facebook.com/ georgiatoday Issue no: 1066/138 • JULY 17 - 19, 2018 • PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY PRICE: GEL 2.50 In this week’s issue... Georgian Parliament Approves Reshuffl ed Cabinet NEWS PAGE 2 Average Hotel Prices in Georgia and Hotel Price FOCUS Index (June 2018) BUSINESS PAGE 4 ON NEW Batiashvili’s New Plans for ECONOMY PLANS Georgian Education The new Minister of Economy announces his fi rst ideas BUSINESS PAGE 5 for Georgia's economic development PAGE 2 The Highest Interest Rate on the Market and Deposit Porting at Terabank BUSINESS PAGE 6 Georgian Watermelon a Health Risk? French Institute BY THEA MORRISON in Georgia on Developing atermelon season has truly kicked off in Georgia, but Partnerships this year amid concerns that the juicy, refreshing summer BUSINESS PAGE 10 fruit hides health risks. WLast week the organizations under the Con- Russia, US Try to Revive sumer Rights Protection Association of Georgia examined several samples of Georgian water- Relations melon and melon and stated they contain exces- Photo source: Hub pages sive amounts of nitrates, which can lead to amount of watermelon is grown. nitrates in the accredited laboratory. SOCIETY PAGE 10 food-poisoning, irritability, sleeplessness and The farmers say that the information about “As a result of laboratory research, the level of respiration problems. excessive nitrates in watermelon has negatively nitrates does not exceed the permissible indica- During the presentation of the results, the affected their business and now no one wants tor in fruit. Overall, about 70 samples are to be Prepared for Georgia Today Business by United Nations Expert and Ecologist Khatuna to buy their harvest. examined this year. We usually study nitrate con- Markets Asof13ͲJulͲ2018 Akhalaia underlined that the level of nitrates in “We demand that the representatives of the tent annually. According to the monitoring results STOCKS Price w/w m/m BONDS Price w/w m/m the watermelons and melons examined by them Agriculture Ministries come here and check the of 2017, a violation was observed in only one case,” BankofGeorgia(BGEOLN) GBP18.56 +3,2% Ͳ1,3% GEOROG04/21 101.57(YTM6.12%) +0,3% +0,6% GeorgiaCapital(CGEOLN) GBP10.43 +2,7% Ͳ3,0% GEORG04/21 106.81(YTM4.21%) +0,0% +0,4% is 3-4 times higher than the permissible norm. level of nitrates in our watermelons. I can assure the statement says. GHG(GHGLN) GBP2.62 Ͳ4,0% +3,8% GRAIL07/22 105.98(YTM6.04%) +0,3% +0,7% This statement has led to citizens losing trust you that our product is healthy and does not The statement of the NFA means that Georgian TBCBankGroup(TBCGLN) GBP17.30 Ͳ0,1% Ͳ GEBGG07/23 99.81(YTM6.05%) +0,1% Ͳ0,2% in their favorite summer fruit, with some mar- contain excessive amounts of nitrates, as stated watermelon and melon are safe and can be con- COMMODITIES Price w/w m/m CURRENCIES Price w/w m/m CrudeOil,Brent(US$/bbl) 75,33 Ͳ2,3% Ͳ1,8% GEL/USD 2,4521 +0,2% Ͳ0,5% kets refusing to sell it. of late,” Kakhetian farmer Khvicha Khimshiash- sumed by the population without any hesitation. GoldSpot(US$/OZ) 1244,32 Ͳ0,9% Ͳ4,2% GEL/EUR 2,8638 Ͳ0,4% Ͳ1,3% Popular hypermarket Agrohub was the fi rst vili said. In themselves, nitrates in watermelon are almost GEL/GBP 3,2446 Ͳ0,2% Ͳ1,6% INDICES Price w/w m/m GEL/CHF 2,4406 Ͳ1,0% Ͳ2,1% to ban watermelons on the basis of their con- Specialists of the National Food Agency (NFA) non-toxic, but with excessive intake of nitrates, FTSE100 7661,87 +0,6% Ͳ0,5% GEL/RUB 0,0392 +1,0% Ͳ0,5% taining too many nitrates. are currently carrying out a study on the market the human body can begin to show signs of acute FTSE250 20813,12 +0,9% Ͳ2,0% GEL/TRY 0,5047 Ͳ5,6% Ͳ5,1% DAX 12540,73 +0,4% Ͳ2,7% GEL/AZN 1,4411 +0,2% Ͳ0,5% “We refuse to sell watermelon in our store for nitrates in watermelon and melon. Samples poisoning. DOWJONES 25019,41 +2,3% Ͳ0,7% GEL/AMD 0,0051 ͲͲ NASDAQ 7825,98 +1,8% +1,7% GEL/UAH 0,0935 +0,5% Ͳ1,0% because it contains more nitrates than is per- are being taken in different spots, both in large Excessive use of fertilizers is commonly the MSCIEMEE 161,47 +1,2% +1,9% EUR/USD 0,8558 +0,5% +0,9% mitted,” the hypermarket’s Facebook post reads. supermarket networks and at agrarian markets. main source of a higher level of nitrates in fruit MSCIEM 1075,64 +1,5% Ͳ5,3% GBP/USD 0,7558 +0,4% +1,1% SP500 2801,31 +1,5% +0,9% CHF/USD 1,0017 +1,3% +1,6% The statements angered Kakhetian farmers, According to the NFA, about 30 fruit and veg- and vegetables because they are prone to absorb- MSCIFM 2685,47 +0,4% Ͳ3,9% RUB/USD 62,4462 Ͳ0,9% Ͳ0,1% Kakheti being the region where the largest etable samples have already been examined for ing harmful substances easily. GTIndex(GEL) 1582,68 ͲͲTRY/USD 4,8387 +5,8% +4,1% GTIndex(USD) 1208,13 ͲͲAZN/USD 1,6977 Ͳ0,2% +0,4% GEORGIA TODAY 2 NEWS JULY 17 - 19, 2018 Explosion in Tkibuli Mine Kills 4, Leaves 6 Injured: Shaft to Be Closed Photo: Georgia’s Minister of Economy Giorgi Kobulia. Source: IPN New Minister Names Georgia's Main Economic Challenges He believes that human resources, people's edu- BY THEA MORRISON cation, and skills should also be developed, adding the State should help people increase their knowl- edge and advance their skills in order to increase eorgia’s new Minister of Economy, their income. Giorgi Kobulia, has named the main According to the Minister, Georgia cannot exist challenges that hinder the develop- only by developing the local market. ment of the Georgian economy. “We need to focus on export and enter new mar- Kobulia, who was working for global kets. Therefore, integration with export markets Gconsulting company McKinzie for two decades, is very important. Steps have been made in this says one of the top challenges is that small and direction, but there is still much to be done,” he mining, construction or other works. medium businesses (SMEs) in Georgia are not added. BY THEA MORRISON “The investigation has already started and all developed enough. Kobulia highlighted that Georgia's economic responsible people will be punished to the full “In order to accelerate the pace of economic indicators are impressive, but despite that, the eco- extent of the law,” Bakhtadze noted. “The shaft will development, more people should be involved in nomic income that Georgia creates per capita is Monday morning explosion in Min- not resume work until the criminal investigation economic activities. It is necessary to develop small very small. deli Mine, Tkibuli, left 4 miners dead and technical expertise is complete.” and medium business, and in this area there are “In 2017, economic growth was 5%, and in 2018 it and 6 severely injured. The injured miners were hospitalized and one signifi cant challenges in Georgia,” he stated in Par- is 7.5%, which is a very good fi gure. In addition, The Georgian Ministry of Internal was transferred to Tbilisi in a critical condition. liament. employment has signifi cantly increased, as have Affairs (MIA) stated that a methane A previous explosion in the same Mindeli mine The new minister believes that better access to investments, but according to the World Bank, Aexplosion supposedly caused the collapse of the occurred in April 2018, when 6 died and 3 were injured. credit for small and medium-sized businesses will Georgia remains in the list of poor countries, some- ceiling in the tunnel. Deputy Ministers of Economy, Genadi Arveladze promote their development. thing which needs to be changed,” he said. Prime Minister Bakhtadze has said the govern- and Giorgi Cherkezishvili, went to Tkibuli to inspect In addition to this, Kobulia says it is necessary to “This can be explained by the fact that despite ment will no longer put its citizens lives at risk and the site, offering their condolences to the families accelerate the level of industrialization. good growth, the economic income that Georgia has declared the mine will be closed. and injured miners. “We have foreign investments, including in infra- creates per capita is very small. Our situation in An investigation was launched under the second The PM declared July 16 a Day of Mourning. The structural projects, but we need more. Industri- this regard is 10 times worse than in the leading part of Article 240 of the Criminal Code of Geor- state fl ag was lowered on all administrative build- alization is one of our priority directions. Without developed states,” the Minister added, noting that gia, which implies a violation of safety rules in ings on the territory of Georgia. development in this fi eld, we cannot move our in order to improve the living conditions of citi- economy forward,” he stated. zens, it is necessary to employ as many people as Development of the regions is another challenge possible. listed by the Minister. He said the Ministry of Kobulia and two other new ministers were nom- Economy will work together with Ministry of Agri- inated by the Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze culture to help develop the agricultural industry last week. further. The PM noted that Kobulia has experience in the Kobulia underlined that Georgia is often referred development of the global economy and in the fi eld to as a logistics hub but noted that little has been of energy.