Issue #1330

Issue no: 1330

• JANUARY 14 - 20, 2022 • PUBLISHED WEEKLY

PRICE: GEL 2.50

In this week’s issue...

PM: Based on Preliminary Data for 2021, Economic Growth Reached 10.7% NEWS PAGE 2

Biting the Hand: Measuring the “Distance” between Georgia and the West POLITICS PAGE 4

Armenia and Azerbaijan Relations: the EU Agenda and the Russian Factor POLITICS PAGE 5

FOCUS ON INVEST HUB 2022 Investors evaluated the past year and discussed future investment opportunities, three memoranda were signed, and all the projects found investors within two weeks of the conference!

BUSINESS PAGE 8

PAGE 3

Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze & Avtandil Tsereteli Exempted from Imprisonment

BY ANA DUMBADZE

T

he Tbilisi City Court exempted TBC Bank co-founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze and businessman Avtandil Tsereteli from criminal charges. All three were exempted from imprisonment.

Based on the judge’s decision, the article with which Khazaradze and Japaridze were charged was reclassified from money laundering to fraud.

However, they were exempted from imprisonment due to the statute of limitations.

Moreover, they were exempted from all the restrictions previously imposed, such as crossing the Georgian border and bail.

However, despite being exempted from imprisonment, TBC Bank co-founders and current leaders of the Lelo party Khazaradze and Japaridze

claim that they will appeal the court’s decision.

“We will appeal against this decision because no crime was committed: it was a fight to save our financial institution,” this is how Badri Japaridze assessed the decision made by the court.

Japaridze said the decision is a continuation of the fraud that has been committed by the prosecution throughout this time.

“The falsity that we heard from the judge is very clear. In 2012, it turned out that we committed fraud, which was not even investigated, and neither the victim nor the complainant has been identified,” said Khazaradze, adding that the court decision is “nonsense.”

The Prosecutor’s Office accused Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze and Avtandil Tsereteli of money laundering. The case concerns financial transactions made in 2008. Khazaradze and Japaridze were working for TBC Bank at that time.

5000 Products at Your Fingertips: Carrefour Introduces New Delivery Service App

The investigation into the said transactions started only in 2018, 10 years later. All three denied the allegations and considered the case to be politically motivated.

"We would like to remind the public that Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze and Avtandil Tsereteli were charged with money laundering under Article 194 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. The prosecution will appeal the court's decision to the Court of Appeals within the timeframe set by law," the Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

On January 13, the following statement was issued by the Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) following the 12 January ruling of the Tbilisi City Court: “After three years of political persecution against Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, the Tbilisi City Court has rendered a judgment designed to keep a cloud of baseless criminal charges hangContinued on page 2

Skytrax Rates Tbilisi International Airport among the Most Covid-Safe Airports Globally BUSINESS PAGE 9

“Fairtogether” to Build Peace among Youth SOCIETY PAGE 10

Thea Djordjadze: All Building as Making.

Gropius Bau Berlin CULTURE PAGE 11 CULTURE PAGE 11 Prepared for Georgia Today Business by

Markets As of 10ͲJanͲ2022

Price

w/w

m/m

STOCKS

Price

w/w

GRAIL 07/28

100.05 (YTM 3.99%)

Ͳ0,3%

Ͳ0,2%

Bank of Georgia (BGEO LN)

GBP 15.90

Ͳ4,7%

Ͳ1,0%

GEBGG 07/23

BONDS

106.05 (YTM 1.99%)

Ͳ0,2%

+0,0%

Georgia Capital (CGEO LN)

GBP 6.80

Ͳ4,6%

+4,9%

GEOCAP 03/24

102.18 (YTM 5.04%)

Ͳ0,4%

Ͳ0,5%

TBC Bank Group (TBCG LN)

GBP 15.66

Ͳ5,1%

Ͳ0,1%

SILNET 04/24

107.46 (YTM 7.29%)

Ͳ0,0%

+0,0%

TBC 06/24

105.42 (YTM 3.41%)

Ͳ0,2%

Ͳ0,4%

GGU 07/25

106.17 (YTM 5.80%)

+0,1%

Ͳ0,2%

CURRENCIES

Price

w/w

3,0872

Ͳ0,0%

Ͳ0,4%

3,4973

+0,2%

Ͳ0,3% +1,8%

COMMODITIES

Price

w/w

m/m

GEL / GBP

4,1908

+0,7%

80,87

+2,4%

+7,6%

GEL / CHF

3,3352

Ͳ0,8%

1 801,68

+0,0%

+1,1%

INDICES

m/m

m/m

GEL / USD GEL / EUR

Crude Oil, Brent (US$/bbl) Gold Spot (US$/OZ)

m/m

Ͳ0,9%

GEL / RUB

0,0412

Ͳ0,7%

Ͳ2,6%

GEL / TRY

0,2233

Ͳ5,1%

+0,0%

GEL / AZN

1,8160

Ͳ0,2%

Ͳ0,4%

Price

w/w

FTSE 100

7 445,25

+0,8%

+2,1%

GEL / AMD

0,0064

Ͳ0,3%

+2,1%

FTSE 250

23 001,81

Ͳ2,0%

+0,3%

GEL / UAH

0,1123

Ͳ0,8%

Ͳ2,0%

DAX

15 768,27

Ͳ1,6%

+0,9%

EUR / USD

0,8828

Ͳ0,3%

Ͳ0,1%

DOW JONES

36 068,87

Ͳ1,4%

+0,3%

GBP / USD

0,7366

Ͳ0,7%

Ͳ2,2%

NASDAQ

14 942,83

0,9273

+0,9%

+0,7%

Ͳ5,6%

Ͳ4,4%

CHF / USD

182,56

Ͳ2,2%

Ͳ0,8%

RUB / USD

75,0238

+0,6%

MSCI EM

1 232,27

Ͳ0,1%

Ͳ0,5%

TRY / USD

13,8148

+5,2%

Ͳ0,5%

SP 500

4 670,29

Ͳ2,6%

Ͳ0,9%

AZN / USD

1,7000

+0,2%

+0,0%

MSCI FM

2 638,80

Ͳ0,0%

Ͳ0,1%

AMD / USD

483,0000

+0,3%

Ͳ2,5%

MSCI EM EE

+2,3%

2

NEWS

GEORGIA TODAY

JANUARY 14 - 20, 2022

PM: Based on Preliminary Data for 2021, Economic Growth Reached 10.7%

I

want our society to know how we completed the past budget year and what the key macroeconomic and fiscal parameters are of 2021, irrespective of the challenges borne by the global pandemic that the country faced, stated Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia, at the Executive Government Meeting on Monday.

As Garibashvili noted, the State Budget for 2021 was planned at the end of 2020 – in the most difficult circumstances in terms of epidemic and economic conditions. Hence, expectation of economic recovery in 2021 was “rather marginal.”

“Economic growth projections were at 4.3% back then. Gross Domestic Product was projected in the volume of 53.4 billion GEL. Government Debt was projected above 60% of the GDP, while the consolidated budget deficit was forecasted to reach 7.6% of GDP,” the PM noted.

“2021 started on a difficult note: economic shortfall reached 11.5% in January at a time when we were in a lock-down regime with a very high viral spread and unfortunate losses of human lives.

“Nevertheless, the situation changed radically when the economic growth indicator turned positive in March and then reached an unprecedentedly high indicator in April at 44.8%. Foreign trade and other economic indicators started to improve quickly from the same period.

“According to the preliminary data for the first 11 months of the year, economic growth reached 10.7% and the overall annual indicator is expected to get to 10.7%, which is 2.5 times higher compared to the original projection,” he said.

“As a result of the high economic growth, nominal indicators of GDP have increased considerably and reached 59.6 billion GEL in updated projections compared to the originally forecasted 53.4 billion.

“According to the overall data for the first 11 months of the year, export has grown by 26.7%, including local export by 28.7%; proceeds from tourism have

increased by 112% compared to the previous year and exceeded the respective indicator of 2019 by 37%. It should be noted that in July, proceeds from tour-

ism exceeded 50% of the respective month in 2019 (55% in November) and net remittances in the first 11 months of the year increased by 25.4%. Current account deficit in the first three quarters of the year improved by 2.1 percentage points of GDP, including an improvement of 6.1 percentage points in Q3. We expect the annual current account deficit to be reduced to 10.5% in 2021, returning to 5% over the medium term,” Garibashvili stated.

“Quick economic recovery has enabled us to substantially improve the key fiscal parameters. Government Debt has been reduced to 50% instead of the anticipated 60.1% as a share of GDP, while the consolidated budget deficit was originally planned to reach 7.6% and instead narrowed to 6.1% as a share of GDP. Thus, I can wrap-up by saying that we reached a double-digit economic growth in 2021,” he concluded.

Corona Updates: New Omicron Strain Puts Pressure on Healthcare Systems Worldwide

BY ANA DUMBADZE

Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze & Avtandil Tsereteli Exempted from Imprisonment Continued from page 1 ing over their heads. The prosecution of Messrs. Khazaradze and Japaridze has always been about politics and killing the Anaklia Deepwater Port Project.

“The judgment is simply an attempt at political face-saving by the judiciary and the Government. It is true that the Court has discarded the money laundering charges; however, the Court has also arbitrarily replaced them with a finding of fraud without the authority to make such a finding. There is no basis under the law for this action by the Court. This outcome is a farce, as Messrs. Khazaradze and Japaridze were tried of one crime but convicted of another which was never presented by the prosecutor.

“For ADC’s part, this judgment is further proof that the ruling party remains intent on either killing the Anaklia port project outright or ensuring that it cannot proceed with the involvement of ADC’s investors.

“The international community will no doubt take note of the judgment. The original charges against Messrs. Khazaradze and Japaridze were ridiculous and lacked any legitimacy, as demonstrated by separate and independent findings of the Public Defender’s Office and Transparency International-Georgia. However, that did not stop the Government from attempting to interfere

with the judicial process nor did it prevent the many irregularities in the government’s prosecution.

“This is a continuation of the political persecution of Messrs. Khazaradze and Japaridze which caused material damage to ADC’s efforts to develop the Anaklia project, leading to the government’s illegal termination of the project and the ensuing arbitration claims.

Unfortunately, this latest mockery of justice goes a further step towards ensuring no reputable international finance groups will invest in the project.

“The collateral damage of this action by the court is clear: In pursuing this political vendetta and undermining the future of the Anaklia Port project, the Georgian Dream government has also driven away direct foreign investment and caused harm to the Georgian economy. This is a continuation of the charade promoted by the government to deceive the investment community, the EU and US governments, and its own citizens about its true intentions related to the Anaklia Port project. Despite its feigned support for a port at Anaklia, the government’s actions over the past three years have shown it to be actively stalling or opposing any progress toward a the long-awaited deepwater port project. This judgment only serves to delay further the day when Georgia may have a deep water port at Anaklia.”

F

ollowing first detection of the new Omicron strain in Georgia at the end of December, and following the New Year holidays, the epidemiological situation has deteriorated as expected.

So far, more than 1000 cases of Omicron have been registered in Georgian laboratories, however, health officials claim that in reality, the number of cases is 3 to 4 times higher. According to the National Center for Disease Control [NCDC], so far none of the patients infected with Omicron have needed resuscitation assistance.

The Interagency Coordination Council urged holidaymakers at Georgian ski resorts to observe Covid-related regulations, including wearing face masks and keeping to social distancing. Despite this, skiiers and snowboarders were this week still being allowed to enter gondolas in groups of up to 10 without wearing masks. As such, both Bakuriani and Gudauri have become hotbeds for the virus spread.

Tamar Gabunia, Deputy Health Minister, said that the NCDC has no intention of recommending postponement of the learning process, with in-class study to kick off at schools and kindergartens across Georgia from January 17. Parents can still choose to register their children for online learning if they wish (every Thursday until 6PM).

THE STATISTICS Georgia reported 5486 coronavirus cases, 2893 recoveries, and 46 deaths on Tuesday. Tbilisi recorded the highest number of 2985 cases, followed by the Adjara region with 569 cases, and the Imereti region with 563 cases.

5596 new cases were reported Wednesday, 2946 recoveries, and 47 deaths. Tbilisi recorded 3180 cases, followed by Adjara with 638, and Imereti with 563 cases.

There were 5326 new coronavirus cases, 3044 recoveries, and 48 deaths on Thursday. Tbilisi recorded 3148 new cases within 24 hours, followed by Adjara with 563 cases, and Imereti region with 437 cases.

The daily test-positivity rate now stands at 9.6%.

Georgia’s total case tally reached 979,235 since February 2020, among which 922,411 people recovered and 14,359 died.

Image source: Reuters

THE CASES WORLDWIDE On Monday, the US recorded more than one million Covid cases in 24 hours.

On Thursday, the UK reported 179,756 cases and 231 Covid-related deaths. A number of hospitals have declared "critical" incidents due to staff absence and rising pressures due to Covid.

Elsewhere, hospital numbers are also rising. France's health minister Olivier Veran warned this week that January would be tough for hospitals, with France on Thursday reporting 261,000 new cases.

WHO said the number of global cases has increased by 71% in the last week, and in the Americas by 100%. It said that among severe cases worldwide, 90% were unvaccinated.

The Omicron variant is on track to infect more than half of Europeans, but it should not yet be seen as a flu-like endemic illness, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

Europe saw more than 7 million newlyreported cases in the first week of 2022, more than doubling over a two-week period, WHO’s Europe director Hans Kluge told a news briefing.

“At this rate, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecasts that more than 50% of the population in the region will be infected with Omicron in the next 6-8 weeks,” Kluge said, referring to a research center at the University of Washington.

Fifty out of 53 countries in Europe and central Asia have logged cases of the more infectious variant, Kluge said.

Evidence, however, is emerging that Omicron is affecting the upper respiratory tract more than the lungs, causing milder symptoms than previous variants.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against describing the Omicron variant as mild, saying it is killing people around the world.

Recent studies suggest that Omicron

is less likely to make people seriously ill than previous Covid variants, however, the record number of people catching it has left health systems under severe pressure, said WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

THE VACCINATION PROCESS “Vaccinating everyone on the planet against Covid-19 regularly is not sustainable or affordable,” says UK vaccine scientist Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, who helped develop the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. He added the most at risk should be identified and prioritized instead.

He noted the vaccine rollout had gone "extremely well" in the UK, where booster jabs have been offered to all eligible adults, but other parts of the world were falling behind.

Prof Pollard told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It really is not affordable, sustainable or probably even needed to vaccinate everyone on the planet every four to six months.”

More than nine billion doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered in around 197 countries worldwide.

Overall, China and India have administered the highest number of doses, with nearly three billion and 1.5 billion respectively. The US is third, with more than 500 million.

Early studies suggest the newly identified Omicron variant of coronavirus is better able to evade vaccine protection than previous strains, though vaccination still offers strong protection against serious illness and hospitalization.

A third ‘booster' dose of a vaccine does appear to offer protection against infection from Omicron and at least 89 countries have begun booster vaccination programmes.

Worldwide, more than 100 possible vaccines are undergoing trials to test their efficacy and safety, reports the BBC.

NEWS

GEORGIA TODAY JANUARY 14 - 20, 2022

3

INVEST HUB 2022 Georgia Confirmed As the Best Place to Invest In

O

n December 28, at the Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace, the investment conference INVEST HUB 2022 was held.

Headed by Swefland Group, it achieved fast and significant results for the country; double those that were expected.

The conference hosted Arab, Chinese, European, and other international investors and, considering its success, it is all set to become an annual event.

At INVEST HUB 2022, investors evaluated the past year and discussed future investment opportunities, three memoranda were signed, and the attracted funds were found to have exceeded the already high expectations of the investment group: all the projects found investors within two weeks of the conference!

Mahmoud Sami, CEO of Swefland Group, noted that he had expected the conference would be of great interest to investors when they learned how good a place Georgia is to invest in.

"The feedback and results exceeded expectations, and the $400 million investment plan was doubled following government involvement and support,” he says. “We would like to thank the representatives of the government who made the investors so clearly aware of the investment climate of the country and showed their readiness for foreign investments. That was the purpose of the Invest Hub conference and we think it proved to be a very good way to attract investment.”

Sami notes that the goal is to utilize and develop the regional capacities in Georgia. Swefland Group is constructing multifunctional complexes in 6 regions:

Kaspi, Gurjaani, Gardabani, Sagarejo, Giorgitsminda, and Manavi, where the focus is on ecology, greenery, and renewable energy.

"Swefland Group has started to develop a total of 1 million square meters in 6 regions of Georgia,” says Ahmed Hegazy, Chief Executive Officer of Swefland.

“Hotels, villa-type settlements, kindergartens, and schools will be built. The aim is to create greenery, biodiversity, and maximum utilization of the landscape. The Invest Hub conference will be held annually, as Georgia is a businessfriendly country, it is easy to develop a business here, and the state encourages and supports investors. Further, Georgia is a country that has good relations with Europe, China, and America.”

The high interest of Arab, Chinese, European and other international investors is due to the geographical location of the country, its transit potential, and the already signed trade agreements with Europe and China.

Investor Timo Savola noted that Georgia has historical significance as a link between East and West. "Therefore, Georgia and its transit function, its connections with the East, the Middle East and Europe, are very important for our company. That is why Georgia will take an important place in our operations,” he added.

The aim of INVEST HUB is to make a financial and investment hub of Georgia, together with developing its transit potential. Based on what was seen at and following the December conference, the goal will surely be achieved: the implementation of projects has started, and new projects are set to begin.

4

POLITICS

GEORGIA TODAY

JANUARY 14 - 20, 2022

Biting the Hand: Measuring the “Distance” between Georgia and the West

European Council President Charles Michel (left) and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili meet during mediation sessions. Source: European Council

BY MICHAEL GODWIN

F

or years, Georgia has been seen as the rising star of new NATO and European Union candidates. Following the 2003 Rose Revolution and the broad sweeping reforms that took place in the following years, the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel has generally been formal integration. This ascension to NATO, the EU, and the litany of other smaller organizations within these two would, by most estimates, have massive benefits for Georgia’s economy and society.

Despite this and the continuing undercurrent of popular support still vibrantly alive throughout the nation, it could be surmised that the senior leadership may not have the same sentiments. More than likely, it is highly doubtful that many would outright oppose integration were it offered the following day. However, the vehemence visible in the citizenry and business community, and the lack-luster effort displayed by much of the ruling party’s lead-

ership has been a source of static with the West.

Following the 2020 elections, more European and American political figures began to make their voices heard on the issue that there seemed to be a disconnect. The disparity between the roadmap to social and political success for Georgia and the decisions being taken by her leadership had given rise for concern. Increasingly, as 2021 progressed, Europe and the United States were forced to apply political pressure arising from mismanagement of government resources, willful judicial negligence, and the refusal by certain party members to come to some form of political reconciliation.

Last summer, representatives of various EU and American diplomatic and lawmaking offices organized a broad agreement document to unite the political community of Georgia. Championed by European Council President Charles Michel, this agreement, often referred to as the “April 19th Agreement,” sought to seek a compromise between the opposition movement and the ruling Georgian Dream party. However, despite several meetings, the ruling party withdrew at the end of July. While their reasoning was based on the fact at the time

that the opposition refused to sign the agreement, their subsequent agreement in September did not see the ruling party resign.

In the wake of this, Georgian Dream decisionmakers pushed to quickly appoint judges to the Supreme Court. The process that was allegedly taken to install these officials has been framed as being contradictory to the April 19 Agreement and detrimental to the rule of law in the country. This core concept, the essence of rule of law, has been under attack since the June 20 riots outside Parliament in 2019, as many foreign observers have stated.

Targeting of political rivals and the weaponization of the law enforcement and judicial systems, according to a long list of American, European, and other independent officials, undermines the opportunity for Georgia to grow. In addition, the 2021 legal reforms that were set to be adopted by the nation and their subsequent abandonment caused sparks between Europe and Georgian leaders.

Notable were the statements made by MEP Viola von Cramon and Irakli Garibashvili regarding the EUR 75 million in EU macro-financial assistance that was dependent on these reforms. Garibashvili said the country would decline the loan package due to the growing success of the Georgian economy. Despite evidence to the contrary, he claimed that the growth outweighed the necessity for additional foreign debt. Cramon quickly responded, stating, “This is not the first case when Georgian Dream breaks its promise. Breaking the agreement breaks trust and makes the Georgian Dream a force you cannot trust, which is not credible.”

More statements from EU officials have called into question the true intentions of the ruling party, even going so far as to suggest that a decision must eventually be made. The people and the government will have to come to some decision on their future, as the current leadership is ostracizing the nation from the West. Member of the European Parliament Andrius Kubilius recently stressed this by saying, “All this creates a bad image for Georgia, not only the government- it harms the desire of the Georgian people for European integration.”

In addition, former US Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly coined the term “foreign policy by insult” as a way of framing the situation. Senior officials have repeatedly scoffed and brushed off recom-

“Unfortunately the Georgian government didn’t fulfill conditions listed in the MoU for the second tranche (€75mill): judicial reform, etc. You can’t decline what you were not eligible for. We stand with the people of Georgia,” stated MEP Cramon. Source: Heinrich Böll Stiftung

mendations by American and European leadership regarding the path of Georgia. More recently, Chairman of the Georgian Dream Irakli Kobakhidze lashed out against statements condemning the abolition of the State Inspector’s Service. Seen as a bastion against corruption and unfair practices, this dismissal is largely seen as a sign of reversal in Georgia’s political development.

With all of this contention it is easy to oversee the shift as simply a proverbial bump in the road to EU and NATO integration. However, between the emerging international rift and the national reforms that revert the country back decades, due concern and worry is not misplaced. This sentiment is even more amplified by the obvious fact that seeing this growing issue only serves to increase Putin’s salivating over the South Caucasus.

Both sides must come to some agreement in the short term, primarily aimed at cooling the simmering tension. In the longer term, some form of mechanism to ensure Georgia's path westward is needed. American and European leaders need to take more action than simple condemnation and creatively written letters, while Georgian leadership needs to commit to genuine transparency to both their people as well as Western leadership.

Only with firm commitments to these core principles and a real desire for positive change towards the EU and NATO pillars of standards will Georgia ascend to another golden age.

The Privileged Inmate OP-ED BY NUGZAR B. RUHADZE

P

risoner Saakashvili is not at leisure, even with his situation forced on him by the state law enforcement system: he is at work, sweating to shore up the ideals he has been nursing since his salad years.

He is politically active, morally exalted, ideologically poised, inherently confident and adherently supported. In his own days even Mandela, the notably incarcerated South African political activist and fighter for justice, was unable to enjoy spiritual and intellectual freedoms of this quality and number. Mikheil Saakashvili (or Misha, as he has been known for the last quarter of a century) is extensively infatuated with the epistolary genre, giving birth to handwritten political missives on an almost hourly basis. Spending time in a regular prison cell, he is trying to maintain the scale of his erstwhile presidential activity, which sounds a little weird for a convict, reminding one of historical revolutionary personalities like Lenin who used to formulate the theoretical prerequisites of prospective public upheavals in Russia from those memorable remote exiles of his.

Georgia’s imprisoned third president continues to be a genuinely organic leader of his political party even in the captivity he has imposed on his own self in hopes of momentarily triggering the national revolutionary stupor, conducive to overthrowing the current government overnight, which did not happen: he found himself instead in the penitentiary institution in which he once kept people who are now happy to see him sailing in the same boat.

This insatiable political animal and zealot of unquenchable thirst for power keeps on ticking even in his infirmity and waning hopes for a recurrent Rose Revolution and fast liberation. Misha wouldn’t stop even for the price of freedom. He cannot live without the warmth of the limelight.

Nothing will kill him, even the worst of human maladies, except the silence around him. Misha

Mikheil Saakashvili. Source: paparazzza / Shutterstock.com

needs to talk and be talked about. He wants the world to be his and to rotate around him. He has had his share of power and fame, but he needs more because his hunger for leadership is clearly ravenous and there is not an iota of chance for us to see him appeased except by the cherished political revanche churning in his boisterously operating mind and not giving a respite either to him or his desperately dedicated disciples.

Georgia has a furious political beast in the cage that would do anything in his lingering ideological power to get back to the helm of the republic.

Saakashvili is not simple and he is not a wimp. Nor is he a quitter, but at the same time he reveals himself as a bungling promoter of impossible political projects, enticing his poor followers into believing

that his slogans and battle-cries might someday come true.

Having said that, two questions pop up in the context of his dramatic saga from the presidential palace to the jail cell: First – why can’t he publicly recognize his regretful failures and tragic deviations and get done with it, thus creating a chance for a possible presidential clemency? Second – how long is the current Georgian government going to pamper one of its prisoners, making a questionably privileged inmate out of him in a noble attempt to keep up political correctness and human rights, at the same time irritating others who are doing time, as well as those who earlier tasted the effect of Misha’s infamously cruel law-enforcement methodology?

It is about time that somebody, either one of us or one of our western friends, came up with some highly qualified and internationally justified comment on what is right and what is wrong when it comes to a convict like a former president of the country: is the national law enforcement body obligated or not to meet every whim and caprice of an inmate of that caliber? Should the administration be feeling as vulnerable as it does right now, trembling over every flash of giddiness or occasional headache of one of its prisoners? Again, we are talking about doing the right thing at the right time so that nobody in the world has reason to doubt the fairness and correctness of the system that keeps Georgia’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili in detention.

POLITICS

GEORGIA TODAY JANUARY 14 - 20, 2022

5

Armenia and Azerbaijan Relations: the EU Agenda and the Russian Factor BLOG BY BENYAMIN POGHOSYAN, CHAIRMAN, CENTER FOR POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC STRATEGIC STUDIES, YEREVAN

T

he trilateral Armenia-Azerbaijan-EU meeting held in Brussels on December 14 and Aliyev- PashinyanMacron meeting held on December 15 were significant steps in promoting direct contact between Armenia and Azerbaijan. During the meetings, the sides reaffirmed their readiness to restore the Azerbaijan-Armenia-Nakhijevan and Armenia-Nakhijevan-Iran railways. The release of 10 Armenian POWs agreed during the meeting was another significant confidence-building measure.

However, disagreements remain regarding the legal status of the routes, as Azerbaijan demands access to Nakhijevan via Armenia without passport and customs control implemented by the Armenian side, otherwise threatening to put Azerbaijani checkpoints along the Lachin corridor. Meanwhile, Armenia rejects any attempts to connect the Lachin corridor with the issue of restoring communications between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The sides will probably continue to have different interpretations and perceptions on these issues until the actual launch of the railway connection.

ON THE EU AGENDA AND THE RUSSIA FACTOR The EU would like to promote stability

in the South Caucasus and firmly believes that the launch of economic cooperation between Armenia and Azerbaijan will significantly decrease the possibility of the resumption of large-scale hostilities.

This strategy stands behind the EU’s decision to provide up to 2.6 billion Euros in finance to Armenia (200 million grants and 2.4 billion Euros of loans and guar-

antees for those loans). In this context, the EU and Russia have a similar vision, as the Kremlin is also interested in fomenting the region's new status quo after the trilateral statement adopted on November 10, 2020. Unsurprisingly, both the EU and Russia are pushing Armenia and Azerbaijan to start the process of delimitation and demarcation of borders,

viewing it as another step towards prevention of new skirmishes and escalations. This is not in Russia’s interests, because unlike Karabakh, now we are talking about incursions into the territory of a CSTO member country that Russia is obliged to protect, and Moscow clearly has no desire to get involved militarily. And it’s in EU’s interests too, because we are talking the essentials of peace and stability here, and it’s the EU’s neighborhood, not to mention that the two sides are both members of the Eastern Partnership. Thus, we should speak about a coordinated Russia – EU policy towards Armenia and Azerbaijan, and not speculate on potential rivalry and the EU attempts to decrease Russia's involvement in the process. Before and after the Brussels meetings, Charles Michel and President Macron held phone conversations with Russian President Putin, discussing the situation in Nagorno Karabakh and relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

There are also some added benefits for both the EU and Russia at the regional level: The Kremlin can boast that as long as its spheres of influence are respected, as long as its agenda is abided to, it can successfully cooperate with the West, and the EU can present itself as a geopolitical actor, something Brussels is always keen on, to boost its own credibility, and have a success story of “Dialogue with Russia” that so many Western leaders are pushing for.

ON WHY ALIYEV WOULD WANT TO PURSUE ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH ARMENIA Any economic cooperation with Arme-

nia is a signal to Baku that relations are starting to normalize, that the Armenian side has accepted the outcome of the 2020 War. And there certainly is no majority view in Armenia that we should rise up and take back land which was lost in 2020. From Aliyev’s perspective, it’s only a matter of time before those 90,000 Armenians either leave, or get used to the new status quo, get Azerbaijani passports, etc. With that, Baku believes that in time, the departure of the Russian peacekeepers will also become an eventuality. So this is in line with Azerbaijani visions that the Karabakh conflict has been solved, at least strategically. And now we can somehow try to normalize our relations.

ON ARMENIAN EXPECTATIONS AHEAD OF THE MEETING AND THE SUBSEQUENT REACTION Frankly speaking, I don't think there was a strategic game changer in Brussels. In Armenia, there was a feeling that this meeting would be focused on only humanitarian issues, the release of the POW’s was definitely expected, as it has almost become a pattern. But few anticipated that there would be more clarity regarding the railways and connectivity issue, so that’s definitely a step forward. After the Sochi meeting, and then the meeting which on December 1 couldn’t be agreed on, there was a sense that the sides wouldn’t be budge on these issues. Very few thought that details would be revealed in Brussels, so in that case, I can say that even the statement published after the trilateral meeting, was a little bit more than was generally expected.

Rebuilding the World Order

BY EMIL AVDALIANI

M

any in the West believe China’s economic ascendancy indicates that Beijing is covertly working to usher in a new world order in which the balance of power has shifted.

History shows that changes in the world order are inevitable, but they are not happening as quickly as some analysts think. For example, the rise of the US to the world’s primary geopolitical position took nearly half a century, from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. France’s rise to domination over western Europe in the 17th century was also a long and arduous process.

In these as well as many other cases from ancient and medieval times, the rise of a new power was facilitated by stagnation, gradual decline, and military confrontation among the various existing powers.

For instance, the US was already powerful in the early 20th century, but it was the infighting during the two world wars among the European powers that brought down the edifice of the Europe-led world order and opened a path for American ascendancy.

But while it is possible to identify the changing winds of the world order through various analytical methods, it is much harder to find ways to preserve an existing order. It requires a whole constellation of leaders from competing sides to grasp the severity of the threat posed by radical change and to pursue measures together to cool down tensions.

The key question that needs to be addressed is whether the West still possesses the necessary political, economic, and military tools to uphold the existing world order and not allow it to slip into chaos, as the world’s leaders mistakenly did in the first half of the 20th century.

The successful preservation of an existing world order is a rare event in history.

Following the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15, European leaders gathered to build a long-lasting peace. They saw that the French power, though soundly defeated under Napoleon I, needed to be accommodated within the new fabric of the European geopolitical order. This meant not only inviting French representatives to conferences, but offering military and economic cooperation as well as concessions to the French to limit their political grievances.

In other words, European diplomats had an acute understanding of postFrench Revolution geopolitics and understood the need to build a long-lasting security architecture through balance of power.

But such approaches are unusual. Perhaps the shock of the bloody Napoleonic Wars, as well as the presence of such brilliant diplomats such as Metternich, Talleyrand, Castlereagh, and Alexander I, assured the success of the new order.

It is far more common that challenges to the world order lead to direct military confrontation. Failure to accommodate Germany in the early 20th century led in part to WWI, and the errant diplomacy of the Treaty of Versailles led in part to WWII. The list goes on.

China’s rise to power is another case for study. The country is poised to become a powerful player in international politics thanks to its economic rise and concurrent military development. Beijing has strategic imperatives that clash with those of the US. It needs to secure procurement of oil and gas resources, which are currently most readily available through the Strait of Malacca. In an age of US naval dominance, the Chinese imperative is to redirect its economy’s dependence, as well as its supply routes, elsewhere.

That is the central motivation behind the almost trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which is intended to reconnect the Asia-Pacific with Europe through

Image source: Brian Stauffer / Foreign Policy

Russia, the Middle East, and Central Asia. At the same time, Beijing has a growing ambition to thwart US naval dominance off Chinese shores.

In view of these factors, mutual suspicion between Beijing and Washington is bound to increase over the next years and decades.

Thus, we find ourselves within a changing world order. What is interesting is what the US (or the West collectively) can do to salvage the existing order.

From the US side, a strengthening of existing US-led alliance systems with Middle Eastern and Asia-Pacific states could help to retain American influence in Eurasia. Specifically, it would enable the US to limit Russia’s, Iran’s, and possibly China’s actions in their respective neighborhoods.

Another powerful measure to solidify the existing world order would be to increase Washington’s economic footprint across Eurasia. This could be similar to the Marshall Plan, with which the

US saved Europe economically and attached it to the US economy. New economic measures could be even more efficient and long-lasting in terms of strengthening Western influence across Eurasia.

But no matter what economic and military moves the US makes with regard to allies such as South Korea, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and others, any attempt to uphold the existing world order without China’s cooperation would be short-lived and would echo the way Germany was cast out of the Versailles negotiations, which served only to create a grievance in Berlin and prompt clandestine preparations for a new conflict. In a way, the West’s current problems with Russia can also be explained this way: Moscow was cast out of the post-Cold War order, which caused worry and a degree of revanchism among the Russian elites.

Without China’s inclusion in the world order, no feasible security conditions

can be laid out. To be preserved, the world order must be adjusted to rising challenges and new opportunities. Many Western diplomats are uncomfortable dealing with China, but casting Beijing in the role of direct competitor would not solve the problem, nor would giving it large concessions, which would be too risky.

What is required is a middle road, a means of allowing China to participate in an adjusted world order in which some of its interests are secured. Only that will increase the chances for long-lasting security in Eurasia.

Pulling this off will require an incredible effort from Western and Chinese diplomats. It remains to be seen whether they will be more successful than their predecessors were in the early 20th century and other periods of history.

Emil Avdaliani is a professor at European University and the Director of Middle East Studies at Georgian think-tank, Geocase.

6

POLITICS

GEORGIA TODAY

JANUARY 14 - 20, 2022

A Free Trade Agreement: Much More than a Law Order, Much More than Just Trade. Part I

Image by Giorgi Balakadze 2018

BY VICTOR KIPIANI, GEOCASE CHAIRMAN

T

he phrase ‘free trade agreement’ has recently become firmly established in Georgia’s conversations with the West. In official letters or communications, this combination of words means a concrete system of actions.

It could be said without exaggeration that properly adopting this system is very important for Georgia since it constitutes a further way of integrating the country with the international community, as well as a practical algorithm for doing so. Along with other possibilities, by orienting itself within this system Tbilisi and its international partners can define their co-ordination according to specific recognized norms and principles; in turn, this is also a measure of the success of necessary changes the country must carry out as well as of our acceptability on the international stage.

It is therefore completely understandable that, in previous years and as a result of relevant activities, the vector of Georgia’s foreign relations has been crisscrossed with both multilateral (e.g. with the EU and EFTA) and bilateral free trade agreements (e.g. with Turkey, China, the republics of Central Asia, Ukraine, Russia and other important markets).

Moreover, signing such agreements has become a source of pride for the Georgian government when communicating with domestic and foreign audiences, and a benchmark of success on the diplomatic and economic stage.

There is no doubt that the free trade agreement is a necessary tool for our country, both for our integration with the global economic system as well as to support the development of our national economy. But perceiving facts and events solely in contrasting colors has become a trend of political and public consciousness not only in Georgia but also elsewhere. And this happens when black and white are separated by a rich color palette whose identification and study should at least be a matter for curiosity. Taking a very practical approach, all this is a matter of specific benefits and needs when planning international political or economic activities, as well as for sculpting the self-sufficient origins of the Georgian economy.

The aim of this article is therefore to paint the ‘big picture’ of the Free Trade Agreement in realistic colors by generally pinning down its (admittedly very arguable and disputable) separate aspects. Obviously, no declaration or evaluation presented in this article claims to be indisputable; on the contrary, as a critical discussion of this or another topic, each thesis or assumption is an attempt to ignite a desire for healthy and critical discussion. We have consciously avoided discussing individual agreement schemes (which would lie beyond the scope of this article) as well as stuffing this article with statistical data (which we definitely do not lack thanks to many sources).

In a word, we would like to look at the free trade agreement from above, so to speak. Also, as an accompanying result of our discussion, we will imagine the underlining advantages that signing the Free Trade Agreement grants Georgia.

At the same time, it is also vital to understand the accompanying risks of this agreement as well as to discuss in an impartial manner the optimal means of tailoring them to Georgia’s interests.

A SMALL INTRODUCTION ON AGREEMENT FOR THE SAKE OF AGREEMENT In the 1980s, most developing countries began to adopt a free market system, which alongside other steps implied a liberalization of their trade rules. Concrete steps taken towards increasing the openness of the global goods and service trade are considered to be the beginning of these fundamental changes. More specifically, the 1994 Uruguay negotiations were crowned with the establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1995. Therefore, a series of negotiations were held for ten years whose main aims can be divided into two groups.

Two of its most important tasks (considering the later Doha round) were removing obstacles to the access to markets and services and introducing compulsory and unified rules and procedures for market access, for which reason the so-called 'peak tariff rates' were established. The thing is that, according to the previous approach, market access was mostly regulated by fixed and selective preferential tariffs, 'most favored nation' status and strictly defined product and service nomenclature.

In a word, as a result of these late

twentieth-century processes, the dynamics of the liberalization of trade rules has noticeably increased. In parallel with multilateral instruments, these dynamics also reveal themselves in bilateral agreements. The latter circumstance is much more indicative, since bilateral trade agreements were better suited to the principles of the so-called 'new-style regionalism'. Each country tried its best to achieve its aims in the trade sphere, to establish favorable tariff schemes, to obtain the consent of the other party to the agreement for its own version of the origins of goods, along with other technical, procedural and formal requirements. According to some sources, the effects of multilateral and especially bilateral trade agreements were multiplied by 'uncoiling springs' and were overwhelmingly adopted.

The economic factors of these different multilateral changes rapidly became apparent, notably in a decrease of averaged tariff rates. Also, in some cases, free trade turnover has significantly increased in this or the other format: in the 1990s, for example, it had already increased by 65% between the countries of the EU and by a factor of 2.5 between the members of the MERCOSUR and Andean pacts.

It is of course perfectly natural that, alongside various necessary reforms carried out by national governments, the most tangible effect—decreasing tariffs—turned out to be a critically important additional factor without which achieving the necessary results of free trade would have been impossible.

It is equally noteworthy that this approach to international trade based upon mutual dependence and reciprocation generally encouraged improvements to the international stage. The thing is that countries with different diapasons of strategic or non-strategic aims of different scales and ambitions had to agree on the overall rules of behavior, more often than not by adapting and harmonizing different approaches. Establishing a culture of consensus for the international order and other topics of relations and their further development became an additional accompanying advantage of these adaptations.

Recent years, for example, have been distinguished by the regulation and institutional harmonization of issues such as intellectual property, health care, safety and labor standards, labor

migration, investment protection, banking and financial activities, dispute resolution and so on within the free trade agreement format. It is noteworthy that these new approaches have created a new class of so-called 'modern free agreements' that resonate with the modern agenda of economic integration and current challenges. It is however questionable how far this process will go without reforming the World Trade Organization while remaining independent from it.

Another relatively complex question is that of the increase in the number of free trade agreements as a result of the relatively unsuccessful round of negotiations held in Doha in 2001, despite the Uruguay round of negotiations giving sufficient 'push' to the rise of these agreements. For greater illustration, it should be said that over sixty free trade agreements were signed between the Uruguay and Doha rounds, i.e. essentially during a period when reforming the World Trade Organization was no more than a strong hope.

SEMANTICS AND ITS ESSENCE All in all, with the power of the free trade agreement, two or more countries refuse the 'tariff war' when trading in goods they produce but maintain tariff levels when dealing with third-party countries.

It is noteworthy that, according to several trade agreements, goods nomenclature is also different, whereas for their precise definition it is important to establish the origins of goods. Moreover, choosing goods nomenclature is often in practice the result of the efforts or preferences of a lobbying group, and this is also a distinguishing reality of work on an agreement. This must be the reason for suggestions to rename the abovementioned category of trade agreement from 'free' to 'preferential'.

Therefore, unlike a customs union, the member countries of a free trade agreement maintain their external tariffs but also use favorable tariff rates with other member states. This approach acquires a special role for avoiding the 'diversion' of trade flows as well as in terms of properly co-ordinating principles of origins of goods. This also forbids a non-member country of an agreement from transferring goods through the territory of one-member state to another with favorable tariffs. Obviously, alongside formal requirements, the process requires a

proper and legitimate administration, whereas its stability is a prerogative of relevant supervisory and executive agencies. It is also worth mentioning that special attention is paid to the proper adaptation of the criteria of the origins of goods, and in this regard a relevant classification system has already been developed.

But now we would like to attract the reader’s attention to several other and more essential economic factors.

One of these factors is linked to the supply of goods. This factor is maintaining the ability of national production and increasing one's own exports within a specific economic system under conditions of competition by imported goods within the same economic system and after enacting a free trade agreement. It is obvious that a proper evaluation of the mentioned factor depends on many direct or indirect circumstances. For example, making required evaluation must not be based solely upon a country’s trade and production policy; proper conclusions also require other components such as human resources linked to trade and institutional infrastructure and a country’s competitiveness.

Significantly, the factor of goods supply must be based on as many objective economic factors as possible. It is important to remember this, because decisionmakers might otherwise end up trapped in different subjective and conjunctive assumptions and therefore be separated from pure economic categories or rationalism. What is not excluded is that the negotiating side of a free trade agreement can miss critical inaccuracies, cannot analyze possible outcomes of the agreement or cannot achieve the right balance between obligations defined by the agreement and national tasks. Any mistake or inaccuracy such as these can have costly outcomes for a country, especially when it is not ready for a free trade regime in terms of competence or institutions.

Hastily signing a trade agreement, especially when considering the negative economic results linked to goods supply, is also linked to those processes which gradually emerge with time. More precisely, this is the multiplicity of schemes for a specific country when trading with others and the risks caused by their possible differentiation. If we put the dangerous anomaly of trade imbalances aside, imposing different tariff schemes is linked to difficulties of practical administration. When speaking of defining factors, what is also noteworthy is the relevance of trade linked to the quality of the equilibrium of the trade structure of a country with another. In other words, the task of a signatory country is to define the extent to which new rules and requirements suggested by the agreement change existing imports before the agreement. In course of such analysis, one must consider the level of development of the national economy, the quality of the diversification of resources and export potentials.

It is obvious that only the proper relevance and mutual balance of many compatible parameters can define the success of individual trade agreements (e.g. in practice the NAFTA has truly been a good example) and their real effectiveness for the parties. In this regard, a real active asset for the Georgian economy could be not the fact of signing alone but the tangible economic effects of the agreement.

To be continued in next week’s GT and online at georgiatoday.ge.

BUSINESS

GEORGIA TODAY JANUARY 14 - 20, 2022

7

ISET Agri Review | December 2021: The Sector at a Glance SPOTLIGHT

Source: Geostat, 2021.

D

uring the last ten years, the Government of Georgia (GoG) has continuously subsidized grape, apple, and tangerine production throughout the country. Under the present tangerine subsidy program budget, 900 thousand GEL will be spent subsidizing ‘non-standard’ tangerines (relatively low-quality fruit). This subsidy program started on 25 November 2021 and will last until 1 February 2022. In which there will be 10 tetri state cofinancing per 1 kg of non-standard tangerines. Given that enterprises will also pay 10 tetri, the final price of processing tangerines will be 20 tetri/kg. As the statistics reveal, non-standard tangerines comprise around 16-17% of the total harvest.

Currently, at least 50% of tangerines produced in Georgia are exported to neighboring countries – mainly Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan – though, as the trade data shows, export quantity and value over the last two years has declined significantly, while exports price rose, at least in nominal terms (Figure 1).

Source: Geostat, 2021.

The sector was also subsidized last year, however declining trends were sustained not only in trade but additionally in production. As for 2021, the current harvest is expected to be significantly larger, reaching 70 thousand tones.

In spite of the positive expectations regarding the 2021 harvest, over the 20062021 period, the overall trend for production is declining.

This is explicable due to unfavorable weather conditions in certain years; a stink bug invasion in 2015 and the longlasting negative impact on the sector; and a high dependence on post-Soviet markets, where quality standards in some cases are relatively low compared to

European markets, amongst other factors. Yet another contributor might be producers’ willingness to switch to higher value-added crops.

The subsidies might also negatively affect the sector as they reduce farmers’ willingness to improve quality and thus become more competitive.

PRICE HIGHLIGHTS DOMESTIC PRICES On a monthly basis, the country’s price levels rose between September-November 2021. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased marginally in November, by 0.61%, compared to October of this year. While in October, prices increased by 1.3% from the previous month. The corresponding month-over-month price increase was 0.2% in September.

Between September-November 2021, the price for food and non-alcoholic beverages, measured by the Food Price Index (FPI), also exhibited an upward trend. In November, food prices rose slightly – by 0.6% from the previous month. While in September and October the corresponding month-over-month price changes were 0.2% and 3%, respectively.

From an annual perspective, the CPI continued to increase from SeptemberNovember 2021. This September, the CPI grew by 12.3% compared to September 2020; while the corresponding YoY changes were 12.8% and 12.5% for October and November 2021.

In November 2021, the year-over-year prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages also grew significantly, by 17%, contributing 5.35 percentage points to the change in total CPI. The main drivers were the price increases in the following sub-groups: oils and fats (+27.7%), vegetables (+26.2%) and bread and cereals (+20.4%).

Over the last year the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages has been increasing; mainly due to international market trends that reflect concerns over decreased production, as well as COVID19 pandemic restrictions. In addition, trade restrictions imposed by Georgia’s major import partners have placed additional upward pressure on food prices.

The prices increased most notably within the following categories: Oils and fats – In this category, the price of sunflower oil exhibited the largest year-over-year rise of 40.8% in November 2021. Such sharp increases in the price of sunflower oil were driven by trends on the Russian market (Georgia imports around 90% of the oil from Russia). Earlier this year Russia increased its export tax on sunflower seeds and oil to cope with domestic food inflation.

The country’s trade-restrictive measures thus fueled further price gains for sunflower oil in Georgia.

Vegetables – In November 2021, prices increased for all products within the vegetable sub-category. The largest price increases were observed for cabbages (96.7%) and eggplants (74.8%). According to trade statistics, from JanuaryNovember 2021, the export value of vegetables (26.4 mln. USD) was three times higher than the same indicator in January-November 2020 (8.7 mln. USD).

While the value of imported vegetables in the corresponding period decreased by 11%, from 35.6 mln. USD to 31.5 mln.

USD. Increases in export and decreases in import might have caused a shortage in domestic supply, and therefore an increase in price, even if domestic production also rose. As the statistics on domestic production are not yet available, it is difficult to discern the exact reason for the heightened price of vegetables.

Bread and cereals – In this category, prices for wheat flour and wheat increased the most in November 2021, by 22.8% and 22.9%, respectively. As with sunflower oil, Russia is the main wheat supplier for Georgia and thus the country’s trade-restrictive measures (e.g., increased export tax) have influenced swelling prices in the bread and cereal category.

Prices may also increase further as the export tax burden on Russian wheat is increasing, alongside anticipation of a wheat production slowdown in the country (Figure 2).

INTERNATIONAL PRICES

Source: Geostat, 2021.

Between September-November 2021, international prices exhibited an upward trend on an annual basis. In November 2021, the Food Price Index, measured by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), increased drastically (by 27.3%) compared to November 2020.

The November increase in FPI was driven by strong increases within the vegetable oil (51.4%) and sugar (37.9%) sub-indices. Such a sharp leap in the cost of vegetable oil was driven by rising palm oil prices, due to anticipation of production slowdowns in the major producing countries. Meanwhile, the heightened sugar price was driven by greater etha-

nol prices that led to the additional use of sugarcane for ethanol production in Brazil - the world's largest sugar exporter.

TRADE HIGHLIGHTS Between January-November of 2021, total Georgian exports amounted to 3,823 mln. USD compared to 3,018 mln. USD during the same period in 2020, which represents a strong 27% increase in export. This rise is also observable compared to the corresponding figure from 2019 and amounts to 12%. However, for agricultural exports, the growth stands at a lower rate (13%) – from 832 mln.

USD in 2020 to 943 mln. USD in 2021.

While the share of agricultural exports within the total fell slightly – from 28% to 25%.

Total Georgian imports show a notable increase as well – from 7,231 mln. USD in 2020 to 8,999 mln. in 2021, which is a 25% rise in comparison to 2020. Nevertheless, compared to the pre-pandemic figure from 2019, this increase stands at

erages mainly for household consumption, followed by a 20% increase in the exports of processed food and beverages, again mainly for household consumption. The exports of primary food and beverages mainly for industry use constituted a 19% increase, and lastly there was a 7% decline in the exports of processed food and beverages for industrial use (Figure 3).

POLICY WATCH The Government of Georgia approves the "Access to State-Owned Pastures" program This state program involves a public offering of state-owned pastures, via auctions, in order to promote the rational use of land through private ownership and increase land availability. Within the framework of the program, a total area of 89,905 hectares of state-owned pastures have been considered for privatization. The eligibility criteria include individuals or legal entities, including

Source: Geostat, 2021.

5%. As for the change in agricultural import, like export, the figure is lower at 11% growth – from 1,080 mln. USD in 2020 to 1,202 mln. USD in 2021. The share of agricultural imports from total import also decreased from 15% to 13%.

Overall, there is an increasing trend for both exports and imports, even when compared to the pre-pandemic levels, though the share of agricultural trade in total international trade has declined.

During the last decade, the overall and agricultural exports in Georgia have been characterized by an increasing trend.

Although the country has improved its export performance, export-oriented companies from Georgia and the South Caucasus in general are rather shortlived on foreign markets as, according to the World Bank (2018), the chance that Georgian firms will remain active on foreign markets after the first export year is 39.5%, after two years – 19.9% and after five years – 5.5%. As data shows Georgian exports are mostly intended for household consumption and the share of exported primary and processed food and beverages for industry use is rather small.

Compared to 2020, in 2021 there has been an increase in most export categories, with the main contributor to growth being the exports of processed products, rather than primary food and beverages.

The highest, 37%, increase was observed in the exports of primary food and bev-

agricultural cooperatives, as well as partnerships that have selected leased pastures and, at the same time, possess a sufficient number of cattle for the effective use of leased pastureland when applying.

For more information follow this link: h t t p s : / /m e p a . g ov. g e /G e / Ne ws / Details/20513 Georgia aspiring to become a country focused on waste prevention and recycling The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA), together with the Caucasus Environmental NonGovernmental Organizations Network (CENN) and with the support of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has developed a National Plastic Waste Prevention Program that aims to help Georgia become focused on waste prevention and recycling. The document includes a 10-year strategy and a 5-year action plan outlining specific steps on how to implement circular practices in the plastics management sector; in which priority is given to the prevention, reuse, and recycling of plastics.

For more information follow this link: https:// mepa.gov.ge/Ge/News/Details/20573 Authors of the publication: Salome Deisadze s.deisadze@iset.ge Elene Seturidze elene.seturidze@iset.ge Salome Gelashvili s.gelashvili@iset.ge

8

BUSINESS

GEORGIA TODAY

JANUARY 14 - 20, 2022

5000 Products at Your Fingertips: Carrefour’s New Delivery Service App for More Safe & Convenient Shopping further into the country. The affordable delivery fee is only 3.90 GEL, with a minimum order of 20 GEL required.

Customers can place orders between 9:00 AM until 9:00 PM. The Loyalty Program MyClub is also available in the app, allowing customers to accumulate points.

The users of the new application will benefit from various exciting promotions and gifts. Notably, a customer who pays by MasterCard will receive

C

arrefour is offering a new service that makes shopping even more convenient with delivery in under 60 minutes!

Accelerating Georgia’s e-commerce industry, MAF CARREFOUR recently launched a new delivery service app, offering customers the option to shop online with ease and have the order home-delivered within 60 minutes.

The new app and delivery service offers ‘5000 products in 60 minutes!’,

providing customers a vast catalogue of diverse products to order online, with the promise of delivery of their chosen goods on orders placed through the app in under 60 minutes.

Taking into consideration evolving shopper requirements, the need for convenience as well as health and safety, Carrefour’s new app guarantees customers a safe and seamless shopping experience.

Striving to deliver its customers unbeatable choice, quality, and value, Carrefour

a 30% discount on the full cost of the basket (maximum 15 GEL). Each customer can get a discount only once.

Discounts do not apply to the delivery fee, which is fixed at 3.90 GEL. This excellent Mastercard offer will last until January 31.

The physical and digital expansion of the customer-centric brand actively continues, and Carrefour is expected to offer even more innovative products to its loyal customers in future.

is constantly seeking to innovate its customer service. The combined app and delivery service is a digitized solution that allows consumers to shop from the comfort of their own home, or whilst on the move. Integrating tech-driven solutions and innovations ensures Carrefour continues to evolve its digital offering, providing a digitized full omnichannel experience to customers.

MAF CARREFOUR is available on Android and iOS, and is now active throughout Tbilisi, with plans to expand

Spread of Covid-19 Variants Alongside Inflation, Debt, and Inequality Intensifies Uncertainty in Developing Economies

F

ollowing a strong rebound in 2021, the global economy is entering a pronounced slowdown amid fresh threats from Covid-19 variants and a rise in inflation, debt, and income inequality that could endanger the recovery in emerging and developing economies, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report. Global growth is expected to decelerate markedly from 5.5 percent in 2021 to 4.1 percent in 2022 and 3.2 percent in 2023 as pent-up demand dissipates and as fiscal and monetary support is unwound across the world.

The rapid spread of the Omicron variant indicates that the pandemic will likely continue to disrupt economic activity in the near term. In addition, a notable deceleration in major economies, including the United States and China, will weigh on external demand in emerging and developing economies. At a time when governments in many developing economies lack the policy space to support activity if needed, new Covid-19 outbreaks, persistent supply-chain bottlenecks and inflationary pressures, and elevated financial vulnerabilities in large swaths of the world, could increase the risk of a hard landing.

“The world economy is simultaneously facing Covid-19, inflation and policy uncertainty, with government spending and monetary policies in uncharted territory. Rising inequality and security challenges are particularly harmful for developing countries,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass. “Putting more countries on a favorable growth path requires concerted international action and a comprehensive set of national policy responses.”

The slowdown will coincide with a widening divergence in growth rates between advanced economies and emerging and developing economies. Growth in advanced economies is expected to decline from 5% in 2021 to 3.8% in 2022 and 2.3% in 2023, a pace that, while moderating, will be sufficient to restore output and investment to their pre-pandemic trend in these economies. In emerging

and developing economies, however, growth is expected to drop from 6.3% in 2021 to 4.6% in 2022 and 4.4% in 2023.

By 2023, all advanced economies will have achieved a full output recovery, yet output in emerging and developing economies will remain 4% below its prepandemic trend. For many vulnerable economies, the setback is even larger: output of fragile and conflict-affected economies will be 7.5% below its prepandemic trend, and output of small island states will be 8.5% below.

Meanwhile, rising inflation, which hits low-income workers particularly hard,

is constraining monetary policy. Globally and in advanced economies, inflation is running at the highest rates since 2008.

In emerging market and developing economies, it has reached its highest rate since 2011. Many emerging and developing economies are withdrawing policy support to contain inflationary pressures, well before the recovery is complete.

The latest Global Economic Prospects report features analytical sections that provide fresh insights into three emerging obstacles to a durable recovery in developing economies. The first, on debt,

compares the latest international initiative to tackle unsustainable debt in developing economies, the G20 Common Framework, with previous coordinated initiatives to facilitate debt relief. Noting that Covid-19 pushed total global debt to the highest level in half a century even as the creditors’ landscape became increasingly complex, it finds that future coordinated debt relief initiatives will face higher hurdles to success. Applying lessons from the past restructurings to the G20 Common Framework can increase its effectiveness and avoid the shortcomings faced by earlier initiatives.

“The choices policymakers make in the next few years will decide the course of the next decade,” said Mari Pangestu, the World Bank’s Managing Director for Development Policy and Partnerships. “The immediate priority should be to ensure that vaccines are deployed more widely and equitably so the pandemic can be brought under control. But tackling reversals in development progress such as rising inequality will require sustained support. In a time of high debt, global cooperation will be essential to help expand the financial resources of developing economies so they can achieve green, resilient, and inclusive development.”

The second analytical section examines the implications of boom-and-bust cycles of commodity prices for emerging market and developing economies, most of which are heavily dependent on commodity exports. It finds that these cycles were particularly intense in the past two years, when commodity prices collapsed with the arrival of Covid-19 and then surged, in some cases to all time-highs last year. Global macroeconomic developments and commodity supply factors will likely cause boom-bust cycles to continue in commodity markets. For many commodities, these cycles may be amplified by the forces of climate change and the energy transition away from fossil fuels. The analysis also shows that commodity-price booms since the 1970s have tended to be larger than busts, creating significant opportunities for stronger and more sustainable growth in commodity-exporting countries—if

they employ disciplined policies during booms to take advantage of windfalls.

The third analytical section explores COVID-19’s impact on global inequality.

It finds that the pandemic has raised global income inequality, partly reversing the decline that was achieved over the previous two decades. It has also increased inequality in many other spheres of human activity—in the availability of vaccines; in economic growth; in access to education and health care; and in the scale of job and income losses, which have been higher for women and low-skilled and informal workers. This trend has the potential to leave lasting scars: for example, losses to human capital caused by disruptions in education can spill over across generations.

Ayhan Kose, Director of the World Bank’s Prospects Group, said: “In light of the projected slowdown in output and investment growth, limited policy space, and substantial risks clouding the outlook, emerging and developing economies will need to carefully calibrate fiscal and monetary policies. They also need to undertake reforms to erase the scars of the pandemic. These reforms should be designed to improve investment and human capital, reverse income and gender inequality, and cope with challenges of climate change.”

REGIONAL OUTLOOKS East Asia and Pacific: Growth is projected to decelerate to 5.1% in 2022 before increasing slightly to 5.2% in 2023.

Europe and Central Asia: Growth is forecast to slow to 3.0% in 2022 year and 2.9% in 2023.

Latin America and the Caribbean: Growth is projected to slow to 2.6% in 2022 before increasing slightly to 2.7% in 2023.

Middle East and North Africa: Growth is forecast to accelerate to 4.4% in 2022 before slowing to 3.4% in 2023.

South Asia: Growth is projected to accelerate to 7.6% in 2022 before slowing to 6.0% in 2023.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Growth is forecast to accelerate slightly to 3.6% in 2022 and rise further to 3.8% in 2023.

BUSINESS

GEORGIA TODAY JANUARY 14 - 20, 2022

9

Skytrax Rates Tbilisi International Airport among the Most Covid-Safe Airports Globally

T

bilisi International Airport closed 2021 with very important and positive news: The most influential and prestigious consulting company in the aviation field, Skytrax, awarded it with a 5-star certificate in Covid-19 safety. Through an audit, Skytrax independent experts from Britain assessed over 150 protocols established in the airport for safety provision.

“Ensuring a safe environment for our passengers and employees remains our number one priority,” Tea Zakaradze, TAV Georgia’s General Manager, tells GEORGIA TODAY. “Despite the fact that the pandemic has been part of our lives for two years now, we exercise the same level of prudence and care toward keeping both the airports operated by us in full compliance with the standards recommended by WHO and other international organizations. We are very glad of the fact that so far only 20 airports have been rated 5-star globally, and Tbilisi International Airport is among them.”

TAV Georgia is the operator company of Tbilisi and Batumi International Airports. We spoke to Ms Zakaradze to find out about the company’s achievements, development plans and expectations for 2022.

WHAT FIGURES DID THE TBILISI AND BATUMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS CLOSE THE YEAR WITH, AND AT WHAT RATE WILL PASSENGER TURNOVER RETURN TO PRE-COVID NORMS? Aviation was one of the fields that the pandemic hit worst globally, and it is still recovering today. The airports managed by TAV Georgia were no exception to this. In 2021, Tbilisi International Airport served 1,683,529 passengers, which is only 46% of the 2019 figures.

We had the same number of passengers in 2014-2015. Much to our regret, we don’t have positive expectations in Tbilisi for 2022: based on our calculations, this year we can expect to regain just 59% of the passenger turnover that we had in 2019.

The Batumi International Airport figures are much more positive. Despite the fact that Batumi was practically inoperative for 10 months, we closed 2021 with 516,085 passengers, which was 83% of the 2019 passenger turnover.

Tea Zakaradze, TAV Georgia’s General Manager

These figures once again visibly proved to us that despite the pandemic and the economic difficulties caused by it, we had made the right decision when we invested $17 million in the Batumi International Airport extension and renovation project in 2020-2021, through which we increased the airport capacity from 500,000 to 1,200,000. As a result, the renovated airport has made a great contribution to the readiness of the Adjara region to receive more tourists.

Further, through the right communication with our partner airlines and thanks to the beneficial terms that we offered them, Tbilisi International Airport regained 82% and Batumi International Airport 85% of the air companies that used to operate in them.

DID THE PANDEMIC LEAD TO ANY CHANGES IN TAV GEORGIA’S PLANS IN VIEW OF THE INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF ITS AIRPORTS? An airport is like a living organism- it needs annual renewal and various infrastructure projects. Therefore, we couldn’t afford to stop or suspend the projects that we had been planning implementation of, regardless of the financial crisis resulting from the pandemic. Besides the large project implemented in Batumi, in March 2021, we started a new taxiway arrangement in Tbilisi International Airport, making an additional $2.5 million investment for it. The new taxiway will increase the runway capacity and

make movement in the aerodrome more comfortable for airlines. The new taxiway will become operable in a few days, giving Tbilisi International Airport six taxiways in total.

In 2022, we are going to introduce new technologies to both Tbilisi and Batumi international airports. We have already implemented new electronic check-in systems (BRS, CAPS) that will make passenger check-in and the baggage sorting processes faster, simpler and more comfortable. By the end of the year, new modern technological systems will be introduced to the car park as well. From the infrastructural development viewpoint, we are planning to expand the Duty Free shops in both the airports operated by us and to offer our passen-

gers a wider and even more attractive assortment of Georgian products to support and encourage the local market.

Moreover, we are adding both restaurant and café style food courts in both airports. With our involvement, the famous British coffee house brand Costa Coffee is entering the Georgian market, opening its first facility in Tbilisi International Airport. We are also extending and renovating the airport’s VIP lounge for our priority passengers. We have many innovations and new developments. We do our best to allow our passengers to feel comfortable in our airports, and we hope that the current epidemiological situation will soon end both in our country and globally, letting people travel the world freely.

bp and British Council: Helping Georgian Journalists Improve their English

I

n September 2021, bp Georgia announced an extension to its partnership with the British Council: English language training for 60 representatives of the Georgian media. The British Council in Georgia, bp Georgia’s long-standing partner, would once again select candidates from media sources ranging from mainstream media sources to small online regional agencies.

The project has been running for over a decade and has contributed to the professional development of more than 500 journalists. The 60 candidates selected to participate in this year’s program will start their courses in January and continue to study until almost the end of 2022.

The course aims to help journalists with: • achieving their life and learning goals with help, support and expert guidance from the British Council teachers.

• confidence-building in communicating both verbally and in a written form in global and local contexts.

The course includes a range of interactive and engaging lessons and activities that are tailored for the journalists’ professional needs and interests.

“We are thrilled to yet again be trusted by bp Georgia to deliver this program,” says Stephen Shelley, the Teaching Center Manager of the British Council in Georgia. “The journalists who attend improve their English quickly and enjoy the courses immensely and we love seeing them go on to success. We can’t wait to start the new courses and our teachers are very excited too, to teach such motivated students!’

“This is a great opportunity for bp to continue working with the British Council,” notes Eteri Kvirikashvili, social investment program lead for bp in.

“Increased interest from the journalists gives us confidence that our program remains in demand. It is a great pleasure to know that the program will continue supporting journalists to develop their knowledge and move forward in their professional life.”

10

SOCIETY

GEORGIA TODAY

JANUARY 14 - 20, 2022

Winter Checklist: Etseri, Svaneti BLOG BY TONY HANMER

I

don’t know how YOU get ready for the cold season, perhaps in your apartment or house in Tbilisi, or in a village house in the Georgian countryside. Up here, at 1600m altitude in the mountains of Svaneti, there are certain things one needs to achieve before the snow forecast becomes reality. It’s been such a mild and non-white winter so far, but now we see about a week of the white stuff projected, and at least there was sufficient warning to prepare for it.

Get all the firewood under cover (if you were smart, you would have cut and split it long ago to dry for as long as possible, like last year). Until recently, “cover” meant “under a tarpaulin outside”. Thankfully, those days are behind us. It’s now stacked or sacked in the barn; stacked under the huge floorspace of our new café; or stacked in the basement of the house itself, with handy trapdoor access.

This one thing has been the biggest and best change to regular winter life. No more digging for that tarp under feet of snow to get at the wood! Plus, it’s all 1-2 years old, which means nice and dry: better for the health of the huge handbuilt Svan stove which burns it, and without which we would suffer in winter. The chimney pipe has a magnetic thermometer on it, showing me the ideal temperature range to burn wood at for minimizing creosote buildup. Creosote is a fire hazard in the chimney, so avoid as much as possible.

The wood does include categories, but especially kindling, the smallest stuff, for starting the fire with, and cut lengths of thicker stuff to go on top of that. Plus, I use cardboard from our shop’s boxes, and a splash of diesel to get it going with one match. Why struggle? We hardly use the stove outside winter, doing as much of our cooking as possible using electricity (free) or a gas bottle. But now we’ll

be running the stove a few hours a day at least, more if the power goes out, which it tends to do more in winter. So, wood and stove prep are vital.

One more wintertime stove use step: install a roughly 3m wooden 2×2 rod upstairs in the deluxe bedroom. From its window you can use this to bang the stove’s outside chimney, which is a pipe of thick steel.

This is the easiest way to dislodge snow buildup covering the top of the pipe, which (as we learned very early) will otherwise simply smoke you out of the house when you start the fire! You can’t wait for smoke under that cap to melt it: you have to get rid of it before you begin.

Keep a shovel indoors, because there might come enough snow in the night that you’ll have to dig down to the top step to get out of the house!

Rearrange the garage’s interior, which up until now has had bags of cement and stucco for café construction on its floor.

It’s time to move the car back in, so I don’t have to sweep and scrape it off every time I want to use it.

Do a last big shop-restock run to Zugdidi before the big snow begins and before New Year’s big demand, with nice clean roads to travel on. I still had a few

nasty slips on a 1mm thick layer of black ice, but was ready for these and the car survived with no injuries. Where the combination of a close Enguri river and a sunless day happens, river fog builds up and freezes on the cold road, making life interesting.

Tighten the wood and wire fencing, especially where its posts into the ground are loose, so it can withstand snow’s weight without falling over. Tools and supplies: extra posts, wire and slats, a solid steel hole-digging bar, locking pliers, and a sledgehammer. While you’re at it, put away everything outdoors which shouldn’t spend a few months under snow.

Dig up the soil around the temperate fruit seedlings, if you have any, and add a bit of old cow manure. This will help them along in spring.

Be ready to go around with a strong stick or something and bang on tree branches sometimes bent double with snow, to let them bounce back and not break under its weight.

Have winter clothes ready: more layers, winter boots, gloves, scarf, coat, &c. I live in at least 1 pair of long johns, if not two, and two pairs of socks, during this season.

Might as well be comfortable.

Set up water to be running a bit outside, so it minimizes the chance of freezing, always a risk. One has to get used to the idea of the waste, and think that it’ll all go either into the ground or eventually back into the Enguri. I’ve also added an electric heater outside at the point where the pipe enters the house, covered. This is a new experiment to see if we can have ONE winter without that point freezing, making life miserable for any and all within in the absence of indoor running water. Fingers crossed.

Stock up on both diesel (for wood stove fire starting) and gasoline (for running the 5kw generator if things get desperate blackout-wise). The generator isn’t enough to run the whole house, but it will keep all the four fridges, two chest freezers and a laptop running, which are really the essentials. We have charging banks for phones and flashlights anyway, and keep all these topped up.

Dig out the tire chains and store them and a shovel in the back of the car, along with the all-weather set of: steep towing cable; massive but easy jack; car-batteryrun air compressor for the tires; tire nut iron; and a few other things. I haven’t actually needed the tire chains even once

since putting on winter tires, as opposed to all-weather ones, a couple of years ago. But I feel much more at ease having them ready just in case.

Finally, keep new GT stories brewing both in my mind and a bit earlier than usual on my laptop, aiming to have something ready to send if the power’s out soon before deadline!

So, the season does demand adjustments and readiness. Might as well do it and then relax a bit.

And…as always at the moment, in Georgia’s current political season, #mishavs means: “It matters to me”!

APOLOGIES to our readers that we were unable to print Tony’s blog in this week’s GT newspaper. He will be back next issue!

Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with nearly 2000 members, at www.facebook.com/ groups/SvanetiRenaissance/ He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house. svaneti

“Fairtogether” to Build Peace among Youth

T

he past year’s agenda of the German association Act for Transformation saw a multitude of projects conducted in collaboration with different partners from Georgia, whose work varies from global and intercultural learning to civil conflict transformation.

In five partner schools in Zugdidi municipality, as well as in a hybrid summer peace camp, youth learned to solve conflicts non-violently, and to work together and implement peace projects in their home communities. They raised awareness about peace topics and the importance of peace education in schools and among youth. Participants from the workshops were broadcasted on Atinati Radio in Samegrelo and Abkhazia, speaking about topics like bullying prevention, youth activism, human rights and gender equality.

“In schools, we have many conflicts

and the Fairtogether workshop helped us to resolve these in a non-violent way,” one workshop participant said.

The project Fairtogether in Georgia was implemented this year by Act for Transformation (Germany), Association Atinati (Zugdidi) and Act for Transformation’s Caucasus Office (Tbilisi) to support peace-education in Georgian schools.

During the nine-month 2021 project, 17 youth trainers from western Georgia were coached in peace educational methodology “Fairtogether,” and 17 Fairtogether basic workshops were conducted for 220 students and 20 teachers in five partner schools in Zugdidi municipality.

Due to Covid regulations, most workshops were held online, and in September, a hybrid youth camp in Zugdidi was organized for 15 youth. The camp included five days of interactive peace educational workshops, three peer-to-peer initiative

peace projects in the villages, and four online meetings with peace activists from Georgia. In six live programs broadcasted by Radio Atinati in Samegrelo and Abkhazia, 10 involved school students invited guests and talked about bullying prevention, youth activism, human rights, and gender equality.

“These workshops are important for youth, but are also good for parents and teachers. Together, we aim to prevent the bullying of others, because it is a violation of human rights,” a workshop participant said.

During a two-day online conference in December, more than 40 trainers from civil society organizations from Ukraine, Georgia and Germany shared information about projects for peace education with youth, their experience as trainers, and formulated recommendations for peace education for the Ministry of Education and political representatives. They

further highlighted the importance of networking and work for dialogue and peace building between the regions. The aim is to have regular round tables on peace education in Georgia.

The project was funded by the German Federal Foreign Office in the frame of the program “Expanding Cooperation with Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership Countries and Russia" and cofinanced by Quäker-Hilfe e.V. Alena Kemm, project coordinator from Act for Transformation, together with

the staff at Atinati and Act for Transformation – Caucasus Office noted the high motivation of all facilitators who were involved in the projects, and said they were looking forward to having similar projects in the future.

“For me, Fairtogether supports youth to change the world together peacefully for the better,” said one Fairtogether facilitator.

More information can be found on the facebook pages of Atinati and Act for Transformation – Caucasus Office.

CULTURE

GEORGIA TODAY JANUARY 14 - 20, 2022

11

Thea Djordjadze: All Building as Making. Gropius Bau Berlin REVIEW BY LILY FÜRSTENOWKHOSITASHVILI

I

n her current exhibition at the Schliemann Hall of the Gropius Bau Museum, Thea Djorjadze’s displayed works serve as indications in themselves of the artist’s creative process. The connection between

the representative spaces of a museum and the intimacy of the artist’s studio analyzes the exhibition situation within an institution. Remnants and remains of studio experiments side by side with works created for the show, among them forms, models and casts, question the process of display. Varying from glossy and shining to raw and obliterated, they serve as decorative elements recording the work process.

Thea Djordjadze's work, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2021. Courtesy: Gropius Bau und Sprüth Magers. Photo by: Timo Ohler

Occasional references to painting cause tension between representation, reality and replication. Their temporal arrangement calls for the intensification of attention to process, as well as Thea‘s sensitivity to her own subjectivity articulated in the course of this process. Forms imitating pedestals, gallery fixtures, grids and supports, normally hidden from the public eye, have here a special role: They are traditional elements of presentation, parts of the presentation apparatus, yet at the same time they serve here as sculptures in themselves, shaped by the rules of institutional conditions that the artist thematizes.

Thea Djorjadze explores the exhibition space as a kind of frame. She addresses among others the problem of authorship, which is no longer assumed, as obvious but referred to in the artistic process and assuming part of the meaning. As, for example, a trace that she cautiously leaves in the room, some casual autobiographical charger reflecting the context in which the artist is situated at the moment.

The works mostly have a character of something unfinished and fragmentary, with spontaneity bearing likeness to touch and improvisatory playfulness, game and experiment.

Djorjadze analyzes exhibition spaces as something always mediated by economic and ideological interests that

Thea Djordjadze's work, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2021. Courtesy: Gropius Bau and Sprüth Magers. Photo by Timo Ohler

inevitably refrain and re-define the production, the reading and the visual experience of the artistic object; a confrontation between museum architecture and sculptural work piercing the space. She attempts to recontextualize works of art

with their claims of autonomy, questioning the neutrality of the works of art with their socio-economic and ideological underpinnings, as well as exhibition policies. The exhibition is curated by Julienne Lorz.

Georgian Women Directors in Focus at Trieste Film Festival “Meekness” (directed by Salome Jashi) “Wet Sand” (directed by Elene Naveriani) It is noteworthy that Sandro Suladze’s film “Watchers” is participating in the competition program of short films of the Trieste Film Festival, a GeorgianPolish co-production created with the support of the National Film Center.

Georgian projects will also be presented on the industrial platform of the Trieste

BY TEAM GT

T

he 33rd Trieste International Film Festival, the leading Italian festival in Central and Eastern Europe, will be held in Italy on January

21-30.

Every year, the WILD ROSES section of the festival offers the works of outstanding European female filmmakers.

This year, Georgian women directors are in focus. A retrospective will be organized in Trieste with the following program: “Anna’s Life” (directed by Nino Basilia) “Glory to the Queen” (directed by Tatia Skhirtladze)

PUBLISHER & GM

George Sharashidze COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT

Commercial Director: Iva Merabishvili Marketing Manager: Natalia Chikvaidze

GEORGIA TODAY

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT:

Editor-In-Chief: Katie Ruth Davies

Film Festival ‘WHEN EAST MEETS WEST’: Producer Rusudan Pirveli has been invited to the animation project development workshop with The ANIMA SPIRIT / Animation Inspirational Lab project “14 Crystal Theory” (directed by Giorgi Maskharashvili); Director Aleksandre Koridze is invited to the platform Last Stop Trieste with the documentary film “Atonal Shine”.

“Long Bright Days” (directed by Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross) “Credit Limit” (directed by Salome Alex) “Neighbors of the Pipeline” (directed

by Nino Kirtadze) “What was the Room Like” (directed

by Ketevan Kapanadze) “Someone Else’s House” (directed by Rusudan Glurjidze)

Journalists: Ana Dumbadze, Vazha Tavberidze, Tony Hanmer, Emil Avdaliani, Nugzar B. Ruhadze, Michael Godwin, Ketevan Skhirtladze Photographer: Aleksei Serov

Website Manager/Editor: Katie Ruth Davies Layout: Misha Mchedlishvili Webmaster: Sergey Gevenov Circulation Managers: David Kerdikashvili, David Djandjgava

ADDRESS

1 Melikishvili Str. Tbilisi, 0179, Georgia Tel.: +995 32 229 59 19 E: info@georgiatoday.ge F: GeorgiaToday ADVERTISING & SUBSCRIPTION

+995 555 00 14 46 E-mail: marketing@georgiatoday.ge

Reproducing material, photos and advertisements without prior editorial permission is strictly forbidden.

The author is responsible for all material. Rights of authors are preserved. The newspaper is registered in Mtatsminda district court.

Reg. # 06/4-309

IWG plc, Level 4, 2 Leonidze str. Tbilisi, Georgia | +995 32 290 039