Economic Press Monitor May 22 - 28, 2022	Days:  14 21 28 04 11

economic & politics

REZONANSI: ““WE WANT CLARITY AND WE NEED AN ADEQUATE AND APPROPRIATE REACTION FROM THE EU” – THE PRIME MINISTER’S MAIN MESSAGES AT THE DAVOS ECONOMIC FORUM”

May 27, 2022 - “We consider that we are completely bound up in the values and principles of the EU, we are implementing democratic reforms”, Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated. “We have fulfilled over 45% of the [EU-Georgia] Association Agreement”, he pointed.




FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIA’S “TRANSPARENCY OSCAR”: PROMOTING HEALTHY COMPETITION TO INCREASE ACCOUNTABILITY”

May 25, 2022 - Best Annual Report and Transparency Award (BARTA), established in 2019, is the region’s first “Transparency Oscar”, the article states.

At the BARTA Awards, held in Tbilisi in December 2021, 18 nominees were presented.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “PRESIDENT NOMINATED NATIA TURNAVA AS A NATIONAL BANK BOARD’S MEMBERSHIP CANDIDATE”

May 25, 2022 - Georgia’s President Salome Zurabishvili presented to the Parliament the candidacy of Natia Turnava for the board member at the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), the newspaper reports.

The Parliament appoints NBG board members, nominated by the President, with an office term of 7 years.




REZONANSI: “ALMOST ALL BUSINESSES IN GEORGIA ARE CONTROLLED BY QUIET MONOPOLISTS”

May 24, 2022 - Georgian markets of fuel, frozen poultry meat, cereals, sugar are less diversified and the number of supplier companies is small, the article says. The article brings comments on the subject, made by Nika Shengelia, vice president at Research and Forecasting Center, and Ramaz Gerliani, head of the Center for Economic Transformation.

macroeconomics & budget

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “500-LARI PROGRAM FOR SOCIALLY UNPROTECTED PENSIONERS WAS USED BY 17,685 PENSIONERS”

May 27, 2022 - Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze declared that 17,685 pensioners used the 500-lari program for socially unprotected pensioners. Beneficiaries of the program are persons of retirement age, registered in Tbilisi.




REZONANSI: “STRENGTHENING OF LARI WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER, THE RATE WILL GO BELOW 2.80 AND WILL FIND A NEW MARK”

May 24, 2022 - Georgian national currency has already returned to the pre-war mark, and the rate went below 2.9 GEL/USD, so that 2.7-2.8 GEL/USD mark is already real, the newspaper says. The article brings comments on the subject, made by economist Giorgi Tsutskiridze and analyst Zura Kukuladze.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “GIORGI KAKAURIDZE: MAINTAINING THE STRENGTHENED EXCHANGE RATE WILL LOWER PRICE OF IMPORTED PRODUCTION”

May 24, 2022 - Georgia’s Deputy Finance Minister Giorgi Kakauridze said that oil-products and foodstuff contributed the largest share to Georgia’s almost 12% inflation in the 1^st quarter.

At the same time, there is a “high trend of the rate strengthening in May”, which “should have effect over the next 1-2 weeks, and when the new product enters the market, it should arrive already with a reduced price”, Kakauridze declared.

companies

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “IN CONSTRUCTION SECTOR, COMPETITION AGENCY GAVE CONSENT ON ACQUISITION BY “ANAGI” OF A 50% STAKE IN “GTC TRADING””

May 25, 2022 - In the construction sector, Georgian National Competition Agency gave consent on acquisition by Anagi of a 50% stake in GTC Trading.

The parties operate on different markets, so the concentration will not affect the concentration index of the respective markets and will not significantly limit effective competition, the Agency stated.




FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIAN-EUROPEAN CRYPTO BUSINESS”

May 23, 2022 - Vasil Babluani, the founder of Nova Holding, declared that construction of a crypto-mining plant in Tbilisi will be completed in June. At the initial stage, the plant’s capacity will make up 10 MW, but expansion is definitely planned in the future, he said.




TABULA: “GARIBASHVILI: “BORJOMI” WILL NO MORE HAVE PROBLEMS IN OPERATION, THE EMPLOYED SHOULD BE CALM”

May 23, 2022 - Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili declared that the government held a direct communication with the managing company and the owners of IDS Borjomi. They proposed “to grant the state a share, which value may be about $100 million”, he said.

international cooperation

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “GEORGIA, AZERBAIJAN AND KAZAKHSTAN SIMPLIFY CUSTOMS PROCEDURES TO FACILITATE TRANSIT CORRIDOR”

May 23, 2022 - Representative of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan declared that Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan are planning to sign a trilateral agreement on transit facilitation. “The agreement between our country and Georgia has already been signed.

finances & banking

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““DIGITAL CURRENCIES ISSUED BY CENTRAL BANKS OFFER GREATER RELIABILITY””

May 27, 2022 - Koba Gvenetadze, president of National Bank of Georgia, pointed that the main characteristic of the central bank digital currency (CBDC), “which attracts investors, is anonymity and speculative nature”. However, “currencies issued by central banks offer greater reliability”, he noted.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “STRENGTHENING OF LARI AND GOOD HARVEST EXPECTATIONS DELAYED BREAD PRICE GROWTH”

May 27, 2022 - In this April, Georgia imported 8,181 t of wheat and meslin, which is by 73% less compared with April 2021, the newspaper reports. At that, import of flour made up 16.269 t, increasing by 1,020% year-on-year.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““OUR INDUSTRY DID NOT DEMAND CONTINUATION OF WORK IN EXCHANGE FOR BREAD PRICE GROWTH, AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO DO THIS IN FUTURE EITHER””

May 24, 2022 - Levan Silagava, executive director of Georgian Wheat and Flour Producers Association, considers that a decision should be made in near future so that by July 1, local flourmills will be prepared to a certain extent for harvesting. “It should not be presented in such a way that we grind the wheat crop and then stop again”, he points.

tourism

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “DIRECT FLIGHTS FROM DUBAI TO BATUMI WILL START IN JUNE”

May 25, 2022 - In June, direct flights will start from Dubai (UAE) to Batumi, reported Ajara Department of Tourism and Resorts. Until end of the summer tourist season, FlyDubai will operate flights 3 times a week.