Economic Press Monitor April 27 - May 3, 2025	Days:  05 12 19 26 03

economic & politics

TABULA: “BIDZINA IVANISHVILI IS NO LONGER ON THE BILLIONAIRES’ LIST OF “BLOOMBERG””

April 29, 2025 - Bidzina Ivanishvili (founder and honorary chairman of the Georgian Dream) is currently not on the billionaires’ list of Bloomberg.

While, according to March 31, his fortune was estimated at $7.45 billion, and he was 421^st in the ranking.




NETGAZETI.GE: “PART OF FRAUDULENT CALL CENTER GROUP CONTINUES ITS ACTIVITIES – OCCRP”

April 28, 2025 - The Swedish digital investigative group Qurium obtained new records, which show that 14 operators of the fraudulent call center AK Group made at least 184 outgoing calls on March 25 through the VoIP service provider Squaretalk.

This was reported by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which was one of the participants in the journalistic investigation related to the so-called call centers.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “8 PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES UNDER INVESTIGATION – LIST OF DRUGS WITH A MARK-UP OF 200% OR MORE”

April 28, 2025 - Georgia Competition and Consumer Protection Agency is investigating 8 pharmaceutical companies on suspicion of abuse of dominant market position. Results of the investigation will be known in September.




BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “NATIA TURNAVA: OUR COOPERATION WITH IMF HAS NEVER STOPPED, DESPITE SUSPENSION OF THE PROGRAM”

April 28, 2025 - Our cooperation with IMF has never stopped, despite suspension of the program, declared Natia Turnava, president of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG). There are many joint technical assistance programs, with which IMF helps develop current areas in the banking sector, she noted.

energy, oil & gas

REZONANSI: “IN GEORGIA, FUEL PRICES HAVE BEEN STABLE FOR A LONG TIME, DECREASE IS ALSO EXPECTED”

April 29, 2025 - Over the past month, price has changed several times, and fuel for Georgian consumers has decreased by 15-20 tetri, the article reports.

Vakhtang Iobashvili, head of Georgian Oil-Products Importers Union, says that “the domestic market has been stable for a long time”, which is facilitated by the stability of the currency market.

companies

BANKEBI DA FINANSEBI: “MEMORANDUM OF COOPERATION SIGNED BETWEEN “SAKARTVELOS BANKI” AND “BENE GROUP””

April 29, 2025 - Within the framework of a new logistics project, Sakartvelos Banki (Bank of Georgia) and Bene Group (logistics and transport services) signed a memorandum of cooperation.

The project with total cost of $5.5 million is fully funded by Sakartvelos Banki.

agriculture & food

REZONANSI: “BREAD IS GETTING MORE EXPENSIVE, WHILE ITS QUALITY IS DETERIORATING – WHERE IS THE LOGIC IN SUCH A SOLUTION?”

April 29, 2025 - In the face of rising prices for flour and certain restrictions on imports, Georgian bakers have to use low-quality flour, which negatively affects the quality of bread, the article says.

Malkhaz Dolidze, chairman of Georgian Bread Producers Union, indicates that “There are no talks about rise of bread in price, but its quality is deteriorating, and due attention should be paid to this”.

construction

BATUMELEBI: ““RISK OF INCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES AT DAMS IS HIGH” – FUNDING OF WHICH PROJECT HAS BEEN TERMINATED BY USAID”

April 28, 2025 - For safe operation of hydraulic structures (dams) in Georgia, development of technical regulations is necessary.

Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development collaborated with USAID in the development of regulations, but the donor organization stopped working on the project.