Economic Press Monitor July 25 - 31, 2021	Days:  17 24 31 07 14

economic & politics

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““FLIGHTS BETWEEN GEORGIA AND RUSSIA SHOULD NOT BE RESTORED UNCONDITIONALLY AND WITHOUT NEGOTIATIONS””

July 30, 2021 - Grigory Karasin, chairman of Russia’s Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, declared that Russia is ready to consider the issue of resuming air communication with Georgia.

In this connection, the newspaper publishes a Facebook comment of Vaso Urushadze, executive director of think tank HUB Georgia.




TABULA: “CRAMON: PEOPLE OF GEORGIA WILL SUFFER THE MOST OF THE DECISIONS”

July 29, 2021 - MEP Viola von Cramon agrees with assessment of the US Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) of Georgian ruling party’s decision to withdraw from agreement with the opposition, adopted of April 19 through mediation the European Council’s President Charles Michel.

In his post on Twitter, Risch indicated that “Georgian Dream’s decision to walk away from the April 19 agreement is an abdication of gov’t responsibility, and seems to indicate that the party only cares about its own future – not that of the entire country”.




TABULA: “PRICE: WITHDRAWAL OF “DREAM” FROM THE AGREEMENT RISKS A RETURN TO POLITICAL CRISIS”

July 29, 2021 - “The Georgian Dream Party’s withdrawal from the April 19 Agreement undermines an agreed upon way forward for the country through needed reforms and risks a return to political crises”, posted press speaker of the US State Department Ned Price on Twitter. “We call on all parties to work together to advance Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration”, he pointed.




REZONANSI: “PREMIER MADE PROMISE – BUSINESS BREATHED WITH RELIEF!”

July 27, 2021 - “Our country will be unable to withstand new closure anymore, neither lockdown nor restrictions will be justified”, declared Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili. “That will damage the country’s economy, which will force us to take additional debt of several billion dollars”, he said.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “THE PARLIAMENT ELECTED 3 MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL BANK COUNCIL”

July 27, 2021 - Georgian Parliament has appointed 3 members of the Council of National Bank of Georgia (NBG).

79 MPs voted for membership in the Council of Nikoloz Gagua (Georgia’s Deputy Finance Minister).

macroeconomics & budget

FORBES GEORGIA: “PROFIT AND LOSS OF STATE-OWNED COMPANIES”

July 28, 2021 - Today, state-owned companies operate in almost all sectors in Georgia, from wine production to hotel and energy sectors, the magazine points.

As the article notes, state-owned companies, employing 56,000 people are and having revenues of 3.24 billion lari, are included in the list of the largest businesses of the country.




REZONANSI: “MAIN REASON FOR PRICE GROWTH ON MEDICINES IS DEPRECIATION OF LARI – NIKOLOZ GAMKRELIDZE”

July 26, 2021 - Quoting survey, conducted by Georgian office of World Health Organization (WHO), the newspaper indicates that “weak regulation of prices for healthcare services and provider’s ability to charge a patient with excess amount contribute to high out-of-pocket payments and impoverishment of families” in the country.

Nikoloz Gamkrelidze, director of Georgian Healthcare Group (GHG), states in his turn that “profit margin of pharmaceutical companies is not the main reason for growth of drug prices, the main reason is depreciation of lari”.

energy, oil & gas

FORBES GEORGIA: “REFORMATION OF ELECTRIC POWER MARKET”

July 29, 2021 - The magazine publishes interpretation of Georgia’s electric power market reform, provided by David Narmania, chairman of Georgian National Water Supply and Energy Regulating Commission.

In particular, since July 1, the retail market has been opened and household consumers and small businesses begin receiving electricity from universal service providers.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: ““CERTAIN GROUPS DO EVERYTHING TO MAKE US A DILAPIDATED PROVINCE,ENERGY-DEPENDENT ON RUSSIA””

July 28, 2021 - The newspaper publishes comment of Giorgi Abramishvili, director of Georgian Association of Renewable Energy Development, which he posted on Facebook. Abramishvili supports construction of NamokhvanHES and negatively assesses actions of the project’s opponents, Defenders of Rioni Gorge movement and some environmental organizations.




REZONANSI: “ACCORDING TO NEW REGULATION, ELECTRICITY SUPPLY WILL NOT BE CANCELED DUE TO NON-PAYMENT – SEE NEW PAYMENT PROCEDURE”

July 26, 2021 - Constitutional Court of Georgia decided that electricity distribution company in Tbilisi has no right to cancel service to consumer, having indebtedness for water supply.

After a 4-year consideration, the court partially satisfied claim of a private individual, which was filed in 2017.

conflict and court

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “ON THE BASIS OF COMPLAINT OF “ALGORITHM”, COMPETITION AGENCY CONFIRMED FACT OF UNFAIR COMPETITION”

July 26, 2021 - Georgian National Competition Agency has completed investigation that was launched because of complaint, filed by LLC Algorithm. The matter concerned unfair competition (misuse of the same name) on the part of the similarly named company, LLC Algorithm.

companies

FORBES GEORGIA: “FOREIGN MARKET SUCCESS STRATEGY OF “MEGVINEOBA CHELTI””

July 30, 2021 - Megvioneoba Chelti (Winery Chelti) is expanding its vineyards in Kakheti region by 20 ha with investment of about 500,000 lari, the magazine reports. The company owns currently area of 80 ha, of which vineyards occupy 50 ha.




TABULA: “REVENUE SERVICE ON “MTAVARI”: THIS IS A STANDARD PROCEDURE, THEY SHIFT IT INTO POLITICAL CONTEXT”

July 28, 2021 - Revenue Service of Georgian Finance Ministry declared that inspection, launched in the sales house of TV company Mtavari Arkhi (Main Channel, oppositional TV channel), is a standard procedure.

Tax control is carried out annually in relation to 8,000 taxpayers on average, while in July, additional 5,000 ones were selected, including advertising companies, the Service explained.




FORBES GEORGIA: “ENERGY-EFFICIENT SMART BUILDING IS BEING BUILT IN OLD TBILISI THROUGH INVESTMENT OF $1.45 M”

July 27, 2021 - With investment of $1.45 million, an energy-efficient residential building is being built in Old Tbilisi, which will fully depend on solar energy, the magazine reports. Solar panels will be installed both on the roof and on balconies.




FORBES GEORGIA: “TRANSFORMATION OF EXHIBITION INDUSTRY | INTERVIEW WITH RESAN KIKAVA”

July 27, 2021 - Before the pandemic, Tbilisi exhibition center ExpoGeorgia had hosted per 11-12 exhibitions a year, but in March 2020, the events were first postponed and then canceled, the magazine points.

The company, two-thirds of which income derives from exhibitions (the rest is gained from office space rental), employs now 65 employees.

transport & communications

FORBES GEORGIA: “CALCULATIONS OF “TAV GEORGIA” | INTERVIEW WITH THEA ZAKARADZE”

July 29, 2021 - Thea Zakaradze, general manager of TAV Georgia (operator of Tbilisi and Batumi airports, part of Turkish TAV Airports), said that within 6 months of this year, 27% of passenger traffic was restored, if compared with 2019 (i.e. before the pandemic), while already 59% was restored in July. In 2019, maximum load at Tbilisi airport was 100-120 flights per day, while in this July – 40-50, she pointed.

international cooperation

FORBES GEORGIA: “GEORGIAN WINE INDUSTRY TURNS TO BLOCKCHAIN”

July 28, 2021 - Georgian National Wine Agency will cooperate with the Norwegian blockchain platform WiV, the magazine reports. The article notes that in order to attract a broader audience, Georgian wine will be assigned NFT.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “EXPORT OF PEACHES AND NECTARINE HAS GROWN UNPRECEDENTEDLY – FARMERS DO NOT HIDE THEIR SATISFACTION”

July 30, 2021 - Georgia’s current peach harvest is the best in recent years in terms of volume, quality and price, because of which overwhelming majority of farmers is satisfied, the newspaper writes.

Gela Khanishvili, Georgia’s First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, indicated that “compared to last year, we have almost 50% growth in volume, and an even bigger growth in cost”.

construction

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “MULTIFUNCTIONAL ZONE TO BE SET UP ON CHAKVI TERRITORY”

July 26, 2021 - Development of a multifunctional zone will start in Chakvi (resort settlement near Batumi) this year, the newspaper reports. The article indicates that respective tender has been already announced, for which up to 10 million lari has been allocated.