Tag Archives: Georgia

Aliyev visits Georgia’s capital

NOV. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev flew to Tbilisi for a meeting with Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili where the they were expected to discuss a so called strategic partnership. Georgia and Azerbaijan have grown increasingly close because they share major oil and gas pipelines running from the Caspian Sea to Turkey and then on to Europe.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)

Georgia looks at health

OCT. 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Georgian Chamber of Commerce launched an investigation into what it has said is a major gap in the country’s healthcare coverage which leaves over 400,000 Georgians uninsured. The timing of the study is pertinent. In October, Georgia Healthcare Group, the largest healthcare provider in Georgia, said it wanted to raise $100m in an IPO in London to modernise two of its private hospitals in Tbilisi.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)

Markets: Monetary policies in Georgia and Kazakhstan

NOV. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an effort to tame inflation, Georgia raised its key interest rate by 50 base points to 7.5%

In October, annualised inflation in Georgia rallied to 5.8%, above the Central Bank’s target of 5%. Since the beginning of the year, the lari has lost over 27% of its value against the US dollar. The Central Bank intervened heavily in the currency market last month, keeping the lari steady. It sold $20m during its latest intervention on Oct. 27.

Across the Caspian Sea, the Kazakh Central Bank postponed a monthly interest rates meeting, scheduled for Nov. 6, a decision that baffled observers and made the Central Bank look amateurish.

After the sacking of former chief Kairat Kelimbetov and the appointment of Central Bank veteran Daniyar Akishev, investors and savers were eager to hear what the new chief would say at his first press conference. It looks like people will have to wait a little longer.

Instead, the Bank issued a short statement the day before the monetary policy meeting was due, saying it will no longer intervene heavily in the currency market to preserve the exchange rate, as it wants to avoid depleting its reserves. In its statement, the Bank failed to fix a date for the next monetary policy meeting.

If anyone is still wondering why everyone has lost trust in the tenge and the Central Bank, here’s why.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)

Georgia’s Central Bank raises interest rates

NOV. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s Central Bank increased its key interest rate to 7.5%, its highest level since Sept. 2011, to try and dampen rising inflation.

In January, Georgian interest rates were 4%, demonstrating just how aggressively its Central Bank has pushed up the cost of borrowing.

In a statement, the Georgian Central Bank said that Consumer Price Inflation now measured 5.8%, pushed up by a rise in the cost of imported goods and a jump in electricity prices.

“According to the current forecast, in the beginning of 2016 the inflation will remain above its target value, will start decreasing afterwards and will return to its target value of 5% in the second half of 2016,” the Central Bank said in a statement.

This year, similarly to other cur- rencies in the region, the Georgian lari has lost around 28% of its value.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)

Apple opens in Georgia

OCT. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — US-based Apple will open an official rep office in Georgia in November, ending a decade-long absence in Tbilisi. Company representatives said the rep store will solve warranty issues for customers, who were previously forced to go to neighbouring countries to buy Apple products with a valid warranty. The new Tbilisi office is not one of Apple’s iconic spacious, gleaming shops.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 254, published on Oct. 30 2015)

Georgia’s energy minister to visit Iran

OCT. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Highlighting increasingly good relations between Georgia and Iran, Georgian energy minister Kakha Kaladze said he would travel to Tehran next month to meet his Iranian counterparts. Georgia needs to increase the amount of gas it imports to meet demand.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 254, published on Oct. 30 2015)

Russia and Georgia schedule talks

OCT. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A new round of talks between Russia and Georgia aimed at normalising relations between the two countries will begin in mid-November in Prague, media reported. The talks have been important in improving ties since a 2008 war.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 254, published on Oct. 30 2015)

Ivanishvili says he regrets promoting Georgian President

OCT. 27 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Ratcheting up tension between Georgia’s PM and President, former PM and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili said in a TV interview that he made a mistake selecting Giorgi Margvelashvili as his presidential candidate in an election in 2013.

Mr Ivanishvili’s comments came shortly after President Margvelashvili met with several senior public figures, including an opposition leader and the powerful head of the Georgian Orthodox Church to discuss Georgia’s worsening political climate and a clampdown on opposition broadcaster Rustavi 2.

“The President’s remarks are completely irresponsible,” Mr Ivanishvili said of Mr Margvelashvili. “People who make such statements, want to justify the United National Movement’s actions. Those who make such statements, support UNM.”

The UNM is the party of former president Mikheil Saakashvili.

Although not officially in office any more, Mr Ivanishvili bankrolls the Georgian Dream ruling coalition and is considered the kingpin of Georgian politics. PM Irakli Garibashvili is very much his protege while President Margvelashvili is considered an increasing irritation.

Ghia Nodia, a political professor at Ilia State University and an opponent of Georgian Dream, said Mr Ivanishvili’s remarks were dangerous.

“This obsession with UNM and the inability to think in a nuanced manner are toxic and show a hidden complex. It is sad that he is unable to realise this,” he said.

Mr Margvelashvili, a former education minister, was regarded as having little political ambition before being put forward as a presidential candidate by Mr Ivanishvili in 2013. Most observers said he was supposed to act as a puppet. Instead he has become a thorn in side of Mr Ivanishvili.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 254, published on Oct. 30 2015)

Georgia’s court relaxes marijuana laws

OCT. 25 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia moved a step closer to decriminalising the recreational use of marijuana after its Constitutional Court ruled that possessing 70g of the drug should not lead to a prison sentence.

The ruling means that Georgia now has some of the most lax laws on marijuana possession in the former Soviet Union.

The Constitutional Court was called to rule on the case of Beka Tsikarishvili who was arrested in 2013 and faced a prison sentence for carrying 69g of marijuana. His supporters have stage rallies which have attracted hundreds of people.

“The purchase and possession of marijuana for personal use does not qualify for a prison sentence,” the court said in a note on its website.

Previously, carrying 50-500g of marijuana could lead to a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

Supporters of decriminalising marijuana cheered the court’s decision, calling it a “huge step forward”.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 254, published on Oct. 30 2015)

Stock market: Centerra Gold, KAZ Minerals

OCT. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The US Federal Reserve Bank’s hinted that interest rates could be increased in December, hitting stock markets worldwide. South Caucasus- and Central Asia-related shares were no exception.

Miners were hit badly. Kyrgyzstan- focused Centerra Gold saw its shares lose over 9% in Toronto this week, closing at 7.36 Canadian dollars on Friday.

KAZ Minerals shares were also down 9%, closing at 116p on Friday.

After announcing it would pay a dividend to its shareholders on Oct. 30, Central Asia Metals reversed a slow start and closed on Friday, with a marginal positive growth, at 163p/share in London.

Oil and gas producers also suffered, despite oil prices gaining 2% this week with Brent crude closing at $49.5/barrel. Kazakhstan-focused Tethys Petroleum and Nostrum Oil & Gas both lost around 10% this week.

After reaching an 8-month high at £21.35/share last Friday, London-listed Bank of Georgia fell by 6.5% to £20.00. Last week its shares rallied after a healthcare group it holds a large stake in announced an IPO price range that valued the company at around $500m.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 254, published on Oct. 30 2015)