Caucasus Business Week #316

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March 2, 2020 - www.cbw.ge

#316

WEEK

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The World and Georgia as Seen by the Author of Polish Shock Therapy

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500 Startups – New Opportunity for Georgian Startupers

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Georgian Wine and Exports Markets

“We Expect Tourist Inflows from Israel to Decline; Many Bookings will Be Cancelled”

What’s the Future of Blockchain Technology of Georgia?

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Wizz Air Reduced Flight Frequency from Kutaisi to Some Italian Cities Wizz Air has reduced the number of flights from Kutaisi Airport to several Italian cities.

Kindergarten Construction Project Initiated in Zestaponi and Kharagauli Municipalities The project is funded by Government of Georgia and its cost exceeds GEL 2,1 million.

Keti Machavariani's Film "Sunny" Participates in Cinema Du Reel Paris DOC The documentary film "Sunny" made by Georgian film director, Keti Machavariani hit the prestigious international festival Cinema Du Reel – Paris DOC.

HOLOSEUM Starts Cognitive Master Classes for Children For promoting the modern art development, SOLO invites users to attend diverse art master classes at HOLOSEUM to spend weekend time together with family, friends in interesting environment.

Georgia Participates in Charity Event in Azerbaijan Tobacco Excise Budget Received 724 Million GEL Vano Machavariani spoke about the taxation of tobacco and tobacco products in the Parliament within the Minister's hours.

Charity event „Treasures and Wines Around the World“ was held in Baku on February 22nd. Within the frameworks of the event, nearly 50 country's wine and national products were presented.

Levan Berdzenishvili's Book to Be Nominated for EBRD Literature Prize

Export Volume Hit Record-High Indicator in January - 10% Increase Export volume hit a record-high indicator in January 2020 with 262.6 MLN USD (i.e. 10% increase compared to the respective period of the past year). Export volumes have never been so high in January of any previous year before.

The book of Levan Berdzenishvili, Sacred Darkness is nominated for EBRD literature prize.

The 10th International Education Fair to be Held with the Support of the Bank of Georgia The 10th International Exhibition of Higher and Vocational Education, Study Abroad and Student Services will be held with the support of the Bank of Georgia.

Nino Kharatishvili's The Eighth Life (For Brilka) to be in Longlist of Booker Prize Nino Kharatishvili's The Eighth Life (For Brilka) is in the longlist of 2020 of Booker prize.

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;

Tamar Archuadze: Kutaisi Airport Served 10% of International Visitors Entering Georgia by Plane in 2019

Kutaisi International Airport served 10 per cent of international visitors who entered Georgia by plane in 2019.

We are expanding Kutaisi International Airport. In the near future we will start reconstruction of the new passenger terminal,

which will give us the opportunity to welcome even more visitors,” said Director of the United Airports of Georgia Tamar Archuadze.

Kutaisi International Airport ranked second in Europe in 2019 in terms of experiencing the highest increase in passenger flow among European airports welcoming less than 5 million passengers per year, show data from Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe). ‘’We are pleased with the

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positive trend of Kutaisi International Airport in the ranking of international organizations. The increasing dynamics will have a positive impact on the country's economy and tourism,” said Archuadze.

Kutaisi International Airport had an increase of 41.6 per cent in passenger flow in 2019.

In 2019, Kutaisi International Airport served 873,907 passengers in total.

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The World and Georgia as Seen by the Author of Polish Shock Therapy In his interview for Business Partner, Leszek Henryk Balcerowicz, the author of Polish Shock Therapy, talked about the rule of law and the importance of the free market. A successful and developed country does not consist of good politicians, he said. “Such countries practice the rule of law and do not depend on politicians”, Balcerowicz said.

He recalled his activity in Georgia, and noted that Georgia’s intense economic problems came from civil war and frustrated reforms.

“I paid my last visit to Georgia 20 years ago.

You have passed through a very difficult period. You suffered civil war and, as a result, you lost a lot of time. The post-war period frustrated reforms. The US invited me to talk with Eduard Shevardnadze about reforms. However, simultaneously with these developments, I was elected as the president of the Central Bank of Poland, and I could not usefully work on developments in Georgia. Afterwards, Georgia began rapid economic reforms, and Kakha Bendukidze has made huge contributions in this regard. Without these reforms, you would be in a worse condition”, Leszek Henryk Balcerowicz noted.

Globalization is a fundamental factor in Georgia. He positively appraised Georgia’s towards growth in exports to western countries.

“Globalization is the fundemental framework, particularly, for small countries.

You should protect the free market, and

this implies communication with the external world, particularly, with the west.

Central planning does not work, the free market works. You depend on Russia less in terms of the orientation of trade. You provide more exports to the west. This was expensive, but the right decision. Success comes from free market reforms and the rule of law. The Independence of the courts is of crucial importance, because this attracts foreign investments”, Balcerowicz noted, and stressed the importance of eradicating populism for economic development growth.

“You should work on public opinion.

Populists always try to swindle a society, and success will come by unmasking them. You will lose, and the population will also lose, without fighting populism. In this struggle, you may not always win, but we should stay focused on the fight against populism to gain the chance to stop it. Illiberal elements,, leftwingers, right-wingers want to accumulate more power in the hands of politicians. In reality, the power of politicians should be limited as much as possible. People should not be afraid of their politicians. We should see the threat of accumulating excessive power in their hands. The state should be prevented from further engagement, and people should enjoy more freedom within the framework of the rule of law”, Balcerowicz said.

He also analyzed the pre-reform situation in Poland, and stressed the radical character of

reforms, the importance of the rapid pace of changes in management.

“I did not expect the Soviet system would collapse in my life, but I had hope. I was interested in radical reforms. In the 1970s, I established an unofficial group working on similar reforms. In the 1980s we didn’t even have good lighting, but we worked on our research on privatization, stabilization, liberalization. Then, suddenly, the situation changed in Poland, and it turned out that we were the only people ready to act. In September 1989, we started working in chaos, economic indicators were collapsing.

We suffered hyperinflation.

We worked to develop a program, and implement this program. Changes were required that were not only intellectual, but also managerial; changes, particularly against those who used to destabilize the situation.

Radical changes worked better, compared to slow movements. The country that did not carry out radical changes, and started with slow movements, paid a big price.

Difficulties are inherited from the bad systems of the past; for example, full employment in Soviet Union, where nobody actually worked;, therefore, every socialist country paid the price. The free market exposed all the problems hidden under the past regime. Therefore, consecutive approaches are required, otherwise, you will be stuck in a bad system, like Belarus, which moved very slowly”, Balcerowicz noted.

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Georgian Wine and Exports Markets

Based on the statistics of the last few years, Georgian wine exports are declining. The factors have made this contraction possible, and the governments’ marketing plan, the National Wine Agency’s deputy chairman David Tkemaladze discussed these issues for the Business Partner TV Program.

The coronavirus outbreak in China has presumably slowed Georgian wine exports in January-February 2020; however, as a rule, export contraction has stabilized in the third month, and the field ends the reporting year in growth, David Tkemaladze noted.

“We had the same situation in 2019, as well. The slowdown is always related to China, because China is one of the major export markets for Georgian wines. Therefore, any problem in this country may become the grounds for a bad start. Supposedly, we have the same case now. As a rule, the indicator improves in March, and the year finished with growth, traditionally”, Tkemaladze said.

The winemaking field’s enthusiasts frequently note that wine export prices remain low, while Tkemaladze asserts that the price is adequate, and annual growth makes up 20-25 EU/US cents.

“The price isn’t low. We are reported among the top five or four countries, together with Italy and Germany. The prices may be lower or higher compared to other countries.

Naturally, Georgian wines have genuine enthusiasts and supporters, but similar statements should have some ground.

Despite ranking 26th position in terms of square kilometers of vineyard worldwide, and the 21st-22nd position in terms of grape harvest, Georgia has found a way into the club of premium and elite wines,

and this is real progress, an irreversible process.

Every year, the price of one liter grows by about 2025 EU/US cents. This is a dramatic progress, and we have maintained these numbers over the past 3-4 years”, Tkemaladze said.

The first place is not the primary ambition of the National Wine Agency. Its priority is to export highly-rated wines, diversify the markets, and grow the visibility of Georgian wines abroad. And prices will rise as a result of growing market demand after the successful implementation of this strategy, Tkemaladze explained.

“Recently, we sent wine samples to several countries in South America. I will not specify where, in advance. Arica is an entirely new place in this regard.

As for Eastern Europe, these countries remember Georgian wines and culture fondly, and we will start the process anew, because there was a certain break.

Naturally, neither the authorities nor the Ministry has the resources to deal with all these issues. We have growth every year thanks to this continued policy”, Tkemaladze said.

Despite the January-February slowdown, the current year will end in exports growth anyway, he added.

“I believe we will end this year without traditional growth. Despite the genuinely negative situation after the virus’ outbreak. There was another reason in 2019, problems with domestic logistics, and it took a lot of time to analyze the situation. Nevertheless, I believe there are no grounds for complaints. We are hopeful. The field is in order, and we will end the year with growth”, Tkemaladze noted.

500 Startups – New Opportunity for Georgian Startupers “500 Startups” has come to Georgia. In an interview with the Business Partner TV Program, the project’s representatives discussed the opportunities that the world’s top accelerator might offer Georgian startupers.

Georgia’s strategy for cooperating with the “500 Startups”, an American accelerator company, is to aim towards developing a so-called Unicorn, David Chechelashvili, coordinator of the innovative services department of the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA), noted.

As noted by the TV Program guests, “500 Startups” is recorded among the world’s top three accelerators, and its entry is evidence of the huge trust they have in the country. As a result, two other members of the three great accelerators may also enter our country.

“We have a global free market, and the entrance of this company stresses the importance of this region. We expect Techstars and many other accelerators to also enter the country soon, after “500 Startups”. Their logic is the following – don’t be late. The point is that the strategy of “500 Startups” is to invest money in

the company in the initial phase, and Techstars will have to put money later. It makes sense that Techstars will become the second accelerator to enter Georgia”, Chechelashvili noted.

When cooperating with the American venture fund, Georgia's strategy is to create a so-called Unicorn.

“We are still in the initial phase, and we do not know which field will become stronger in Georgia.

At this stage, the country should prioritize the discovery of the first Unicorn, because historically the examples of Estonia and other countries have proven that the first Unicorn is very important.

The first success always attracts many other interested companies.

Having gained from this experience, they also become unicorns.

We will put money in many companies, with the aim to develop the first – this is our strategy. Many small businesses do not bring as many benefits as a unicorn, because small businesses die fast”, David Chechelashvili noted.

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As noted by Vakho Vakhtangishvili, Director of the Bank of Georgia Startups Development Field, 500 Startup’s decision to enter the Georgian market means an announcement of confidence in Georgian talent; Furthermore, the operation of this company in our country will add more knowledge and experience to the Georgian market.

“The main reason why “500 Startups” entered Georgia is that this company has faith in Georgian talent. The company’s decision to enter our country means, definitely, that Georgia is ready to host “500 Startups,” and the company sees real talents and ideas, which may be transformed into a world-level product. As for infrastructure, the digital economy does not require a lot of infrastructure, and their motivation is to adapt Georgia to the global ecosystem in a way that infrastructural problems will be resolved easily. In this case, the Georgian founder is a part of a global business, not part of a Georgian business”, Vakhtangishvili noted.

Nobody guarantees that a distinguished venture company will necessarily manage to develop a so-called unicorn in Georgia; however, the American venture foundation will at least give a huge base of knowledge and experience in the country, he explained.

“When talking about unicorns, it is difficult to discover a company with a high potential for growth.

The projects that will be set up here by “500 Startups” makes the discovery of such companies possible, but there are no guarantees. In the west, in the initial phase, only one company of about 20 similar American companies has this potential.

This means that the probability is very low. We have hopes and plans to discover just one Georgian unicorn, which would have at least regional potential.

Another key factor is related to the knowledge and experience that this organization will bring, over the long term. The people who will pass this process will start changing their companies, and the organizations and people employed by them will be replaced in a natural way; that is, knowledge and experience is the key prize that the Georgian people will get after this process”, Vakhtangishvili said.

The entrance of “500 Startups” may also attract new talents from the entire region, he added.

“This project implies not only Georgia, but the whole region.

The only precondition is that a team from regional countries must establish a company and the intellectual property that is a key asset of this company, and transmit it to a Georgian company. This process will bring to light not only Georgian talent, but also talent in every country in our region”, Vakhtangishvili noted.

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Sopha Gujabidze: "The Digital Revolution and the Information Age Have Dramatically Changed the Field of Communications" Interview with the Head of External Affairs of ISET – International School of Economics at TSU and ISET Policy Institute, Sopha Gujabidze.

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

One of my favorite phrases during my studies was “love what you do, and do what you love.” I simply answered this puzzle: I knew that dealing with people of many different ages, nationalities, traditions, and values would make me happy. That's why I decided to start my career like this.

Amidst the current technological changes, what challenges do you face?

The digital revolution and the information age have greatly changed the field of communications. Previous technological changes, like radio, television, and print media dictated the rules of the game, the timing, and method of communication. Today, in the digital age, the ball is in the customer's court, and he or she chooses the form, method and pace of interaction. As a result, consumers have become more demanding and tasteful. However, this is not just a challenge. We have made this possible because we have the chance to reach our customers anytime, anywhere.

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

Communication has become more diverse, channels of communication have multiplied, and users have become accustomed to receiving information quickly and easily. Consequently, more creative but simpler ways to interact with customers are needed. However, a multitude of channels and a variety of technologies have simplified, been made personal, allow for targeted communication. Today, you can easily identify your target audience and offer customized, interesting content and products.

It is difficult to calculate what changes are expected. Each technological innovation changes our business and our lives. The main thing is to do our job with pleasure.

What do you think are the most important qualities a PR manager should have, and what is their role in the

organization in general?

The role of PR and marketing is paramount in every organization: the bridging organization with the public. The role of PR and marketing in education and research is very interesting. It's a constant pleasure to share success stories with students, alumni, professors, outreach to potential students, present interesting research results, and of course, work on ISET's image.

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

I am very lucky in this respect, as I am constantly surrounded by Generation Z, who are called digital natives.

Day-to-day interaction with students is a guarantee of not falling behind on the latest trends and innovations. In addition, ISET has an extraordinarily trendy team. Moreover: Economists are very creative people.

What is needed for successful communication with the public?

Ideas, courage, sincerity and a good team.

One word that describes your job.

Rewarding.

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

Ask "why?", always, before making any decision, before agreeing or refusing to go anywhere, before starting a case ask "why?"

Think of a person who inspires you professionally.

My inspiration may occasionally be Elon Musk, or Ellen DeGeneres, sometimes any song by Coldplay, or a book

by Liosa, or Matt Groening and anything from the Simpsons.Everywhere you can find inspiration from a professional standpoint.

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Business News

TBC Expects $ 12.3 Million Revenue from Uzbekistan in 2020

already started producing bellows. They arrange power distribution cabinets for different projects. local production has several benefits, indeed. The most important part of it is the development of this industry in the country.

Vakhtang Butskhrikidze, CEO of TBC Bank, announces the rising indicators of Payme (Payments Platform) in the Uzbek market.In 2019, revenues increased by 84% to GEL 8.6 million, EBITDA reached GEL 4.5 million, with annual growth (YoY) of 76.9%.

The number of transactions increased by 24.5% (YoY) to 40.1 million.

Swiss-Georgian Vocational Agriculture College Set to Open in Dmanisi

Entrée Launches Chain’s First Bakery in London this Summer Entrée launches chain’s first Bakery in London this summer.Located on Notting Hill gate #138 the shop is part of Entrée’s international push that extends to UK after Tbilisi and Baku.

The first Swiss-Georgian VET college will soon be open in Dmanisi welcoming the first batch of students from Fall semester 2020. The college in Dmanisi will be modeled after the Swiss vocational education college Plantahof, which is behind the premium quality Swiss cheese and highly developed livestock sector in Switzerland.

The Hotel Four Points by Sheraton to Open in Bakuriani in 2022 At the end of 2019, Marriott International and Georgian private companies have signed an agreement to open Four Points by Sheraton Bakuriani in 2022.

Sometimes You Know You Act Right - Socar Sums Up 2019 Planting the trees, solar panels, charitable contributions, implemented projects supporting youth and people with disabilities - Socar discussed these matters publicly within the framework of CSR platform "5 Standards of Responsibility".

Georgian Company Montage Georgia Plans to Produce Products for Electrification Georgian electrical management company "Montage Georgia" plans to produce products necessary for electrification. As the company stated, they have

Telavi Wine Cellar to Spend over 0.5 million GEL on Wine Tourism Development Telavi Wine Cellar will finish a special infrastructure for the wine tourism direction development by the end of 2020, the company founder Zurab Ramazashvili told the Commersant.

Social Impact Award 2020 Begins Supported

by Bank of Georgia

Georgian EmbeddedLord Creates a Video Processor for an American-Canadian Company

The largest student-run social entrepreneurship program in 25 countries is implemented jointly and focused on educating students in the field of social entrepreneurship. The program offers young people a ten-month educational course to pursue their own business. Throughout the program, students go through the whole process from idea generation to business planning, which gives them the opportunity to actually start a social business.

Georgian software engineer EmbeddedLord is set to work with American and Canadian telecommunications companies.

Chicolate Plans on Producing Diabetes Chocolate Chicolate operates on Georgian market from 2019 and offers its consumers chocolate with desired form or design. One can purchase the product on their Facebook page. The price of 100 grams of chocolate is 15 GEL.

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What’s the Future of Blockchain Technology of Georgia?

Blockchain Technology is becoming more widespread internationally, and Georgia didn’t fall behind either, by being one of the first countries to introduce it in the public sector and real estate services in 2017.

Nowadays, Government, businesses and banks are encouraged to realize the digital transformation of the country. As public are longing to become better informed, and be prepared as it could possibly change the way people conduct business, or even live in the future, Crypto Meetups are held in Tbilisi.

CBW had an interview with a software developer under the username- 34r7h and one of the hosts of the event series: So, to begin with, could you please introduce yourself and how you got involved with the blockchain world?

Didi madloba, Nina. You might find me by the username 34r7h. I’m a software developer and consultant from the US with a wide range of clients and projects. Now I live in Tbilisi. The blockchain world found me in early 2017. I co-launched the Planetary Prosperity Project (P3C) on Ethereum Classic the following year.

I feel that blockchain is becoming a big thing in Georgia, more people are curious to know more about it, your monthly meetups are proof for that. Tell us more about those gatherings.

It is becoming a big thing. The Cosmic Crypto meetups are held monthly. It’s a collaboration with the talented, visionary team at Brokers. io. We’ve since included the all-stars from Paystars.ge as co-organizers, as well.

We discuss specific topics of blockchain and crypto. For example, the first meetup was about Bitcoin basics -- how to make a transaction and explanation of blockchain mechanics. Another meetup was on stable coins -- coins pegged to fiat value. The next meetup talks about non-financial use of blockchain.

We invite expert speakers to discuss these topics at length. It’s very informal, though.

Questions and debates can break-out anytime and we love this. To quote one of our hosts, “The meetups are good for the development of the community and local ecosystem.” There’s plenty of time for networking over food and drinks to find partners, solidify relationships, and grow together.

What exactly is the profile of most of the attendees, who are the ones interested in blockchain?

It’s difficult to pin-down a profile of attendees.

We keep the topics well-rounded to attract a more general audience, from newbies to veterans. You’ll find investors, traders, developers, anarchists, shop owners, and

people with a general interest on finding economic freedom from traditional fintech.

Tell us about the platform you created.

I began developing the Xymba network and software last year. Xymba takes a similar wealth redistribution approach to P3C and then adds in an app maker.

People launch online shops and start conducting business in minutes with no code required. All that is required is demonstrating cryptographic-ownership of an activated token in the Xymba network. Token activation will cost less than $1 (in BTC) for quite some time and will never be more than $22 at full network maturity.

3% of economic activity is shared with token holders. This includes token activation costs and transactions on any apps built with the app maker. We all share in each other’s success and entrepreneurs are able to reach markets faster compared to current solutions.

How different is the approach to such innovation between the countries in Caucasus region?

I think both Baku and Yerevan are doing interesting things with blockchain but Tbilisi

has enough advantages to gain the top spot for the region. In my opinion, this is due partially to the famous Georgian honesty, hospitality, creativity, and tighter relationships with the West.

What do you see the year 2020 holds for the blockchain industry in Georgia?

I expect more investment for Georgia’s blockchain projects. Already the government is favourable towards blockchain tech, for example, in the land rights registry. Foreign investment is similarly favourable and ready for cool projects.

I think Georgia will adopt regulations that protect from AML (Anti-Money Laundering) and apply KYC (Know Your Customer), aligned with US/EU regs this year. Keeping international partners happy, while building more blockchain startups, means Georgia gains a reputation for common sense and forward-thinking. It will be very cool if the banks follow a similar openness. This is a very attractive time to be in Georgia.

By Nina Gomarteli

“We Expect Tourist Inflows from Israel to Decline; Many Bookings will Be Cancelled” Amid the threats posed by the global coronavirus outbreak, the Georgian authorities have taken the decision to ban direct flights with China and Iran. Furthermore, on February 26th, the Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze recognized that the first coronavirus-infected person was registered in Georgia, and the authorities closed land communication with Iran.

The Caucasus Business Week (CBW) has inquired as to how these restrictions may affect the Georgian tourism industry.

The coronavirus outbreak will definitely affect Georgia, economic expert Vakhtang Charaia noted. Initially, Georgia banned flights with China, and later, with Iran. If the world community fails to curb the virus in several months, the number of banned countries may increase and, consequently, the amount of incomes will also decline, he added.

Namely, if this problem is not resolved over the next 4 months: -Georgia will not be able to host 1314 thousands of tourists from China, compared to the same period in 2019, and total losses will amount to about 30 million GEL, as each Chinese tourist spends about 2253 GEL on average.

-We have the same situation with Iran. After the flight ban, Georgia will not be able to host about 26-27 thousand tourists for the next 4 months, and the losses will amount to about 70 million GEL, because each Iranian tourist spends 2,715 USD on average.

Ultimately, total losses for 4 months will exceed 100 million

GEL. At a glance, this 100 million GEL isn’t much, however, the analysis of the year on year indicators prove that incomes will decline by about 10%. Naturally, the burden on the whole economy will decline.

Regretfully, this is the price that the country has to pay for the safety of its population. I hope Italy will not be included in this list, where multiple cases of infections were registered over the past few days. We should also take into account that the flight ban alone cannot fully neutralize all the risks. In short, we are facing very serious problems”, Charaia noted.

As explained by Maia Murachashvili, the founder of the tourism company operating on the Israeli and European markets, there are expectations that the inflow of tourists from Israel will dramatically decline, and many bookings will be cancelled.

“Israeli tourists also hesitate on whether to visit Georgia or not. They refrain from making advance payments, and we expect a wave of cancelled bookings.

Here, the season starts in April, and now we have an unforeseeable situation. If the virus’ spread picks up pace, then the April bookings will also be cancelled, and this process will damage the first half of the season.

We had the same situation after the Russian flight ban in June 2019, when we had to find alternative markets, she noted.Everybody understands that these developments will bring economic losses. All travel companies and hotels are waiting for the travel season.

Naturally, the industry will face losses”, Maia Murachashvili said.

As noted by Shalva Alaverdashvili, the founder of the Hotels and Restaurants Federation, the most active phase

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of arrivals from Iran was expected to start in mid-March. However, this year we will have lower activity, and the negative economic effects are inevitable. Nevertheless, the authorities have taken the right decision, and determined the correct priorities amid the current challenges, he added.

“Many Iranian bookings after March 16 were cancelled.

This period was expected to set a record for major inflows from Iran, because the Iranian New Year Novruz Bayram is marked. In this period, all hotels used to work at full capacity. This year, business will shrink. The flight ban with Iran will start a negative trend, but there is the risk that the coronavirus spreads, and no economic benefits can be allowed us to ignore the safety of our citizens, even one of the lives of our citizens. Therefore, we understand this decision”, Shalva Alaverdashvili noted.

As reported by the Georgian authorities, the highest risks for coronavirus spread is in Iran, apart from China. The authorities in Iran are taking all possible efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus and carrying out the screening of those leaving Iran.

Nevertheless, the Georgian authorities have taken a decision to ban direct flights with Iran. Furthermore, on February 26, the Georgian Health Ministry confirmed the first virus-infected from Iran, and trying to cross the Georgia-Azerbaijan state border. As a result, the Georgian government took a decision to ban land communications with Iran.

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