Caucasus Business Week #304

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November 18, 2019 - www.cbw.ge

#304

WEEK

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Financial Education in Georgia

Major Trade Networks on the Georgian Market

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Parliament to determine Minimum Salary

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European Standards in Beekeeping

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Georgia and South Korea to sign Air Traffic Agreement Georgia will sign an agreement on regular air communication with the Republic of Korea.

United Water Supply Company to arrange Water Supply System in Kidiskuri and Sakadagiano Villages United Water Supply Company of Georgia plans to rehabilitate the water supply system in the villages of Khidiskuri and Sakadagiano, Kaspi Municipality.

Visa and Georgia's TBC-backed Neobank - Space announce Strategic Partnership Visa and Space, the first fully digital bank in Georgia, today announced they have signed a partnership agreement to jointly develop innovative banking services.

Parliament turns down Constitutional Changes The constitutional changes prepared by the parliamentary majority regarding transformation onto the proportional system of elections were turned down in the parliament.

Film Shindisi became Winner of Warsaw Film Festival On October 21st, film Shindisi was awarded Grand Prise and became the winner of Warsaw Film Festival.

Georgian Airline MyWay ended 2018 with a Loss of 41 million GEL With Chinese investment, Georgia-based airline MyWay ended 2018 with a loss of -40,875,472. It is reported in the financial statements published by the airline.

Germany allocate â‚Ź161,7 million to support Georgian Investment Projects Today Governmental consultations on development cooperation between Georgia and Germany held at the Ministry of Finance.

Container Shipments increased by 34% Georgian Railway has delivered 64,000 containers (TEU) in the 10 months of 2019, which is a record figure.

Negative Numbers by Uta Beria to be launched in France and Italy The film directed by young Georgian film director, Uta Beria will premiere at French International Film Festival on November 15th.

Creating the First Digital School platform of National Library began Digital collection of National Library - sub-collection of Mamardashvili "Shota, Ilia, Akaki, Vaja and Galaktioni"unites these and other Georgian author's works, which are studied in schools.

The Editorial Board Follows Press Freedom Principles Publisher: LLC Caucasian Business Week - CBW Director: Levan Beglarishvili WWW.CBW.GE Address: Aleksidze Street 1 Sales: Mob: +995 591 01 39 36 Email: caucasianbusiness@gmail.com Editor: Nutsa Galumashvili. Mobile phone: 595 380382 Copy Editor: Ellie Rambo Reporters: Nina Gomarteli; Mariam Kopaliani; Merab Janiashvili, Economic columnist: Andria Gvidiani; Technical Assistant: Giorgi Kheladze;

Giorgi Chogovadze: Ryanair's Entry starts New Era into Georgian Aviation and Tourism

Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has started operations both from Kutaisi and Tbilisi International Airports. Ryanair has carried out the first direct flight from Milan to Tbilisi and Marseille and Bologna to Kutaisi.

An official reception was held at the airports of Kutaisi and Tbilisi.

"I would like to congratulate Ryanair’s entrance to Georgian citizens. It has been a direct order from the population to bring this airline and we have resumed and completed negotiations a few months ago. Ryanair in Georgia means more European tourists and of course, affordable flights to Europe. There is a lot of success ahead. I would like to emphasize once again that with the arrival of Ryanair, a new era is beginning in Georgian aviation and tourism", Giorgi Chogovadze said.

According to the United Airports of Georgia, another new destination- Cologne will

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be added to Tbilisi Airport from April 2020. However, the lowcoster will perform flights 4 times a week to Milan from Tbilisi Shota Rustaveli Airport.

Flights will be carried out by Boeing 737 aircraf Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer David O'Brien and Giorgi Chogovadze signed the agreement in August.

Irish low-cost airline RYANAIR was founded in 1984. Its aircraft fleet consists of 455 Boeing 737-800s with a capacity of 189 passengers. The airline carried a total of 139 million passengers and became the second largest airline in Europe after Lufthansa.

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Financial Education in Georgia

A financial education course will be introduced into public schools in the Spring of 2020, as part of a civil education program. The Ministry of Education took this decision as part of its partnership with the National Bank of Georgia (NBG). The decision is to improve the level of financial education in our society as a part of the national education strategy, Lasha Gzirishvili, head of the NBG Department for Consumer Rights Protection and Financial Education told BusinessPartner.

The level of financial education in the country is, unfortunately, low.

The first and only research conducted in 2016 has showed that not many citizens plan costs and save money, Gzirishvili noted.

“We do not have a bad situation in terms of knowledge; that is, our citizens understand financial issues, more or less.

Their conduct should also be appraised as satisfactory: everybody tries to timely cover their liabilities, even utility taxes. However, we have some problems in attitude. In general, a Georgian is a wasteful person. Our citizens pay very little attention to budget planning; not many of them save money, and get ready for their pension. In general, Georgian citizens rarely plan their future costs or plan for so-

called pocket money.

Therefore, we have decided to develop a financial education national strategy, and implement it in real life. Many organizations assist us in this respect, including the Ministry of Education”, Gzirishvili said.

To this end, the NBG has already prepared several educational textbooks for children, and assumed responsibility for disseminating financial education. However, record across the world proves that the efforts of central banks alone cannot bring worthwhile results, and many other instances should see engagement with this process, both governmental and nongovernmental, finance, donor and private companies, he added.

Gzirishvili stressed that as part of the National Bank’s financial education national strategy, the perception upgrading measures are being held twice a year since 2012, such as Money Weekly in spring and Global Saving Day in October.

The introduction of financial education courses to public schools is the most advanced decision, Gzirishvili noted.

‘The most useful outcome is that, as a result of our cooperation with the Education Ministry, we have agreed and the Education Ministry has already updated

the national curricula, under which, in this academic year -namely in Spring- a financial education course will be launched at public schools, as an integrated part of a civil education course.

At this stage, we are working on training teachers so they also meet this process prepared”, Gzirishvili noted.

As for the financial education of adult citizens in our society, textbooks for the micro and small business sectors have been prepared, and the project for small farmers is also being developed, the director of the NBG Department for Consumer Rights Protection and Financial Education noted.

“As for other groups, naturally, we plan to implement various projects for adults, too. We have already finished a textbook for micro and small business sectors describing how to take the right financial decisions, and how to communicate with various financial organizations.

Moreover, at this stage, we are preparing similar textbooks for micro and small farmers, too, and in the near future, these textbooks will be ready. We will also hold training sessions together with our partners”, Lasha Gzirishvili said.

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Major Trade Networks on the Georgian Market

“The viability of independent dealers is declining”, Spar managing director Miranda Manjgaladze told BusinessPartner TV. Based on this situation, Spar offers its own conditions to local street stores in the form of a franchise. “We sell the brand, and they are able to enjoy the Spar’s benefits”, Manjgaladze said.

The Spar logistics center will partially begin operations in 2020, she added.

“The logistics centers will ensure a constant supply of products to our clients. As for our communication with suppliers and manufacturers – the shorter the chain from a manufacturer to a client, the lower expenditures

for consumers”, Manjgaladze noted.

In response to the question of whether logistics centers will lower distribution costs, Manjgaladze noted that it is impossible to exclude distribution costs entirely. “The fact is that transforming this chain from a manufacturer to a client will considerably lower consumer expenditures”, Manjgaladze noted.

Spar has been developing its network in Tbilisi and across the entire country. At this stage, the Spar network trades in 3,200 products in its smallest trade outlet (80 square meter store). The network’s major store in located in Kutaisi, Manjgaladze said.

“We have entered

Svaneti, the Kakheti region. Our company has prepared a development plan for every region of Georgia. We have an aggressive development plan based on not only the network of stores, but also franchising and partnership. About 240 stores of our network generate about a 1 million GEL turnover a day, of which 100 stores are owned by our partner entities”, Manjgaladze said.

Spar was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, and launched operation in Georgia in 1995, Majgaladze noted.

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Parliament to Determine Minimum

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“The introduction of a minimum salary will improve the condition of at least 229,000 employees”, Independent MP Beka Natsvlishvili noted. It is necessary that the legislation determine a minimum salary that will cover the cost of living, he added.

The bill will not touch small businesses with no more than 500,000 GEL turnover, he noted.

“Labor associations have worked on developing a bill to regulate the issue of minimum salaries, which must exceed the cost of living, which today is at 380 GEL.” According to our bill, the minimum salary constitute 45% of the average salary, which today is at 500 GEL (before tax), and 400 GEL (net salary). It is inadmissible that people work full time for a salary under the cost of living.

As for small businesses with no more than 500,000 GEL turnover, the law will not apply to them. The minimum salary would improve the condition of at least 229,000 people, because the bottom margin of the salary will be firmly set, and this decision will incentivize the growth in salaries of higher-paid employees, too. The law will increase motivation for employment”, Natsvlishvili noted.

The bill was proposed by Beka Natsvlishvili, Giorgi Lomia, Irma Inashvili, Emzar Kvitsiani, Gia Zhorzholiani, Mirian Tsiklaujri and David Chichinadze.

“It will be a positive sign to raise the minimum salary and set a definite bottom rate.

Businesses also wish to pay more to its staff, but the desire and reality differ. The relation between employees and employers is regulated by market principles. The problem is that the relation between employee and employer may move to another level. Another problem is that many job places may disappear. When one person works a job for 200 GEL and another 120 GEL job, some employer may decide to employ only one person for both jobs to satisfy the minimum salary requirement. I understand that this is a well intentioned, and companies also want to pay more, but they cannot, because they will result in an unequal condition with their competitors”, Levan Silagava, head of the Association of Businessmen said regarding the minimum salary bill submitted to the Parliament.

The Georgian Business Association belive that the introduction of this margin will lower income tax payments to the state budget.

“First of all, this will burden the budget. It is not so simple as to say that a bloody business does not pay salaries to anybody. At smaller enterprises, they may be paying high salaries, but they register lower salaries to evade tax obligations. They issue 200 GEL net salaries

and in this way they manage to not pay taxes to the state budget. 2% and 3% seems like serious money for them. If we set a minimum salary, the budget expenditures will grow.

Another effect will appear in the private sector – if previously they used to laundry 10 GEL, they will not be able to do laundry at even 1 Tetri, and they will issue salary under the table to escape taxes, and the state budget will lose revenues from income taxes”, the Business Association chairman Levan Vepkhvadze said.

The Employers’ Association says that determining the same minimum salary in all sectors and regions is the wrong way to do it.

“I do not think we’re on the right path. The right path would be to determine the cost of living correctly. This bill chooses a certain figure and determines one third of this figure as the minimum salary. I think this is the wrong way, because this will be unjust for many employees, too. I do not think it is the right decision to apply the same figure for all sectors across the whole country. This research says nothing about the effect on employees and the private sector, and this decision may provoke a rise in unemployment. Therefore, it is necessary to do comprehensive research to answer all these questions”, the Employers Association chairman Shalva Tskhakaia said.

The ratio of 126,6654 employees is 14.7% of hired employees. Their incomes are lower than the cost of living, and this category remains under the poverty level, and they become vulnerable to the cost of living”, the bill reads.

“Poverty is one of the most acute of all social problems. According to 2018 official indicators; the poverty level in the country is 22.3%, while 11% remain under the poverty level, and make the cost of living. According to the indicators from 2019 August, 23,526 people used to receive salaries below 100 GEL, 63,356 persons - below 200 GEL, 114,000 people – below 300 GEL and 126,665 persons – below 320 GEL. It is interesting to note that countries such as Nigeria, Armenia and Uzbekistan are ahead of Georgia in terms of minimum salary. The 20 GEL minimum salary determined in the 1990s has not changed since 1999. According to the statistics of trade unions, more than 23,000 people in Georgia receive only 100 GEL and 63,000 persons receive salaries under 200 GEL.

European Standards in Beekeeping “I suggest that Georgian beekeepers combine their efforts under the same umbrella, because a united brand alleviates exports,” Philipp Steinheim, a representative of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) told the BusinessPartner TV Program.

The GIZ has developed a special guidebook for Georgian beekeepers for the production of safe and high-quality honey. The book’s presentation was held on November 14. The Project Director, Philipp Steinheim, noted that Georgian honey has good prospects on the EU market, if the honey is safe and meets quality standards. The GIZ Project Director has delivered the honey of two Georgian beekeepers to the Berlin Green Weekly, and the products sold out immediately. The products were adjusted to EU standards.

“In 2016, Georgian honey was added to the list of Georgia’s exports items for EU market, and everybody expected that Georgian honey would appear on the EU market immediately, but it took 2 years after Georgian honey appeared in Europe. I displayed two varieties

of Georgian honey at the Green Weekly International Exhibition in Berlin. These products had passed all the tests. If you want to export honey to the EU, you have to meet EU standards to prove your product is safe and high-quality”, Philipp Steinheim noted.

Georgian beekeepers are able to get useful suggestions and recommendations from a guidebook that was introduced on November 14 for the production of highquality honey. The 40-page guidebook was introduced by the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture together with the EU Ambassador. The book’s electronic version has been already published on the official website of the Ministry, he said.

“The Agriculture Minister will transfer these guidelines to all honey manufacturers.

This book explains every stage of honey production in detail, like how to fight bee diseases without antibiotics. Honey with antibiotics is not admitted to the EU market”, Philipp Steinheim noted.

The GIZ Project Director thinks that antibiotics

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are widely used in Georgia, while there are natural mechanisms against bee diseases.

Seemingly, Georgian beekeepers have do not know that honey with antibiotics are not admitted to the EU market, Philipp Steinheim noted.

Therefore, the project also calls for training beekeepers, he said.

Philipp Steinheim recommends that Georgian beekeepers test export honey in Europe and launch honey exports under a united umbrella.

“There are so-called fast tests that examine honey immediately, and give the important results. Naturally, perfect and valuable tests are required for export purposes, and these tests are available abroad. In Europe, as a result, a business tests their product, not the state sector. Business

in itself is interested in having clean and pure honey. Many Georgian beekeepers and organizations are united, and I believe it would be better if more beekeepers and organizations are united under the same umbrella. In Europe, the authorities instruct that a single association run, not 10 or 15, where discussions are held.

Our recommendation is that Georgian beekeepers should set up wider associations to work together, because exports under the same umbrella and the same brand are easier”, Philipp Steinheim noted.

European Standards in Beekeeping.

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Nata Gogoladze: Constant Development and Adaptation of Strategies to all Modern Challenges is a must in Order to succeed Interview with the Head of Marketing and Commercialization Departments of Tbilisi Mall (Rakeen Uptown Development), Nata Gogoladze.

Tell us about how you got into the field of marketing, and what factors played an important role in choosing this profession?

I have a bachelor’s degree in International Relations, I still think I would make a great diplomat if I had continued in that direction, but when I was 19-years old I ended up in the United States in an internship doing Sales and Marketing in one of the biggest hotel chains, and it radically changed my decision making.

Psychology and Math were always two of my strongest sides, and thinking about how I could combine those to reach the desired goals inspired me, and I chose Marketing as my major for my MBA What challenges do you face as a leader in marketing, during a time of technological change?

Technological Changes have been literally flying with rocket speed for the last decade, and will continue along the same trajectory for the next few years, too. Everything is changing so quickly, that no classic approach can be applied to many things. So, constant development and adaptation of different strategies to all modern challenges is a must to succeed.

What has changed in the field in the last 5 years, and what changes are expected?

A lot of changes have happened in the marketing field over the last 5 years. First of all, digital marketing. Classic, static advertisements are reaching their targets less and less. Customers have also became more aware of marketing tools, and are not so easy to convince any more. This is where influencer marketing steps in; customers tend to believe somebody who they think has a good knowledge of the field, and are ready to trust their advice. So it became very popular to hire experts in the field to promote products. Together with a huge number of available channels of digital marketing, restrictions have also come into effect to protect customers, for example, influencers should indicate that it is a paid partnership, most advertisement display that it is an advertisement, and so on.

In the future, customers will be even better educated about how advertisements work. Because of all the YouTube channels and the possibility to have millions of followers, and make money through it, even school kids understand the basics of marketing tools, and it will be hard to sell them anything through advertisement. Advice sharing platforms will become more and more popular, such as TripAdvisor, we “<3” it, and so on, and companies will have to spend less and less on the advertising part of marketing, and focus more on research, product development, and customer satisfaction.

What do you think are the most important qualities a marketing manager should have, and what is his or her role in the organization in general?

Marketing plays a key role in any company, nowadays. Marketing comes up with the idea of the product/service, tests it on market

through research, finds a targeted market for the product, determines prices, gives a recommendation as to how to present a product or service, promotes it, analyses sales and correlates it with money spent on COG and promotion, decides when it is no longer in demand, and when it should be removed from the market. In other words, marketing is everything, and the Marketing Manager needs to have a lot of skills to manage all of these, but still, I think in terms of developing the world as it is today, the most important skill is to be able to adapt to changes very quickly, and learn fast. As changes in our field take place every day, and it is crucial to fine-tune with them.

What do you do to keep the organization from falling behind on new trends, and keep applying innovative approaches to marketing?

My company invests a lot in our development.

It never leaves a burden if we want to learn new skills or trends on the market. We often exchange visits with different malls to see what is new and how can we think ahead and bring in novelties.

What’s your organization’s business model, in terms of marketing?

The customer plays a major role in our business, as in any other business. For a small country like ours, it is very important to have satisfied customers, that they come back to you to generate enough traffic for successful operations. So we always do our best to not have any unsatisfied customers. We constantly improve

our services, and the variety of products we offer.

One word that describes your job.

Challenging The most useful advice you’ve ever received in your life?

I do not remember where I got this advice from, but I try to always follow it, and it always works. It is ‘whatever you do, do it with love.’

The well known Georgian writer, Chabua Amirejibi, says in his famous book Data Tutashkhia: ‘‘If you don’t have love, you cannot even kill anybody” it sounds very impressive in Georgian.

Think of a person who inspires you, professionally.

I have one and only role model for my whole life, this is my father. He is perfect in everything – as a professional, as a person, as a friend. He has the answer to everything, and is a person who is equally good at everything.

When I was little, he used to teach me hundreds of poems, and we used to read endless numbers of books, about our country, love, passion, arts. Everything I am and I do well, I am grateful to him. I wish I be half the parent he was.

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Business News

First International Program for Training in Retail Trade to start in Georgia

tration told the Business Course TV program. The current indicators in tourism sector differ from the January 2019 forecasts, she said.

“An international program for training in retail trade will be implemented in Georgia’s rapidly-growing industry. The advanced school of France – ISC PARIS BUSINESS SCHOOL will implement the program with double international accreditation on basis of Business and Technology University”, the course organizers noted.

BioChimPharm (BCP) Company signs Investment Agreement with Innovation and Technology Agency BioChimPharm (BCP) company, which has won the 2nd phase of the 650 000 GEL grant program of the Economy Ministry Agency for Innovations and Technology

PM appoints Mikheil Daushvili as a new Businessombudsman Mikheil Daushvili will be Georgia's new businessombudsman, he will replace Irakli Lekvinadze who left postition few days ago

REDMED creates Innovative Application for the Georgian Medical Field

Georgian Wine participated at the Stockholm Exhibition

Doctor at Your Place - this message was spread on November 13th to present the first Georgian Medical Services Digital Ecosystem - REDMED.

One of the largest wine and food exhibition, “Stockholm Food and Wine 2019”, was held in Stockholm, Sweden, with 12 Georgian wine producers participating with the support of the National Wine Agency.

AI and Blockchain Youth Center to open in Rustavi The Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Youth Center will open in Rustavi. Rustavi Innovations Hub jointly with Dutch company Effect AI has been implementing the project. The Hub director Revaz Barbakadze told BM.Ge that the center is expected to launch operation in late January 2020.

Mariam Kvrivishvili: This Summer as Full of Challenges This summer was full of challenges, Mariam Kvrivishvili, head of National Tourism AdminisEU and WB to foster Commercializing Research Projects the Innovation and Technology Agency of Ministry of Economy of Georgia and Tbilisi Ilia State University signed a framework agreement on cooperation as part of Technology Transmission Pilot Program (TTPP).

Ekaterine Duchidze and Nino Gegeshidze to manage Amber Group Georgia Capital has introduced a new brand on Georgian tourism market – Amber Group, which will build 6 hotels in Georgia.

Consulting Firm Insource switches to a Four-day Work Week Consulting firm ''Insource'' decided to take Denmark's and Microsoft's example and sitch to a four-day work week.

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National Guidelines for the Production of Quality Honey will help Georgian SMEs Export to the EU

National guideline publication for the production of quality honey was presented today – it will raise awareness of Georgian SMEs in the sector about how to comply with the respective EU standards. The publication combines specific guidelines about the complex process, the value chain of honey production, from “field to table”.

National Guidelines for the Production of Quality Honey, a publication developed with support from the EU, Georgian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture and GIZ, has been presented today at Expo Georgia to up to 100 guests, including SMEs operating in beekeeping and honey production sector.

Ms. Khatia Tsilosani, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, H.E.

Carl Hartzell, Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia and Ms. Katja Kammerer, Programme Director for GIZ Private Sector Development and TVET South Caucasus, delivered opening remarks.

“By signing Association Agreement with the EU, Georgia-EU trade and economic relations have moved to a new qualitative level. New opportunities have emerged for Georgian export products to enter and get established on the European market. The Ministry is actively implementing various activities to promote agricultural products that also includes raising competitiveness within the honey production sector. We are glad that in a close cooperation with the EU-GIZ project a guideline document has been developed, which will, hopefully, assist beekeepers and honey producers in production of high-quality products.” - said Khatia Tsilosani.

The guideline publication has been developed by leading German and Georgian experts in the framework of the EU funded project: SME Development and DCFTA in Georgia, implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

“By presenting this publication today, GIZ marks conclusion of a 3-year intense and meticulous work that involved all stakeholders, EU Delegation, our partner Ministry, international and Georgian experts and local honey producers. This work brought us to the first export of Georgian premium honey to the EU. We have proven that Georgian honey can be competitive on the European market

and sells at very attractive prices. I believe that this success story and the guideline publication we presented today will encourage and help other Georgian producers to follow the suit and we will see more of this special quality Georgian honey in Europe.” – said Katja Kammerer.

It has been almost 3 years now that Georgian SMEs have an opportunity to export honey to the 500 mln European market. However, the biggest challenge remains compliance with the quality standards of the EU and lack of qualified specialists in the honey production sector. Hence, it is important that SMEs are kept well informed about the issues pertaining to export of honey to Europe.

The EU-GIZ project: SME Development and DCFTA in Georgia has been working on promotion of quality honey production for 3 years.

It is within this project that a brand of TAPLI has been introduced, under which premium Georgian honey is set for export to the European market.

Local producers who have already worked closely with the project and brought their honey up to the European standards are already united under this brand. Earlier this year, first export batch of the premium Georgian honey under TAPLI brand was already introduced at International Green Week in Berlin, which included honey from Geo Naturali Ltd (Racha Natural Products Cooperative) and individual entrepreneur Tamaz Glonti.

11 November 18, 2019 #304 Embassy United States of America Embassy 11 Balanchivadze St., Dighomi Dstr., Tbilisi Tel: 27-70-00, 53-23-34 E-mail: tbilisivisa@state.gov; askconsultbilisi@state.gov United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Embassy 51 Krtsanisi Str., Tbilisi, Tel: 227-47-47 E-mail: british.embassy.tbilisi@fco.gov.uk Republic of France Embassy 49, Krtsanisi Str. Tbilisi, Tel: 272 14 90 E-mail: ambafrance@access.sanet.ge Web-site: www.ambafrance-ge.org Federal Republic of Germany Embassy 20 Telavi St. Tbilisi Tel: 44 73 00, Fax: 44 73 64 Italian RepublicEmbassy 3a Chitadze St, Tbilisi, Tel: 299-64-18, 292-14-62, 292-18-54 E-mail: embassy.tbilisi@esteri.it Republic of Estonia Embassy 4 Likhauri St., Tbilisi, Tel: 236-51-40 E-mail: tbilisisaatkond@mfa.ee Republic of Lithuania Embassy 25 Tengiz Abuladze St, Tbilisi Tel: 291-29-33 E-mail: amb.ge@urm.lt Republic of Latvia Embassy 16 Akhmeta Str., Avlabari, 0144 Tbilisi.

E-mail: embassy.georgia@mfa.gov.lv Greece Republic Embassy 37. Tabidze St. Tbilisi Tel: 91 49 70, 91 49 71, 91 49 72 Czech RepublicEmbassy 37 Chavchavadze St. Tbilisi ;Tel: 29167-40/41/42 E-mail: czechembassy@gol.ge Web-sait: www.mzv.cz Japan Embassy 7 Krtsanisi St. Tbilisi Tel: +995 32 2 75 21 11, Fax: +995 32 2 75 21 20 Kingdom of Sweden Embassy 15 Kipshidze St. Tbilisi Tel: +995 32 2 55 03 20 , Fax: +995 32 2 22 48 90 Kingdom of the Netherlands Embassy Pixel Center, 34, Ilia Chavchavadze Ave. 3rd floor Tel: +995 32 227 62 00 People’s Republic of China Embassy 52 Barnov St. Tbilisi Tel: 225-22-86, 225-21-75, 225-26-70 E-mail: zhangling@access.sanet.ge Republic of Bulgaria Embassy 15 Gorgasali Exit, 0105 Tbilisi, Georgia Tel: +995 32 291 01 94; +995 32 291 01 95 Fax: +99 532 291 02 70 Republic of Hungary Embassy 83 Lvovi Street, Tbilisi Tel: 39 90 08; E-mail: hunembtbs@gmail.com State of Israel Embassy 61 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tbilisi Tel: 95 17 09, 94 27 05 Embassy of Swiss Confederation’s Russian Federation Interests Section Embassy 51 Chavchavadze Av., Tbilisi Tel: 291-26-45, 291-24-06, 225-28-03 E-mail: RussianEmbassy@Caucasus.net Ukraine Embassy 76-g Chavchavadze Ave., Tbilisi Tel: 231-11-61, 231-14-54 E-mail: emb_ge@mfa.gov.ua Consular Agency: 71, Melikishvili St., Batumi Tel: (8-88-222) 3-16-00/ 3-14-78 Republic of Turkey Embassy 35 Chavchavadze Ave., Tbilisi Tel: 225-20-72/73/74/76

embassy.tbilisi@mfa.gov.tr Consulate General in Batumi 9 Ninoshvili Street, Batumi Tel: 422 25 58 00 consulate.batumi@mfa.gov.tr Republic of Azerbaijan Embassy Kipshidze II-bl . N1., Tbilisi Tel: 225-26-39, 225-35-26/27/28 E-mail: tbilisi@mission.mfa.gov.az Address: Dumbadze str. 14, Batumi Tel: 222-7-67-00; Fax: 222-7-34-43 Republic of Armenia Embassy 4 Tetelashvili St. Tbilisi Tel: 95-94-43, 95-17-23, 95-44-08 Kingdom of Spain Embassy Rustaveli Ave. 24, I floor, Tbilisi Tel: 230-54-64 E-mail: emb.tiflis@maec.esRomania Embassy 7 Kushitashvili St., Tbilisi Tel: 38-53-10; 25-00-98/97 E-mail: ambasada@caucasus.net Republic of Poland Embassy Oniashvili str. 24, Tbilisi Tel.: +995322 920398; Fax: +995322 920397 Email:tbilisi.amb.sekretariat@msz.gov.pl Web-site: www.tbilisi.polemb.net Republic of Iraq Embassy Kobuleti str. 16, Tbilisi Tel: 291 35 96; 229 07 93 E-mail: iraqiageoemb@yahoo.com Federative Republic of Brazil Embassy Chanturia street 6/2, Tbilisi Tel.: +995-32-293-2419 Fax.: +995-32-293-2416 Islamic Republic of Iran Embassy 80, I.Chavchavadze St. Tbilisi, Tel: 291-36-56, 291-36-58, 291-36-59, 291-36-60; Fax: 291-36-28 E-mail: iranemb@geo.net.ge United Nations Office Address: 9 Eristavi St. Tbilisi Tel: 225-11-26/28, 225-11-29/31 Fax: 225-02-71/72 E-mail: registry.geo@undp.org Web-site: www.undp.org International Monetary Fund Office Address : 4 Freedom Sq., GMT Plaza, Tbilisi Tel: 292-04-32/33/34 E-mail: kdanelia@imf.org Web-site: www.imf.ge Asian Development Bank Georgian Resident Mission Address: 1, G. Tabidze Street Freedom Square 0114 Tbilisi, Georgia Tel: +995 32 225 06 19 E-mail: adbgrm@adb.org; Web-site: www.adb.org World Bank Office Address : 5a Chavchavadze Av., lane-I, Tbilisi, Georgia ; Tel: 291-30-96, 291-2689/59 Web-site: www.worldbank.org.ge Regional Office of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Address: 6 Marjanishvili St. Tbilisi Tel: 244 74 00, 292 05 13, 292 05 14 Web-site: www.ebrd.com Representation of the Council of Europe in Georgia Address : 26 Br. Kakabadze, Tbilisi Tel: 995 32 291 38 70/71/72/73 Fax: 995 32 291 38 74 Web-site: www.coe.ge Embassy of the Slovak Republic Address: Chancery: 85 Irakli Abashidze St. Tbilisi, 0162 Georgia Consular Office: 38 Nino Chkheidze St. Tbilisi, 0102 Georgia Phone: 2 222 4437, 2 296 1913 e-mail: emb.tbilisi@mzv.sk European Investment Bank Regional Representation for the South Caucasus Address: 1,G.Tabidze Street, Freedom Square

Phone: +995 322 006284 Embassy of The Republic of Korea 12, Titsian Tabidze Str. Tbilisi 0179, Geogia Tel: (995 32) 297 03 18; 297 03 20; Fax: (995 32) 242 74 40; Email: georgia@mofa.go.kr Hotels in Georgia TBILISI MARRIOTT Tbilisi , 13 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 77 92 00, www.marriott.com COURTYARD MARRIOTT Tbilisi , 4 Freedom Sq. Tel: 77 91 00 www.marriott.com RADISSON BLU HOTEL, TBILISI Rose Revolution Square 1 0108, Tbilisi Tel: +995 32 402200 radissonblu.com/hotel-tbilisi RADISSON BLU HOTEL, BATUMI Ninoshvili Str. 1, 6000 Bat’umi, Georgia Tel: 8 422255555 http://radissonblu.com/hotel-batumi SHERATON METECHI PALACE Tbilisi , 20 Telavi St. Tel: 77 20 20, www.starwoodhotels.com HOLIDAY INN TBILISI Business hotel Addr: 1, 26 May Square Tel: +995 32 230 00 99 E-mail: info@hi-tbilisi.com Website: http://www.hi-tbilisi.com RIVER SIDE HOTEL With incredible service and views Addr: Mari Brosse street turn, Old Tbilisi.

Tel: +995 32 2242244; +995 32 2242288 Fax: +995 32 2 242277 Email: info@riverside.ge Website: www.riverside.ge Restaurants CORNER HOUSE Tbilisi, I. Chavchavadze ave. 10, Tel: 0322 47 00 49; Email: contact@cornerhouse.ge RESTAURANT BARAKONI Restaurant with healthy food.

Georgian-European Cuisine Agmashenebeli Alley 13th Phone: 555 77 33 77 www.barakoni.com CHARDIN 12 Tbilisi , 12 Chardin St. , Tel: 92 32 38 CAFE 78 Best of the East and the West Lado Asatiani 33, SOLOLAKI 032 2305785; 574736290 BREAD HOUSE Tbilisi , 7 Gorgasali St. , Tel: 30 30 30 BUFETTI - ITALIAN RESTAURANT Tbilisi , 31 I. Abashidze St. , Tel: 22 49 61 DZVELI SAKHLI Tbilisi , 3 Right embankment , Tel: 92 34 97, 36 53 65, Fax: 98 27 81 IN THE SHADOW OF METEKHI Tbilisi , 29a Tsamebuli Ave. , Tel: 77 93 83, Fax: 77 93 83 SAKURA - JAPANESE RESTAURANT Tbilisi , 29 I. Abashidze St. , Tel: 29 31 08, Fax: 29 31 08 SIANGAN - CHINESE RESTAURANT Tbilisi , 41 Peking St , Tel: 37 96 88 VERA STEAK HOUSE Tbilisi , 37a Kostava St , Tel: 98 37 67 BELLE DE JOUR 29 I. Abashidze str, Tbilisi; Tel: (+995 32) 230 30 30 VONG 31 I. Abashidze str, Tbilisi

Tel: (+995 32) 230 30 30 BRASSERIE L’EXPRESS 14 Chardin str, Tbilisi Tel: (+995 32) 230 30 30 TWO SIDE PARTY CLUB 7 Bambis Rigi, Tbilisi Tel: (+995 32) 230 30 30 Cinemas AKHMETELI Tbilisi. “Akhmeteli” Subway Station Tel: 58 66 69 AMIRANI Tbilisi. 36 Kostava St. Tel: 99 99 55, RUSTAVELI Tbilisi. 5 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 92 03 57, 92 02 85, SAKARTVELO Tbilisi. 2/9 Guramishvili Ave. Tel: 8 322308080, Theatres A. GRIBOEDOV RUSSIAN STATE DRAMA THEATRE Tbilisi. 2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 93 58 11, Fax: 93 31 15 INDEPENDENT THEATRE Tbilisi. 2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 98 58 21, Fax: 93 31 15 K. MARJANISHVILI STATE ACADEMIC THEATRE Tbilisi. 8 Marjanishvili St. Tel: 95 35 82, Fax: 95 40 01 M. TUMANISHVILI CINEMA ACTORS THEATRE Tbilisi. 164 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 35 31 52, 34 28 99, Fax: 35 01 94 METEKHI – THEATRE OF GEORGIAN NATIONAL BALLET Tbilisi. 69 Balanchivadze St. Tel: (99) 20 22 10 MUSIC AND DRAMATIC STATE THEATRE Tbilisi. 182 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 34 80 90, Fax: 34 80 90 NABADI - GEORGIAN FOLKLORE THEATRE Tbilisi. 19 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 98 99 91 S. AKHMETELI STATE DRAMATIC THEATRE Tbilisi. 8 I. Vekua St. Tel: 62 59 73 SH. RUSTAVELI STATE THEATRE Tbilisi. 17 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 93 65 83, Fax: 99 63 73 TBILISI STATE MARIONETTE THEATRE Tbilisi. 26 Shavteli St. Tel: 98 65 89, Fax: 98 65 89 Z. PALIASHVILI TBILISI STATE THEATRE OF OPERA AND BALLET Tbilisi. 25 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 98 32 49, Fax: 98 32 50 Galleries ART GALLERY LINE Tbilisi. 44 Leselidze St. BAIA GALLERY Tbilisi. 10 Chardin St. Tel: 75 45 10 GALLERY Tbilisi. 12 Erekle II St. Tel: 93 12 89

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