Caucasus Business Week #287

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June 17, 2019 - www.cbw.ge

#287

WEEK

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Investments Shrink

A Commercial Bank is Not to Build and a Developer is Not to Lend

A Digitized World and Georgia’s Integration

Vintage 2019 – Preparations and Plans of National Wine Agency

The Spring and Mineral Water Market – the World and Georgia

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May Records 3.5% upturn in Exports, 7.3% Downturn in Imports

Cyprus is 13th Country in EU to recognize Georgia as the Safe Country

On June 13 Geostat, the national statistics service of Georgia, published the May 2019 statistics. In the reporting month Georgia’s exports constituted 334 million USD, up 3.5% year on year (+11.4 million USD).

Cyprus is the 13th country in the EU / Schengen space, which has made this decision in relation to Georgia (Georgia is included in the list of countries of safe country in Bulgaria, France, Liechtenstein, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iceland, Luxembourg, Ireland, Estonia, Denmark and Czech Republic).

Anaklia Consortium to apply to National Bank for Issuance of Shares Anaklia Development Consortium plans to apply to the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) for issuance of shares.

Georgia reinforces its National Commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Thousands of Georgians gathered in the town of Ambrolauri today to take part in the country’s second national Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Festival, initiated and organized by the United Nations in Georgia.

The Jeans Generation named among Five Best Projects of LA Producers Conference Bank of Georgia to finance Hilton Hotel Construction in Tbilisi Bank of Georgia (BOG) will finance Hilton hotel construction in Tbilisi.

The key idea of the project is to combine two epochs, harmonize old and modern architectural styles.

Movie project of the Jeans Generation that film director and producer Nikoloz Khomasuridze introduced on June 9 was named among the five best projects by the Producers Guild of America.

Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

300 Million USD attracted by TBC to boost Economic Growth in Georgia “We are happy that Georgia’s major bank will for the first time place securities on the international market.

The attracted 300 million USD will fund small and medium business sector and boost economic growth in Georgia”, Vakhtang Butskhrikidze said.

The dialogue revolved around the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership between the two countries, challenges arising throughout this period, and deeper future cooperation across such areas as defense and security, economy, trade, and energy.

1.1 Billion USD in 5 Months Increase in Tourism Revenues This year, Georgia's income from international travel increased by 101 million USD in 5 months.

TBC to issue Euro Bonds Worth of 300 Million USD More than 700 million US dollars have been demanded by investors on the above-mentioned bonds. TBC will pay 5.75% annual interest rate, which is historically the lowest rate on Eurobonds issued from Georgia.

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;

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Investments Shrink Bidzina Ivanishvili – One of the Major Investors in Georgia In the first quarter of 2019, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Georgia constituted 281 million USD, down 6.3% compared to the same period of 2018.

company Frankston International owned by Bidzina Ivanishvili.

On the whole, in the reporting period, investments from Panama was at 16.7 million USD. The majority of these funds came from the Tourism Development Fund.

The major investor companies are ranked as follows: ADS Borjomi Georgia, Georgian branch of LLC ADS Borjomi Beverage; • LLC Magticom • LLC KazTransGas Tbilisi • JSC Poti Seaport Corporation • JSC RMG Copper • LLC Toyota Caucasus • LLC IBG Holding • LLC City Loft • LLC Tourism Development Fund of Georgia • BP Group

According to official statistics, investments declined in financial, development, real estate, tourism, mining industry, processing industry and health sectors, while investment outflows exceed inflows in the energy and real estate sectors. Therefore, these sectors recorded negative trends.

To specify, indicators for the distinct sectors are as follows: Mining – 8.4 million USD, declining investments year on year – 62%; Processing industry – 21 million USD; year on year downturn – 48%; Development sector – 8.3 million USD; year on year downturn – 87%; Hotels and restaurants (tourism) – 25.4 million USD, year on year downturn – 0.2%; An early report by Geostat, the national statistics service of Georgia, may be revised later. As for Georgia’s major investors over the past years, Bidzina Ivanishvili and his companies are permanently recorded among the top 10 companies. In the first quarter of 2019, the Tourism Development Fund owned by ex-Prime Minister of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili, is mentioned among the top ten major investor companies.

The investment portfolio of the Tourism Development Fund unites 10 projects, and the total value of all these projects is 717 million USD. The Tourism Development Fund of Georgia was established on November 3, 2014. The legal address of the company is the head office of Cartu, Chavchavadze Avenue 39A. It was founded by the Panama-incorporated

The largest investment in the first quarter of 2019 came from Ireland: 133 million USD. This sum was spent purchasing a 51% stake in Adjarabet, one of the major gambling game companies. This stake in the company was purchased by the Irish company Flutter (previously Paddy Power) at the beginning of 2019.

Total value of the deal is 133 million USD and this figure coincides with FDI amount from Ireland. Consequently, the ratio of the Irish investment in Adjarabet in total FDI inflows made up 47%. According to the official statistics, this deal promoted Ireland to the first place among Georgia’s major investor countries and it replaced Azerbaijan.

The main part of FDI inflows in the first quarter of 2019 was registered in public utilities, personal and social services – gambling games are also recoded in this sector.

Investment value of total sector constituted 139 million USD. Finance sector ranks second with 42.7 million USD and transport sector is third with 28.6 million USD.

By Merab Janiashvili

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A Commercial Bank is Not to Build and a Developer is Not to Lend Last week, David Chichinadze, an independent member of the Parliament of Georgia, expressed an interest in the mechanisms that the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) applies to control internal installment loan schemes of development companies. He asked several questions of NBG President Koba Gvenetadze, who was introducing an annual report to the Parliament last week.

“It is nonsense to provide internal installment loan schemes with 8-, 10-, 12- year maturity. This is not an installment loan scheme. Any project is finished in 2-3 years. In this case, we should know where this or that company owns financial resources when providing 10and 12-year installment loan schemes. We should not risk the money of others’, because the example of Center Point may be repeated”, Chichinadze said.

The Caucasus Business Week (CBW) has inquired about the current situation in companies after NBG issued a restriction of mortgage loans, and whether development companies agree with the MP’s considerations.

Tornike Abuladze, director of the Georgian Developers Association, explains that regulations on mortgage loans automatically damage development business. Everybody understands the nature of excessive debts, but it is incorrect to apply strict regulations equally to all companies, Abuladze said.

The ratio of bad loans in the development business accounts for 0.98%. This means that a person taking a 40,000 USD is presumed to be more responsible compared to a person buying a new cellular phone. The regulator has applied the same mechanism to every company, and this is an incorrect decision which should be revised, Abuladze said.

“This decision should definitely be revised in relation to our sector, because the issuance of mortgage loans and sales declined by 40% on average. Commercial banks also prove this”, as noted by Abuladze.

I have for many years struggled against non-core assets. TI has always assured that commercial banks are not to enter the development business and possess non-core assets and inversely, today’s development companies should not apply a long-term installment loan schemes, because this is a different kind of risk management with different threats that require other financial guarantees, Abuladze said.

“Everybody should do its business. A baker should bake bread.

A developer should build and commercial banks should issue installment loans, and not the reverse. Commercial banks should not build and developers should not lend”, Abuladze said.

Bezhan Tsakadze, founder of the G&G Group development company, talks about internal installment loan schemes of development companies and the NBG’s control mechanisms on them.

Our company applies internal installment loan schemes on an unimportant scales, because wealthy clients do not borrow money from commercial banks. Anyway, an internal installment loan scheme is an important component for development companies, and the NBG cannot and should not control this component, Bezhan Tsakadze said.

“Two independent bodies conclude an agreement and the NBG should not intervene in this process”, Tsakadze said.

As for mechanisms for the protection of clients in the case of loan

payment failure, Tsakadze explained that agreements scrupulously describe all mechanisms in details. For example, a certain part of the paid sum goes to the company, and the remaining part is refunded to the client after the sale of an apartment, Tsakadze noted.

“Internal installment loans were issued previously, too, but now long-term schemes will be applied, but the principle remains the same. We used to deduct 10% of the paid sum and refunded the remaining part in the case of loan payment failure after the sale of an apartment. It is not the business of either the government or NBG. Only two parties conclude similar agreements”, Tsakadze pointed out.

If the NBG restricts 8-12-year installment loan schemes, this will be an intervention in private business, he added.

“When client could not take loans from commercial banks, this function was assumed by development companies. They have to apply this mechanism to receive revenues, and mobilize a certain amount of finance”, Tsakadze said.

As for the sources and origins of these financial resources when issuing 10-12 year installment loans, and the expected risks, Tsakadze said that similar risks genuinely exist, and companies had to take similar risks, because there was no other solution. Financial guarantees will reduce similar risks. Consequently, if companies obtain these bank guarantees or mobilize their own financial resources, then Center Point will not be repeated, and similar risks will not be present. Otherwise, we may see several cases like Center Point, he explained.

“Today, any company is able to enter the market without any starting capital, which have not finished even one tenth of the project. Similar companies begin operations hoping to sell apartments and finish the project. That’s why we have so many unfinished projects. We should adopt a financial regulations component, and this means that companies should submit a letter for this kind of guarantee, or a financial guarantee when obtaining a construction license. Otherwise, this issue cannot be resolved”, Tsakadze said.

It is not a reasonable position that companies focusing on development should be deprived of the right to apply internal installment loan schemes after regulations are imposed with regards to taking loans from commercial banks. Similarly, legislation may lead many development companies towards bankruptcy, Tsakadze noted.

Development companies have problems with the payment of loans, he added.

“The ratio of bad loans was only 0.8%. They know very well that developers have no similar problems. If they ban internal installment loan schemes for developers, the number of unfinished construction projects will increase”, Tsakadze said.

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A Digitized World and Georgia’s Integration

Is Georgia ready to adapt to the digitized world? What does the country do to develop digital services? In an interview for Business Partner, TBC Bank Deputy Directors General Nikoloz Kurdiani and Amiran Sherozia talk about these issues.

Nikoloz Kurdiani says that TBC will serve 10 million clients on various platforms. According to the 2018 report, TBC served 2.3 million clients. In late April, 1.4 million new clients were added, and today the figure makes up 3.7 million clients.

“A user, i.e. a consumer, implies that we serve clients on various platforms, in various directions, including on our real estate platform – lilo.ge. Today, a person may not be the client of TBC Bank, but they use our services and we consider this category as our users. In the future, we plan to serve 10 million users. Georgia is populated by 3.7 million people, but we have entered Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan to serve 10 million users. We plan to expand our geographic coverage”, Nikoloz Kurdiani said.

In response to the question of whether TBC is a financial institution or a technological corporation, TBC Bank Deputy Director General Amiran Sherozia noted that, today, TBC is at the stage of transformation into a technological company.

“This means that we have always directed huge investments and efforts to develop technologies.

This policy enables us to introduce wider opportunities to the market. The ecosystem means that you operate on the market not as a single player, but, as you arrange a chain of partnership, it’s a place where a lot of various players are interconnected and services are supplied to users in an integrated way”, Sherozia said.

In practice, this is a platform and mechanism for partnership and interconnection, he added.

Georgia is a developing market, and TBC Bank’s advantage is that we are very curious people, Nikoloz Kurdiani explained.

“We should know what users will need tomorrow. Therefore, we make a lot of trips, learn, explore, think, replenish our ideas, and localize. All of our innovations are successful. For example, the first chatbot was introduced by TBC. In that period nobody knew whether users would be interested in it or not, but today it is very popular”, Kurdiani said.

As for the digital technologies and services in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, the current development level, competitors, and Georgia’s role in these countries, Amiran Sherozia noted that there is much potential for promoting these

technologies in the Post-Soviet space. In general, digital technologies are developed at a high pace worldwide, he said.

“Today, many citizens of Georgia make procurements on foreign websites. The process includes the transportation of products, time, expenditures.

This process means a lot of discomfort. We want to erase barriers and create new values.

In this way, we will attract consumers throughout our ecosystem”, Amiran Sherozia said.

As for Georgia’s prospects in 5 years, Sherozia noted that the current fundamental challenges for commercial banks and technological companies call for promoting business, opening borders for industries, players, and between various channels. The development of the various ecosystems and platforms will enable us to act not only as financial players on the market, but also ensure the synchronization of various industries. “As a result, we will be able to assist many companies in various fields to arrange for shared innovations of new services”, Sherozia said.

As for security in this period when the internet is gradually leaving gadgets behind, and things become digitized, TBC

Bank represents Georgia’s major financial institution and adheres to a firm technological development policy, Nikoloz Kurdiani noted that the company understands their roles in our society very well.

“Namely, we represent a commercial bank, an institution with great creditworthiness.

Therefore, we understand this problem very well, as well as the technological risks related to information storage in the technological space. Therefore, we have to take on a huge task, to take all these components to a high level”, Nikoloz Kurdiani said.

TBC Bank is represented in both the banking sector and electronic commerce, research and so on, and, therefore, the company may face the temptation to hold non-core assets, but Nikoloz Kurdiani explained that there is no such problem, because TBC differentiates non-core assets clearly.

“The regulator supervises all businesses and steps, and everything is agreed in this context. We have no problems in terms of non-core assets”, Kurdiani said.

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Vintage 2019 – Preparations and Plans of National Wine Agency

In his interview with the TV program Business Partner for Channel 1, Levan Mekhuzla, head of the National Wine Agency, has talked about preparations and plans for the 2019 vintage.

The 2019 vintage will not be subsidized. The growing demand for wine brought success in 2018, and we expect this year to bring more success, Levan Mekhuzla noted.

“The 2018 vintage has shown that the country picked a record volumes of grapes – 230,000 tons, and state subsidization was fully ruled out. The growing demand for wine increased the demand for grapes. Export growth, progress in the tourism business, the development of domestic consumption, gradually developing wine culture – all of these aspects have increased the demand for wine”, Levan Mekhuzla said.

Regarding the reasons behind wine export growth, Mekhuzla explains that the National Wine Agency has determined strategic wine markets, where the reputation of Georgian wine has improved. These markets are: the USA, Japan, Poland, the Baltic Countries, Great Britain, China.

As to the 2019 vintage, nobody knows in advance whether this year we will have a record harvest, but we predict we will harvest 150-200 thousand tons of grapes, Mekhuzla noted.

The 2019 vintage will be exceptional, because grapes for wines with protected indicators of origin will be picked in registered only four registered regions– Kindzmarauli, Akhasheni, Kvareli and Mukuzani. Cadastre is a precondition for the sustainable development of a wine industry, Mekhuzla said.

“This is one of the most important novelties of the 2019 vintage. In general, the cadastre is a precondition for long-term sustainable development of the field, because the country ensures the tracking of wine origin during the full cycle of production – from the vineyard to the bottle. The cadastre is the ground for all these components. In general, tracking

is a component of safety and this is a very important aspect for wines with protected indicators of origin,” Mekhuzla said.

Sales of grapes due to registered microzones will protect wines from adulteration, the wine agency head noted.

“Namely, winegrowers from Sagarejo will not be able to sell their grapes as Saperavi from the Kindzmarauli microzone”, he said.

The cadastral registration process is continuous, and this process will cover the whole territory of Georgia, stage by stage.

Consequently, along with the expansion of registered vineyards, the obligation for sales of grapes due to cadastre will apply to all microzones, stage by stage, as Levan Mekhuzla pointed out.

In response to the question of whether Georgian farmers and winegrowers are ready to find their niche in the premium segment of the international market in terms of quality and prices, Mekhuzla explained that today, Georgia is recorded among the top five countries in the world by exports prices. This is very important aspect.

“Today, we are side by side with Italy. I always note that this is not sufficient. We should make more progress and catch up with, for example, New Zealand and Austria, even France. I always tell winemaking companies, winegrowers, that the government by itself cannot cope with all these problems.

The government can only ensure compliance with legislation. Farmers should, first of all show willingness to ensure quality standards”, Mekhuzla pointed out.

“Today, we are side by side with Italy. I always note that this is not sufficient.

We should make more progress and catch up with, for example, New Zealand and Austria, even France."

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Lana Bliadze: “Constant Readiness and Adaptation to Novelties is the Key to Success’’ Interview with Head of PR and Marketing Department at “”Didgori’’ and Organization Development Specialist at “Georgian Unique Wine’’, Lana Bliadze.

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

It has been many years since I was a host on a program at First Channel Radio, and my first profession was in journalism and communication theory, and I studied at Ilia University. Then I got several offers from companies to head public relations and marketing departments, so I decided first to get a proper education, and only after that take up responsibility. I studied at GAU PR School, after which I started my actual career in the huge world of marketing. The first great challenge was to create a PR strategy for “The Music Academy of the Georgian University’’, followed by other challenges that lead me to continue my studies at the University.

I decided to apply for Organisation Development and Consulting Programme at TSU. I will get my Master’s in this in several days, and will start working on my PHD. In regards to technological changes, what challenges do you face as the head of a marketing service?

Nowadays, any organization can fail in the business world, that is, not developing and adapting to new technologies.

Managers need to create the relevant conditions for technological changes, as we can review changes in positive contexts.

If we compare this to previous decades, we will see that: •We are able to share information faster and more efficiently; •It’s now easier to analyse a company’s progress according to rapid feedback from users; •We can integrate functions and systems; •Companies are more skillful.

Consequently, we can achieve the result on paper, though the risk is higher, and we need to operate more carefully.

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

As time passes by, the competition gets more intense, as the quantity, as well as the quality, required to control a company’s pulse and reinforce its positions.

New challenges won’t let us rest.

How we communicate with customers has dramatically changed, and social media has empowered the customer and plays a huge role in influencing its users.

Standards that work today, might not exist tomorrow, and that’s why the key to success became adapting to novelties, being ready for them. If we look at it from a technological perspective, 10 years ago, when “Didgori’’ started its operation, people would produce something, and nowadays most of them are made by facilities, faster and in a high quality fashion, while the employment rate remained high.

What important features should a marketing manager focus on, and what are their roles in an organization?

A competitive marketing manager should never be satisfied with a result, even if she achieves more than planned.

One should always be oriented towards self and company development, keep up with the competition, and should be able to make correct predictions and wellplanned decisions.

What’s your organization's business model?

Our organization’s business model is based on bilateral interaction and, once

communication is interrupted, a company might start falling down. First, when we create a product, we need to hear feedback from customers through social networks. We define the lucrativeness of the product by this metric.

One word that describes your work.

Diverse.

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

Never settle for less than what you deserve, as you will always get what you say yes to. This has proven to be right, but I still find it hard to follow.

Think of a person who inspires you, professionally.

I have had to collaborate with people with whom I would always learn something new and interesting, in any field I worked in. Besides, I’m lucky to be surrounded by my peers, and that they support me and make me feel that I can do something important, that empowers and motivates me.

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Business News

McDonald’s Georgia to build Barmcakes Plant

Georgian Postcards adapted

by Digital Technologies

McDonald’s barmcakes plant will be constructed in Georgia in summer 2019, Temur Chkonia, Coca-Cola Bottlers Georgia founder told BusinessPressNews.

Designer, Murtaz Purtskhvanidze has created a concept on the matters of new postcards, which is built upon Augmented Reality. With the special application, one scans the postmark and examines the information about its designed visual. For instance, if the postcard portrays "Flying Painter" by Petre Otskheli, the application shows the biography and facts about this and other artworks.

Qvevri Shaped 3D Grill

Ani Malazonia illustrates Rick and Morty into Tbilisi Streets Digital artist Ani Malazonia decided to illustrate famous animated characters into Tbilisi streets.

Mardi Holding to sell Real Estate in Criptocurrency LTD “Mardi Holding” is the actively developing multifunctional holding, which offers its users to pay the price of their real estate in cryptocurrency.

David Mizandari came up with the idea to create Qvevri shaped 3D grill. One can fry meat and vegetables on it, among them famous meal Mtsvadi.

KULA invests 3 million GEL in Production of Bio Juices

Fourth Tourism and Hospitality Conference within Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards takes place

KULA company has finished a construction of bio fruits plant in Akhaltsikhe. The company director general Vano Goglidze told BM.Ge that the company has invested 3 million GEL in the plant construction.

On June 18, the 4th Tourism and Hospitality Conference within Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards will take place at the Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel, Tbilisi.

Construction of 5-Start Hotel to begin in Svaneti in 2020

PwC Public Sector & Infrastructure Leaders gather in Tbilisi More than 100 PwC public sector and infrastructure practice leaders have gathered in Tbilisi, together with key decision makers from the local administration and representatives of international financing institutions, for a twoday conference aimed at finding viable solutions to boost infrastructure development across the countries of Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) and bringing valuable insight into public sector transformation in Georgia and in the wider region.

Irakli Gurchiani, the founder of "Toyota Center Tbilisi'' starts construction of a 5-star hotel in 2020 after the launch of Hotel "Gistola".

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The Spring and Mineral Water Market – The World and Georgia In the 21st century, drinking water will be a much more strategic resource than oil and gas, as predicted by UN experts.

According to the UN report, about 900 million people worldwide have extremely limited access to drinking water, while more than 2 billion lack basic sanitary systems.

By 2025, water consumption in developed countries will rise by 50%, and in developing countries by 18%. According to the Human Development World Report 2016, by 2025 about 3 billion people will face a drinking water deficit, and this problem will especially sharpen in China, India, southern Africa and the countries of the Arab Peninsula. Specialists believe that the situation regarding the international market volume of bottled water will exceed 242.35 billion USD. According to the Global Bottled Water Hydration Market’s Forecast to 2024, the figure in 2018 exceeded 282.54 billion liters. Today, the share of the Asia-Pacific region on the bottled water market accounts for 33%. The markets of Europe and North America, according to 2018 indicators, reached 24 and 93 billion USD, respectively.

The world’s key bottled water manufacturers are as follows: Nestle Waters (Perrier, San Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, Vittel) Groupe Danone (Evian, Volvic, Badoit), PepsiCo Inc (Aquafina, SmartWater), The Coca Cola Company (Bonaqua).

Along with these companies, the influential players are: Fiji Water (The Wonderful Company) and Voss (Voss of Norway ASA).

The USA is reported to be a key importer of bottled water. A lot of EU countries, as well as Japan, are major importers. As for exporters: Italy is a leader, France ranks second. Fiji, Norway and Georgia are reported to be important exporters of bottled water. According to the 2016 indicators, in 2016 Georgia ranked 6th in terms of exports (82 million USD). Exporters of bottled water in total volume

made up 3.8%. Georgia continuously grows as an exporter of bottled water. In 2018, the country exported 110.2 billion USD of bottled spring and mineral water, up 15% compared to 2017.

As to 2019, in January-February, the number of countries to which Georgian mineral and spring water are exported declined, but the volume of exported products increased.

Unlike 2018, in January-February 2019, mineral and spring water was not exported to Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Latvia, Switzerland and Poland.

According to Geostat, the national statistics service of Georgia, Georgia’s mineral and spring water exports rose by 31% compared to 2018. The total value of January-April exports made up 40.866 million USD. The Russian Federation remains a key export market for Georgian bottled water.

Georgia exported bottled water worth 19.873 million USD to Russia in 2019.

As for spring water resources, there are more than 26,060 rivers and 860 lakes in Georgia and spring water resources per capita makes up 14,000 cubic meters, while the figure is 9,300 cubic meters in Europe.

Georgia’s underground spring water natural resources are about 1,8000 million cubic meters, and the general forecast of exploitable reserves are about 10,600 million cubic meters.

It is interesting that the highest prices for consumption are recorded in Europe, namely in Germany Denmark – 1.78 USD and 1.72 USD per cubic meter, respectively.

Georgia’s water consumption per capita makes up 400 liters on average; in private houses, the volume even exceeds 1000 liters. The price per cubic meter makes up 0.329 GEL.

By Zurab Khachapuridze

Owners of HUAWEI Smartphones will receive Updates of Applications from PlayStore

Amid the last developments between HUAWEI and Google, the information as if owners of HUAWEI Smartphones will not be able to apply Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram applications is not confirmed.

In reality, the new models of HUAWEI will not have the mentioned applications inbuilt, but users will be able to download them from PlayStore, like all other applications. The process

will proceed simply and quickly without any obstacles. The fact the specific applications will not be inbuilt in HUAWEI smartphones should not be considered as a disincentive factor. As to updates, this process will be continued in ordinary regime and applications will be updated from PlayStore.

Official statements spread

by HUAWEI over the past period do not give grounds for embarrassment – “Updates are provided for those phones, which have been already sold and are in stock in ordinary regime and all necessary programs will be attainable for them”. Furthermore, the USA has also changed the position and the restrictions were postponed for 90 days. This fact gives optimism that the situation

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will be stabilized soon.

HUAWEI products and services are available in more than 170 countries and are used by one third part of the world population.

Sixteen research and developments centers of HUAWEI function in the USA, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India and China. HUAWEI Consumer BG is one of the key business directions of HUAWEI with focus on production of Smartphones, personal computers, tablets and cloud services. The global network of HUAWEI relies on 20-year experience in telecommunications business and it offers innovative technologies to consumers all over the world.

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