabilitated Chavchavadze Avenue, Tbilisi City Hall plans to spend 2.5 million lari, Tabula reports.

On December 20, the City Hall announced tender on procurement of 155 benches, totaling to 1.88 million lari.




REZONANSI: “TOBACCO RAISED IN PRICE ONCE MORE – THE COMPANIES PLUNDER SMOKERS”

December 25, 2019 - Zviad Skhvitaridze, corporate and legal director of British American Tobacco, says that tobacco production has increased in price by 20 tetri. “Though this rise in price is not a final one, prices will grow in the next year even more”, he declares and adds: “I assume that this process will begin in the spring and could proceed in two stages.




TABULA: “DURING 9 MONTHS OF 2019, BONUSES AND SUPPLEMENTS OF 8M WERE ISSUED IN GENERAL COURTS”

December 24, 2019 - Referring to non-governmental organization Detector of Wastes, the article reports that bonuses and supplements, issued in general courts of Georgia vessels within 9 months of this year, made up respective 98,875 lari and 7.9 million lari. Volume of supplements has increased by 3 million lari (by 61%) in comparison with the same period of previous year.

energy, oil & gas

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “NEW HEAT POWER STATION IN GARDABANI, WHICH WILL CONSIDERABLY REDUCE IMPORTED ELECTRIC POWER, IS LAUNCHED”

December 25, 2019 - Gardabani Thermal Power Plant 2 already supplies electricity in test mode to Georgia’s united power grid, the newspaper reports.

Construction of the heat power station of combined cycle, having installed capacity of 230 MW, was funded by Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation with $180 million.




REZONANSI: “ELECTRIC POWER WILL RISE IN PRICE, WHILE GAS COULD EVEN DECREASE IN PRICE”

December 24, 2019 - “In 2020, I do not expect change of electricity tariff”, MP Revaz Arveladze (Georgia’s minister of fuel and energy in 1992-1993) declares. It is already known that next year repair of EngurHES (largest hydroelectric station of Georgia) will not be carried out (and, respectively, the station will not be shut down), at that, paces of cryptocurrencies’ mining has decreased, he points.

companies

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““GALLERIA TBILISI”, “AXIS TOWER”, “PARAGRAPH SHEKVETILI” – CO-INVESTMENT FUND WILL START EXIT FROM PROJECTS IN 2020”

December 27, 2019 - Tsotne Ebralidze, executive director of Georgian Co-Investment Fund (established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, billionaire leader of ruling Georgian Dream), said that emphasis in 2020 will be placed on completion of ongoing projects in the direction of real estate.

These projects include, first of all, a hotel complex, being under construction at Liberty Square in Tbilisi, Ebralidze declared on air of Public Broadcaster (Business Partner program).




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “CONSTRUCTION OF HOTEL IN THE FORMER BUILDING OF THE ECONOMY MINISTRY IS STARTED”

December 26, 2019 - In the former building of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, located on Chanturia Street in Tbilisi, Chinese Hualing Group has started construction of a hotel, the newspaper reports.

As the article specifies, the building was sold at auction in 2015 for $9.45 million, and the hotel with 100 rooms at least had to be launched by April 20 of this year.




NETGAZETI.GE: “ONE-DAY TERM, GIVEN TO TELEVISIONS, HAS EXPIRED – TO WHOM THE COLLECTION DOES (NOT) THREATEN?”

December 25, 2019 - On December 24, the one-day term, given by Georgian Finance Ministry to local TV broadcasting companies for payment of their current arrears (i.e. accumulated since October 1), has expired, Netgazeti.Ge reports.

As the article notes, the Ministry does not disclose companies, having the mentioned arrears, but Rustavi-2, TV Pirveli and Kavkasia already confirmed existence of a debt.




FORBES GEORGIA: “SPHERE OF AUDIT IN GEORGIA – CHALLENGES AND ACHIEVEMENTS”

December 24, 2019 - Ivane Zhuzhunashvili, partner and head of audit direction at BDO, indicates in the interview with the magazine that earlier in Georgia, “everybody had submitted such financial reports or conducted such audit inspections, which they considered correct”. Now, “the regulator, represented by Service for Accounting, Reporting and Audit Supervision, has appeared for auditors”, he says.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IN THREE QUARTERS OF 2019, “NENSKRA HYDRO” HAS INVESTED $16M”

December 23, 2019 - In three quarters of this year, Nenskra Hydro, which implements project of NenskraHES hydroelectric station, has invested up to $16 million, the newspaper reports.

According to the company, investments were made both in infrastructure projects and in social ones.

international cooperation

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “GEORGIA GAINS GROUND ON THE WORLD MAP OF SO-CALLED OUTSOURCING”

December 23, 2019 - Christina Meparishvili, head of investment department of Produce in Georgia Agency, says that “for the last 2-3 years, about 3,500 new jobs were created” in the sector of outsourcing. These services include call center, online chat, etc., she specified.