02 BFC Georgia Agriculture Finance Bulletin

12/2012

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2 Geo r g i a Agriculture Finance Bulletin Russian finance minister: The issue of return of Georgian goods is politically determined Ministry of Agriculture Launches Inventory of Privately-owned Land EU Allocates 40 million Euros for Georgian Agriculture European Diplomatic Missions Believe there are Opportunities Now in Georgia

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Georgian Agriculture Finance Bulletin Edition #2, December 2012 The Georgian Agriculture Finance Bulletin presents a monthly roundup of headlines and news stories related to investments and financing flows to Georgia’s agricultural sector.

This bulletin is prepared by Business & Finance Consulting—a Swiss-based development finance consulting company with a long history of working in Georgia. Currently, BFC is implementing the Agricultural Lending Programme for KfW. Read more»

Contents State Initiatives

State Initiatives ................................................................................... 2 Agricultural investment projects to get credit with maximum interest rate of 3%. 2 Russian finance minister: The issue of return of Georgian goods is politically determined ........................................................................................ 2 Georgia supplies Russia with the first container of citrus................................ 2 Presentation of One Billion Agriculture Fund to Be Held at the End of the Year ... 3 Ministry of Agriculture Launches Inventory of Privately-owned Land ................. 3 Perspectives of Agriculture .................................................................... 3 David Kirvalidze: The Legal Side of One Billion Fund’s Setting up has been Complete........................................................................................... 3 International Assistance

Georgian agriculture gets reinforced by Chinese technology. .......................... 4 USAID will invest 40 million USD in Georgian agriculture ................................ 4 EU Allocates 40 million Euros for Georgian Agriculture .................................. 4 Private Sector

Investment in Brief .............................................................................. 5 Tbilisi to host Israeli business forum ......................................................... 5 European Diplomatic Missions Believe there are Opportunities Now in Georgia .... 5 Disclaimer: In this bulletin, Business & Finance Consulting provides extracts from articles that have been published by others and as a result cannot be held responsible for such content. The articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BFC, its staff, its associates or its partners. Copyright of articles is retained by their authors.

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Agriculture Finance Bulletin, December edition

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State Initiatives Agricultural investment projects to get credit with maximum interest rate of 3%.

Prime Minister of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili promises financing for investment projects in the field of Agriculture. In addition, he said farmers will also get state consumer credit. He talked about this on a conference held on December 24th, 2012.

According to his statement, credit is going to be extended with an annual maximum interest rate of 7-8%. Besides, Ivanishvili said that they will lend money to interesting investment projects with an interest rate of 0—3%.Read More » December 24th, 2012, bizzone.info Source: http://bizzone.info/agriculture/2012/1356374738.php

Russian finance minister: The issue of return of Georgian goods is politically determined Admission of Georgian agricultural products and wine to the Russian market is politically settled. According to RIA Novosti, this was announced by the First Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Andrei Denisov.

"As far as I know, the issue of sanitation, quality assurance and product approval on sanitary indicators is politically determined. Only the purely technical procedures that require registration, like in any other country, remain. Our market is open, and I'm sure there are buyers of the Georgian products", he said. Read More » December 21st, 2012, GeorgianTimes.info Source: http://www.georgiatimes.info/en/news/84620.html

Georgia supplies Russia with the first container of citrus The first container loaded with Georgian citrus arrived in Russia yesterday, December 25. According to the Business-Georgia, this was announced by the Minister of Agriculture of Georgia David Kirvalidze at a press conference.

According to Kirvalidze, this week, another two trucks loaded with citrus can depart to Russia. As for other products, a consultative meeting with the winemakers to discuss removal of restrictions on Georgian wine to the Russian market must be held this week, the Minister said.

Read More » December 26th, 2012, GeorgianTimes.info Source: http://www.georgiatimes.info/en/news/84829.html

Agriculture Finance Bulletin, December edition

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Presentation of One Billion Agriculture Fund to Be Held at the End of the Year The funds for the construction of processing enterprises in the regions will be allocated from One Billion Fund.

Ministry of Agriculture informs commersant.ge that the work on the issue is already underway and One Billion Fund presentation will be held in the end of the year after which the funds necessary for the processing industries and trends will be defined. Read More » December 7th, 2012, Commersant.ge Source: http://www.commersant.ge/eng/index.php?id=3945

Ministry of Agriculture Launches Inventory of Privately-owned Land The Ministry of Agriculture is conducting an inventory of privately owned agricultural lands.

The head of the Rural Development Department of the Ministry explains that the ministry is clarifying the land ownership. Kote Khutsaidze notes that there are some flaws because the real owners of the land are not registered in the registry. Read More » December 13th, 2012, Radio “Commersant” FM 95,5 Source: http://www.commersant.ge/eng/index.php?id=4009

Perspectives of Agriculture Minister of agriculture, Davit Kirvalidze, summed up the results of studies of past two months, on the briefing held today and spoke about perspectives of improving agriculture. According to him, ameliorating agriculture is a priority for new government, this is testified by 61% increase in budget and creation of a $1 billion fund. First of all, rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage systems is planned, and they also plan on helping out peasants, farmers and businessmen in the spring season. The Minister of Agriculture thinks co-operative societies could be a good perspective for this field. What do farmers and economists think about this?

Read More » December 25th, 2012, Radiotavisufleba.ge Source: http://www.radiotavisupleba.ge/content/soflis-meurneoba/24808080.html

David Kirvalidze: The Legal Side of One Billion Fund’s Setting up has been Complete "Budget funding for agriculture increases by 61.8% " An interview with Agriculture Minister David Kirvalidze.

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What have you already done as Minister of Agriculture, what concrete steps and in which directions have you taken during these 2 months?

First of all, it should be noted that budget funding for agriculture increased by 61.8%. The Ministry has actively started to bring new agricultural equipment as well as a mechanictraining program. Another important move was the signing of a grant contract worth 4 million USD with the Chinese government in the frames of which irrigation equipment will be handed to the Georgian side free of charge. Last month an agreement was reached with the United Nations Development Program and professional institutions in various regions of Georgia in order to prepare tractor-drivers. Read More »

December 26th, 2012, Radio "Commersant," FM 95,5 Source: http://www.commersant.ge/eng/index.php?id=4143

Agriculture Finance Bulletin, December edition

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International Assistance Georgian agriculture gets reinforced by Chinese technology.

Today in the Ministry of Agriculture an agreement to supply Georgia with Chinese technology was signed. The total cost of the machinery is 9 million USD. Technology should be shipped to Georgia by May 2013.

Based on Georgian-Chinese agreement on economic and technological cooperation, signed in 2011, the Georgian side will be provided with machinery by Foton Lovol International Heavy Industry LTD. Read More » December 12th, 2012, Bizzone.info Source: http://bizzone.info/agriculture/2012/1355340302.php

USAID will invest 40 million USD in Georgian agriculture U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is going to invest 40 million USD in agriculture of Georgia; this is going to happen in upcoming years. This was announced by minister of agriculture of Georgia, David Kirvalidze, on Tuesday, December 18th, at a press conference on the results of his business trip to United States.

The minister was in the U.S. from 11 to 15 December. Kirvalidze participated in the jubilee session of the Business Council of Georgia and the United States, held a meeting at the State Department, USAID, the Department of Agriculture, and the World Bank and with the business sector of the United States. Read More » December 18th, 2012, bizzone.info Source: http://bizzone.info/agriculture/2012/1355871422.php

EU Allocates 40 million Euros for Georgian Agriculture The Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia in cooperation with European Union (EU) in the framework of EU Neighbourhood policy will implement an agricultural development project in Georgia.

At the meeting on December 4th David Kirvalidze, Minister of Agriculture of Georgia, Mr. Andrea Fontana, Head of Unit for Geographical Coordination of Neighbourhood East and Philip Dimitrov, EU Ambassador to Georgia discussed the project details.

EU will donate 40 mln. Euros to Georgian Agriculture. Read More » December 4th, 2012, moa.gov.ge Source: http://moa.gov.ge/?p=2050&lang=en

Agriculture Finance Bulletin, December edition

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Private Sector Investment in Brief          

IMF Economic Growth Forecast Stable for Georgia.

75 Percent Government Financing for Diaspora Investments in Georgia.

EBRD Invests in Georgian Supermarket.

50 Million Lari Bazaar Opens in Tbilisi.

Georgian Wines Awarded.

Turkish Company "Ekotekstil" Starts Investment in Guria.

New Ropeway to Open in Batumi.

CBD Development to launch $40 million Project in Tbilisi.

European Union to Allocate EUR 670 million for Georgia.

British Airways Officially Returns to Georgia.

Read More » Issue 6, 2012. December-January, Investor.ge Source: http://www.investor.ge/article.php?art=1

Tbilisi to host Israeli business forum On December 8, a festive ceremony of business forum "Israel business in Georgia—2013" will be held in Tbilisi at “Radisson Blu Iveria" hotel. 50 investment projects in which Israeli companies are involved in Georgia in real estate development, tourism, agriculture, communications and other fields will be presented.

The forum is important due to the fact that "Sotbi" representatives will arrive in Georgia for the first time.

The heads of private sector and the government of Israel and Georgia participate in the event. Read More » December 6th, 2012, commersant.ge Source: http://www.commersant.ge/eng/index.php?id=3940

European Diplomatic Missions Believe there are Opportunities Now in Georgia The FINANCIAL—December was quite busy in terms of business negotiations. Tbilisi hosted trade missions from the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands. Representatives of more than 30 European companies visited Georgia which was followed by further meetings and agreements. Representatives of diplomatic missions in Georgia believe that the new government will improve the investment climate in the country.

“The Georgian economy was monopolized in the field of advertising, petrol, medicine. The economy was becoming politicized during the former regime,” said Angel Samura, Deputy Head of Mission at the Dutch Embassy. Read More » December 24th, 2012, FinChannel.com Source: http://www.finchannel.com/Main_News/Geo/121504_European_Diplomatic_Missions_Believe_ there_are_Opportunities_Now_in_Georgia/

Prepared by Business & Finance Consulting (BFC) www.bfconsulting.com In this bulletin, BFC provides extracts from articles that have been published by others and as a result cannot be held responsible for such content.

The articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BFC, its staff, its associates or its partners.

Copyright of articles is retained by their authors.