us business in georgia 2012

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Continued on p. 26

Stephen haykinUSaiD

USaiD Spent USD 52 Million in GeorGia thiS year

The FINANCIAL

The largest project US-AID implemented in 2012 was the Power and Gas Infrastruc-ture Programme.

USAID’s budget for fiscal year 2012 was USD 52.2 million with the following sectoral break-down (in millions of USD):

News Making Money

“GeorGia DiDn’t Do a Sufficient Job in attractinG uS funDS” see on page 20

© 2011 the FinanCial. intelliGenCe bUSineSS pUbliCation written expressly for opinion leaders and top business decision-makers

GeorGIAN websITe http://www.financial.ge

http://www.finchannel.com

UGt holDinG expeCtinG MoDerate Growth in 2012

See on p. 6

raDiSSon batUMi expeCtinG hiGh oCCUpanCy over new year CelebrationS

See on p. 13

raDiSSon blU iveria hotel haS haD the beSt oCCUpanCy rate in 2012

See on p. 13

irex GeorGia MeDia DevelopMent proGraM to be a priority

See on p. 17

Frequent Changes to Tax Code Concern for

Foreign Businesses

5 November, 2012

Nov. 5 Oct. 29

1 uSD 1.6598 1.65901 eur 2.1380 2.1383100 rub 5.2891 5.27031 trY 0.9268 0.9193

currencieS

SupporteD bYamerican chamber of commerce in GeorGia

U.S. BUSineSS in GeorGia SponSored By

U.S. Business in

read on p. 8read on p. 10

“Today’s Young Generation is More Educated,” President of Caucasus University

AmCham to Focus on Agri Business

The FINANCIAL

The most interesting field for Ameri-can businessmen this year will be agriculture as the new government plans to promote the sector, Sarah

Williamson, President of AmCham told The FINANCIAL in exclusive interview. She said stability and security are the top questions in the minds of foreign investors which makes the new government’s approach to

dealing with the private sector extremely important and urgent. As she claims, there is no problem in Georgia in this regard.

“Relations with the new government are a top priority right now. We are also working to further strengthen our US ties,” said Sarah Williamson. “I have just returned from Washington D.C.

David Lee: Georgia is a “buy”The FINANCIAL

“If the Russian market is open for Georgia it will not disturb Georgian-American trade rela-tions”, said David Lee, the President of Magti-com and Chairman of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation. He told the FINANCIAL that any strengthening of Georgia’s economy through in-creased trade with any country only makes Geor-gia a more attractive place for American trade and investment. “The very idea that in the 21st century a country must choose between trading with America or Russia is archaic,” he said.

“It is my understanding that the new administration wants busi-nesses to succeed and they are com-mitted to normalizing relationships with all businesses and breaking up car-tels. This is good for the country and good for business,” said Lee.

“I believe that the attacks on Mr Ivanishvili as too pro-Russian are motivated by politics and of-ten by those with vested interests who have abused the previous system and have something to hide.

Continued on p. 2

Continued on p. 2

“Georgia Ready to Integrate With NATO,” LTC Reneé Underwood See on p. 5

Georgia

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C M Y K

5 November, 2012

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U.S. Business In Georgia


The FINANCIALby MArIAM PAPIdze

The most in-teresting field for American businessmen

this year will be agricul-ture as the new govern-ment plans to promote the sector, Sarah Wil-liamson, President of AmCham told The FINANCIAL in exclu-sive interview. She said stability and security are the top questions in the minds of foreign investors which makes the new government’s approach to dealing with the private sec-tor extremely impor-tant and urgent. As she claims, there is no problem in Georgia in this regard.

“Relations with the new gov-ernment are a top priority right now. We are also working to further strengthen our US ties,” said Sarah Williamson. “I have just returned from Washington D.C. where I was in one-on-one meetings with executives of the US Chamber in regards to some of the issues we are currently fo-cused on. My vision for the future of AmCham is to see it continue to grow and strengthen its influence

in the Georgian business commu-nity. To do this, the two primary areas I am working together with the Board of directors on cur-rently are: 1) Member outreach & involvement; and 2) Working to see AmCham increase its pub-lic policy and legislative efforts so that we have greater influence in areas that affect our members’

companies. Both of these lead me to focus on the strengthening of AmCham’s committees and to the establishment of new ones, where appropriate,” said Sarah William-son.

Q. AmCham is actively en-gaged in meeting with for-eigners who arrive in Geor-gia to do business. What

kinds of business are they in-terested in doing in Georgia?

A. I think that in looking to the future, some of this depends on the sectors that the new govern-ment specifies as its areas of pri-ority. For example, so far we know that they are planning to promote investments in the agri-business sector. Speaking of the previous Cabinet and Parliament, tourism, construction, energy and IT were also priority sectors. We’ve seen quite a bit of success in those sec-tors and we assume that they will continue to be a priority along with agriculture.

Q. Which significant deals would you highlight from the US side in 2012?

A. According to GeoStat and the published statistics through 2nd Quarter 2012, the United States was the seventh largest contribu-tor of FDI in Georgia. As far as specific deals, off the top of my head, I can mention the OPIC fi-nancing of Georgian American University (GAU), Wendy’s Res-taurants coming to Georgia with fifteen branches and various ho-tels breaking ground in Batumi and Kakheti.

Q. Is Georgia a good place to do business among its major competitors when it comes to foreigners choos-ing where to invest?

A. Of course and for many reasons. Some of those include Georgia’s very business friendly Tax Code - few total number of taxes and extremely competi-tive tax rates; the current Labour Code - it’s very business-friendly and was established with the de-sire to attract employers to Geor-gia and create jobs; the extent to which corruption has been eradi-cated is incredible in comparison to other countries in this region; the labour force is very talented with regards to speaking multiple languages, including English and Western European languages,

Sarah williaMSon, president of amcham

David Lee: Georgia is a “buy”preSiDent oF MaGtiCoM anD ChairMan oF the eUraSia partnerShip FoUnDation expeCtS that Many inveStorS will retUrn anD new oneS will arrive


“If the Russian market is open for Georgia it will not disturb Georgian-American trade rela-tions”, said David Lee, the Presi-dent of Magticom and Chairman of the Eurasia Partnership Foun-dation. He told the FINANCIAL that any strengthening of Geor-gia’s economy through increased trade with any country only makes Georgia a more attractive place for American trade and investment. “The very idea that in the 21st century a country must choose between trading with America or Russia is archaic,” he said.

“It is my understanding that the new administration wants busi-nesses to succeed and they are committed to normalizing rela-tionships with all businesses and breaking up cartels. This is good for the country and good for busi-ness,” said Lee.

“I believe that the attacks on Mr Ivanishvili as too pro-Russian are motivated by politics and often by those with vested interests who have abused the previous system and have something to hide. I

DaviD lee, the president of magticom and chairman of the eurasia partnership foundation

Continued on p. 14

Continued on p. 15

HEADLINE NEWS & ANALYSIS 3FINANCIALfiNchaNNel.com | 5 November, 2012

C M Y K

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U.S. Business In Georgia“World Savings Day 2012” Will be Celebrated

First Time in Georgia

This year Georgian banks will celebrate World Savings Day for the first time ever.

Events will start on Oc-tober 31 with the opening

press-conference at the National Bank of Georgia and end on Bankers Day on November 8. The event is orga-nized by Georgian commercial banks together with Savings Banks Founda-tion for International Cooperation, the National Bank of Georgia, Asso-ciation of Banks of Georgia and Geor-gian Banking Training Centre.

“Georgian banking sector is one of the most stabile and developed spheres of the Georgian economy. Total volume of deposits is growing annually; the figure reached 8bln GEL in the cur-rent year. This data indicates high trust from population towards the banks. Although, the potential is much higher, therefore, the National Bank of Georgia is keen to participate in this project, we will always support and encourage fi-nancial education of the society” – stat-ed Executive Director of the National Bank of Georgia, Giorgi Melashvili.

Having long history World Savings Day has been celebrated with differ-ent events in many countries since 1925. For nearly 90 years the German savings banks organise and conduct (along with other financial institu-tions in many countries all over the world) the World Savings Day. World Savings Day, or World Thrift Day as it was formerly called, was established by the World Savings Banks Institute (WSBI) in order to inform people all around the world about the idea of saving their money in a bank rather than keeping it under their mattress. Starting in 1925 it soon became an an-nual tradition in several countries go-ing along with celebrations and cam-paigns to encourage savings.

“Georgian banks celebrating World Saving Day for the first time ever. This is very important for Georgian banks

and the country itself. The importance has different levels. I would sort out the private level. Saving, teaching even small kids to manage their funds, to make decisions, to invest and keep the money. This is the first important level. The second level is very individ-ual, because saving gives you an op-portunity to realize your personal and professional dreams – education, a car or a house. Saving is realizing these objectives. When people save money it has the following message – we believe in future, our political and economical situation is stable. Saving has a good

impact on economic development in general. It is difficult to gain access in micro finance due to different facts. Saving money for certain purpose can be an alternative to applying for a mi-cro grant. As for the Georgian banks and how they offer saving system in the county I would say that they are doing their best,” said Silke Klover, First Counsellor, Head of Develop-ment Cooperation at Embassy of the Republic of Germany in Georgia.

Savings are a sustainable way to satisfy the needs of today in a way that future generations find themselves in

an environment that is socially and economically intact. Carrying out a World Savings Day that is backed by several financial institutions, the National Bank, academies and asso-ciations will help to restore the overall trust into the financial industry.

At the occasion and around that day financial institutions will in par-ticular attract children, young people and their parents by offering specific products, explaining how to best get along with ones money, and under-taking interesting events. The goal is not only to attract savings but to get

potential new clients into the bank. The sector wide initiative will take

place in the week from 31st of Octo-ber – 8th of November. There will be a common frame (brochures, video clips and an overall mascot) in which every participating bank is free to organize various activities (in particular head-ing to children and their parents).

Besides distribution of brochures and placement of video-clip in banks’ branches, ATMs, web-pages and in social networks, Georgian commer-cial banks will visit schools in Tbilisi and in the regions, where they will make presentations, inform about savings habits and will held small lessons on financial literacy. Banks will also organize various competi-tions and games for school pupils. There will be an evening for children organized in Kote Marjanishvili State Drama Theatre, where guests receive information about World Savings Day via common brochures - have a look into inside life of theatre and attend the performance as well.

Alongside with schools, financial sector representatives will visit their client organizations and hold presen-tations about importance of savings. Different types of media support will be provided from the commercial banks’ side during the week. The World Savings Day is a good tool to overcome the barrier between popu-lation and commercial banks, it will increase trust towards financial sector and is supposed to encourage people to save in the banks.

Savings Bank Foundation for Inter-national Cooperation (SBFIC) is im-plementing the project Mobilisation of Savings and Financial Capability in Georgia and Azerbaijan, where World Savings Day is also celebrated first time this year. The project receives support by the German Federal Min-istry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

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aMiD Global UnCertainty, the iMportanCe oF FiGhtinG poverty

JIM YoNG KIMworLd bANK PresIdeNT

World leaders are rightfully concerned about the fragility of the global econo-my, and many of us are closely follow-ing what is happening in the Euro-zone, especially with the difficult situations in

Greece and Spain. At stake, though, is not just what happens in Europe,

or in other developed areas of the world. Also at stake is how the global crisis will affect the economies of develop-ing countries, particularly fragile ones such as Haiti. Be-cause we can’t lose our focus on these countries, my visit to Haiti in early November is an important one. We need to focus on two interrelated goals: ending extreme pov-erty in a much more condensed time frame and boosting shared prosperity in all countries around the world.

Some may say this is too daunting a task. Yet more than 1 billion people living in dire poverty around the world cannot afford to wait.

For the last several years, more than 50 percent of the world’s growth has come from developing countries. And when fragile states unravel even further by conflict or strife, we lose great opportunities to boost those states out of fragility and onto a path of stability on which they help grow the global economy.

I believe the path to ending poverty and enhancing prosperity must be built on three pillars.

First, we need to bring renewed evidence-based solu-tions to our development efforts. Amid the global eco-nomic pessimism of the past few years, we must not for-get that we are on a historic trajectory for moving people out of poverty, reducing the percentage of the poorest by half in the last 25 years.

Let’s look at what’s happened to Africa in recent years. In the decade before the 2008-09 financial crisis, econo-mies in sub-Saharan Africa were growing by 5 to 6 per-cent a year on average. Today, most African countries’ economies have recovered and moved beyond pre-crisis levels. If these growth rates can be maintained, African GDP would double in about 12 years.

By 2015, Africa is forecast to have 41.2 percent of its population living on less than $1.25 a day, compared to 24 percent in South Asia and 7.7 percent in East Asia and the Pacific. Those figures underscore the great challenge that remains in Africa, but the continent is moving in the right direction. In 2008, 47 percent of the population lived below this poverty line. We have to find ways now to accelerate this progress.

Second, as we move forward I believe we need to pay greater attention to questions of equity, fairness, and jus-tice in the process of economic development. We must take active steps to ensure that the benefits of growth reach the lower and middle classes. We must recognize that jobs lie at the heart of development, and that the pri-vate sector creates 90 percent of jobs in the developing world. Governments must create the best environment for inclusive growth.

Third, we need to become even more focused on results and implementation in our development interventions. We will need to produce more results out of our limited resources. To do so, we must become more scientific in how we think about service delivery, building robust sys-tems that are reliable and sustainable.

For the World Bank Group, this means we must change. We have long talked about ourselves as the knowledge bank. Now we are at a turning point. We must become the solutions bank.

By that, I don’t mean that we have all the solutions; we don’t. But we can help gather and disseminate solutions for the most difficult issues around growth and develop-ment worldwide.

The best ideas in development come from all corners of the globe. At the World Bank , we enter this discussion with our vast store of development data, analytic capabili-ties, and decades of on-the ground experience. What we need to do now is help capture evidence-based solutions that come from all over the world, build a “science of de-livery,” and then put those solutions into practice.

In Haiti, and in my other trips ahead, we need to have spirited discussions around these ideas. In this global economy, we’re all in this together. We need to carve a path ahead that leads to prosperity and leaves no one behind.

Martin Luther King, Jr. captured this universal quest for progress and dignity when he said: “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I believe it is time to bend the arc of history. With global solidarity underpinned by a relentless drive for results, we can, we must, and we will end poverty and build shared prosperity.

Jim Yong Kim is President of the World Bank Group.

“Georgia Ready to Integrate With NATO,” LTC Reneé Underwood


Lieutenant Colonel Reneé Underwood, Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation in Tbilisi, in her interview

with The FINANCIAL claims that the Georgia Deployment Program for ISAF is one of the most important security coop-eration initiatives to come out of the US military's role in Georgia. Underwood also believes that due to its big achievements, the Georgian army is ready for in-tegration with NATO. “Evalu-ations and decisions on NATO membership are made at NATO levels and are political. The Georgian army has made many strides forward in the last few years and has proven an invalu-able asset to NATO in ISAF. They have proven themselves willing and able to fight along-side NATO forces and we sup-port their aspirations to join the alliance,” Underwood said.

32 and 12 light infantry bat-talions of the Georgian Armed Forces are deployed in Afghani-stan where in the province of Helmand the Georgian peace-keeping units engage in the ISAF mission as part of the US con-tingent. The Georgian military units have been performing full spectrum operations shoulder to shoulder with US Marines since 2010.

As for the Georgia Deploy-ment Program for ISAF, within the framework of this pro-gramme, Georgia has proven itself a strong partner. In Au-gust 2011, Georgia was the sec-ond-largest non-NATO troop contributor to NATO’s Interna-tional Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, and since March 2010, Georgia has pro-vided a battalion (approximate-ly 750 soldiers) to participate in ISAF operations, fighting with-out national caveats alongside US Marines in Helmand Prov-ince.

“In October 2011, Georgia announced it would send an additional battalion, for a total of two battalions in combat, to Afghanistan. Upon deployment of this second battalion, in Oc-tober 2012 Georgia became the largest non-NATO contributor of troops to ISAF operations. The two Georgian Battalions serve in Helmand province and fall under a Marine Regimental Combat Team. Georgian de-ployments to Afghanistan are supported by the Marine Forces Europe’s Georgia Deployment Program for ISAF, a programme designed to assist the Georgians in training for this very chal-lenging mission. The Marines have a special relationship with Georgia and are proud to serve with them.

“Additionally, we assist Geor-gia with their professional mili-tary education to help them

grow quality future leaders as well as assisting them with con-tinued military reforms along the lines of US/NATO doctrine. Georgians also participate in several US exercises every year including two that occur in Georgia: Agile Spirit and Shared Horizons,” she added.

This time the task of the Georgian military servicemen deployed in Afghanistan is to combat terrorism, conduct pa-trolling and setting up of mobile control posts in the operational zone of the province.

Among NATO non-member states Georgia is the largest per capita troop contributor to the NATO mission.

Initially, a Reinforced Infan-try Platoon (up to 50 military servants) from Georgia was de-ployed in the ISAF peacekeep-ing mission under German sub-ordination in 2004.

Q. The new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maia Pan-jikidze told The FINAN-CIAL that Georgia may leave the Afghan mission. How would you evaluate this decision?

A. Georgia is an important partner to the US, especially in Afghanistan. Certainly decreas-ing forces in Afghanistan will be a national political decision. It makes sense that Georgia would reduce their footprint in Afghanistan eventually as the troop contributions to ISAF re-duce in general.

Q. When the battalions return from missions, they exchange their experience with new battalions. What kind of experience do our military obtain in Afghani-stan?

A. Georgia has demonstrated through their ISAF deployments their capability to conduct sta-bility operations. For the ISAF deployments, the Georgian bat-talions go through six months of very demanding and focused training to prepare. US senior leadership has praised Georgia on the performance of Georgian units in Afghanistan on many occasions.

* * *Lieutenant Colonel Reneé

Underwood has been in the mili-tary for nineteen years. She was recruited to go to West Point to throw the discus. “At the time I would have never imagined that I would serve in the military, but it has been a great career for me,” Underwood said. “I arrived in Georgia in July of this year. I had been to Georgia before on a short visit and requested this assignment. I consider myself lucky to be here. I love my job. I have great partners at the Min-istry of Defence and Georgian Armed Forces. I really enjoy living and travelling in Georgia as well. I have been to Kazbegi, Shatili and Sighnagi. I look for-ward to getting out and seeing more of the country,” she added.

Georgia is the Top Improver Globally

tiny CoUntry whiCh SUrviveD the war with rUSSia in 2008 now iS joininG the top 10 eConoMieS in the Global eaSe oF DoinG bUSineSS rankinG by worlD bank

The FINANCIAL

A new IFC and World Bank report finds that since 2005, the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region

leads the world in enhancing the business climate for lo-cal firms. The region overtook East Asia and the Pacific to be-come the world’s second most business-friendly, after OECD high-income economies. East-ern Europe and Central Asia has implemented nearly 400 institutional or regulatory re-forms since 2005, more than any other region in the world. The report shows Georgia join-ing the top 10 economies in the global ease of doing business ranking. Georgia implemented reforms in six areas, more than

any other economy in the re-gion. It made improvements in getting credit, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforc-ing contracts, resolving insol-vency, and getting electricity.

Improving business regula-tion is a challenging task, and doing it consistently over time even more so, says World Bank. Yet some economies have achieved considerable success since 2005 in doing just that.

A few of these economies stand out within their region: Georgia, Rwanda, Colombia, China and Poland.

Georgia is the top improver since 2005 both in Eastern Eu-rope and Central Asia and glob-ally. With 35 institutional and regulatory reforms since 2005, Georgia has improved in all areas measured by Doing Busi-ness. In the past year alone it improved in 6 areas. As just one example, Georgia made trading across borders easier by intro-ducing customs clearance zones in such cities as Tbilisi and Poti. These one-stop shops for trade clearance processes are open all day every day, allowing traders to submit customs documents and complete other formalities in a single place.

Georgia also strengthened its secured transactions system. A new amendment to its civil code allows a security inter-est to extend to the products, proceeds and replacements of an asset used as collateral.Georgia has also distinguished itself by following a relatively balanced regulatory reform path. Many economies aiming

to improve their regulatory en-vironment start by reducing the complexity and cost of regula-tory processes (in such areas as starting a business). Later they may move on to reforms strengthening legal institutions relevant to business regulation (in such areas as getting credit). These tend to be a bigger chal-lenge, sometimes requiring amendments to key pieces of legislation rather than simply changes in administrative pro-cedures. Georgia has followed this pattern, focusing initially on reducing the complexity and cost of regulatory processes and later on strengthening legal institutions. But among a group of 5 top regional improvers, Georgia has improved the most along both dimensions.

Rwanda, the number 2 im-prover globally and top improv-er in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2005, has reduced the gap with the frontier by almost half. To highlight key lessons emerging from Rwanda’s sustained ef-forts, this year’s report features a case study of its reform process.

Local entrepreneurs in de-veloping countries are finding it easier to do business than at any time in the last 10 years, highlighting the significant progress that has been made in improving business regula-tory practices across the globe, according to a new report re-leased today by the World Bank and IFC.

Over the past decade, nearly 2,000 regulatory reforms were implemented by 180 econo-mies. The reforms have yielded

major benefits for local entre-preneurs across the globe. For example: Since 2005, the aver-age time to start a business has fallen from 50 days to 30—and in low- income economies the average has been reduced by half. In the past eight years, the average time to transfer property fell by 35 days, from 90 to 55, and the average cost by 1.2 percentage points—from 7.1 percent of the property val-ue to 5.9 percent. In the past eight years, improvements to simplify tax compliance have reduced the time required an-nually to comply with the three major taxes measured (profit, labor, and consumption taxes) by 54 hours on average.East-ern Europe and Central Asia had the largest share of econo-mies implementing regulatory reforms—with 88 percent re-forming in at least one of the areas measured by Doing Busi-ness. Singapore topped the global ranking on the ease of doing business for the seventh consecutive year. Joining it on the list of the top 10 economies with the most business-friend-ly regulation were Hong Kong SAR, China; New Zealand; the United States; Denmark; Nor-way; the United Kingdom; the Republic of Korea; Georgia; and Australia.Topping the list of economies that registered the biggest improvements in the ease of doing business over the last year were Poland, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Burundi, Costa Rica, Mongolia, Greece, Serbia, and Kazakh-stan.


C M Y K

U.S. Business In GeorgiaUGT Holding Expecting Moderate Growth in 2012

The FINANCIALby MAdoNA GAsANovA

UGT Holding, leading sys-tems integra-tor and provid-er of solutions

in the field of information and communication tech-nology, expects to have growth of 15-20% by the end of 2012. The company which started operations in Georgia in 1997 has its US based head office today in Dallas, Texas and plans to open new branches in Florida and Washington in near future.

“2012 has been successful for UGT Holding so far. Georgia is continuing its economic growth in spite of the economic crisis taking place on an international level, in-cluding in Europe and America,” George Chirakadze, President of UGT Holding, told The FI-NANCIAL. “The IT sector is very specific. In general demand for IT is increasing all over the world, and consequently, an increase has been observed in Georgia as well. UGT Holding is much diversified. We serve various sectors incorporating large companies, small and medi-um-sized businesses and consumer. We hope that this growth will con-tinue in the fourth quarter.

The recession does affect the IT sector but this field manages to re-cover soon. In general IT companies in general are first to overcome cri-ses. The demand for technologies is due to companies’ decisions to in-crease efficiency and reduce expen-diture. Of course domestic political events such as the election period do generally affect the economy. Nev-ertheless we believe that this period is over in Georgia and therefore the fourth quarter and the year as a whole will be successful.

Q. UGT started operating on the Georgian market in 1997. Tell us in brief please - what kinds of steps have been ac-complished for your custom-ers?

A. When we started operating in Georgia in 1997 many people did not even know what a computer looked like. Demand for IT from companies was very low. Ten years ago many people did not know how credit cards or ATMs worked, whereas to-day the vast majority of the popula-tion uses electronic services which are based on the work of Informa-tion Technology. Currently IT is one of the most important and competi-tive elements for the state, for busi-nesses and consumers. This is due to the fact that large companies such as banks, telephone companies and the public sector invested consider-able amounts of money and effort in technologies. This has really enabled the prompt development of informa-tion technologies. In terms of the developmental level of IPTV Georgia exceed the United States and many other developed countries. IPTV totally stands behind information technologies: databases, servers etc. The implementation of IPTV moved TV in Georgia forward. IT has be-come a tool for the competitiveness of many businesses and companies in Georgia. No one could have imag-ined that cable communication com-panies Silknet and Caucasus Online would become associated with tele-vision. These companies that were once associated only with internet providing and telecommunication suddenly found themselves large players in the TV industry. The num-ber of IPTV users in Georgia today is growing. The key issue is that the

service offered by the above-men-tioned companies is totally based on information technologies. Any service delivered by banking, com-munication or any other industry is entirely backed by technologies. Significant changes have occurred in the Georgian technology industry during the last 10-15 years. As we are a small country, it is much easier to do many things more quickly. The IT industry has been developing in Georgia and at present is much more developed than it was just a few years ago.

Q. UGT made a significant contribution to the technologi-cal development of Georgian companies. What kind of tech-nological changes should be expected in the coming years? In particular, what will hap-pen in this field and how will these changes affect business in the country?

A. Future progress in our industry depends on the country’s economic development. Information Technol-ogy is based on economic develop-ment. Everything depends on the global situation as well. The econom-ic growth of Georgia is closely linked with the world economy. European and American recessions do matter to us. Unfortunately we are not yet seeing any signs of recovery from this crisis in the world. Neverthe-less, we have managed to avoid the worst conditions. The IT industry is developing faster than the coun-try’s economy. Further development of the state sector, commercial and large enterprises that will stimulate economic activity, will influence our motion forward.

IT is the basis of everything. The prospect of this industry’s develop-ment in Georgia is huge. IT allows both businesses and consumers to get competitive advantages. Today we are able to pay utility bills from home, do not have to spend hours waiting to watch a specific news sto-ry on the TV. The saving of time and comfort that has been brought by modern technologies is a great relief. All the advantages of modern servic-es are brought to us by IT. If people do not wish a return to the Stone Age, then IT will continue to develop very rapidly. IT enables each of us to be more productive, competitive, and receive such services that were previously considered inconceiv-

able. We are experiencing a totally different way of life. We are facing an IT revolution which will enable us to have access to services and re-sources that seemed impossible 10-15 years ago. Our offers to our cus-tomers are based on their demand. Demand develops differently in dif-ferent fields. It is good that demand for information technologies has been demonstrated by government organizations. We hope that the newly elected g o v e r n m e n t will continue r e c o g n i z i n g the importance of IT sector.

Q. What is the situation in terms of cyber secu-rity in Geor-gian compa-nies? Have you faced corporate, cyber espionage in Georgia?

A. The 2008 Russia-Georgia war made that clear, that Cyber security is very important issue. The attacks carried out in the banking sector and many state structures were an im-portant tool used by Russia during the war. In general the whole world is very vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Billions of dollars are spent world-wide on cyber security. Georgia is no exception. Cyber security is a very important area and our company actively participates in that. Cyber security is largely dependent on government agencies’ and the com-mercial sector’s desires to spend on it. Georgia is currently not succeed-ing in cyber security, despite the fact that many private or public com-panies pay huge interest in it. The reason for it is that cyber security requires huge investments, qualified specialists and even then you are not a hundred percent sure. After 2008 Georgian organizations increased their investments in cyber security, but there is no uniform policy. The importance of cyber security de-pends on a company’s and public’s attachment to electronic services. Georgian banks spend millions of dollars on cyber defense.

Q. What is the last word in technology today? Which tech-nological products determine a business’s success?

A. Virtualization is one of the hot-test topics in the IT world because of the potential for serious economic benefits. Virtualization enables mul-tiple operating systems to run on a single physical machine as virtual machines. With server virtualiza-tion, consumers can consolidate workloads of underutilized server machines onto a smaller number of fully utilized machines. Mobile de-vices, services and mobility in gener-

al is the future for our indus-try. The tech-nical structure of personal c o m p u t e r s has remained unchanged - meanwhile cell phones, tablets and TV have been promot-ed with their revolutionary

developments. We are witnessing serious innovation, which has been introduced in for consumer, corpo-rate and government sectors in re-cent years.

Services which are designed for consumers provide a competitive edge for companies. Today any bank that offers online transactions charges its consumers 50 tetri to 1 lari. That extra cost however greatly saves time and brings many advan-tages. Any company that continues to improve service will increase its advantages. Electronic systems are changing our way of thinking and nothing can replace them. The main key for a success is finding services that are useful for consumers for which they will pay for it. Only those companies that understand market needs, customer demands and see business opportunity will succeed.

Q. Which technological in-novation can you offer the new government?

A. UGT Holding can offer vari-ous services to the new government. First of all we will try to see the new government’s priorities, to see in which direction they will decide to work. Their priorities will directly influence our decision to make new proposals and offers. There are many things to be done in Georgia. The more you do the more you need - this is the principle of IT. The situa-tion is the same in consumer service.

The more services customers receive the larger the area of opportunities. We are ready to cooperate with them and provide them with the services they choose.

Q. UGT is operating in the USA. How would you assess your work in the States and how would you compare busi-ness operations in the United States to those in Georgia?

A. Our company has been success in the USA as a startup. America is a very large market. We consider our operations there in the long-term because the opportunities are abnormally large. A deficit of time for concentration is the main ob-stacle for our work in the USA. We are quite satisfied with the results of business development there. There is a big difference between Georgian and American consumer levels. Do-ing business in America is very spe-cific. In many cases, doing business in America is more difficult than in Georgia. Some things are easier there. For example, credit terms - fi-nancial resources are much cheaper in US than in Georgia. Meanwhile in a bureaucratic way many things are much more difficult in the USA than in Georgia.

Q. How will US-Georgian business cooperation develop in the future? What are your expectations and the attitude of Americans towards Geor-gia?

A. The investment environment is bilateral. The main issue for inves-tors is finding the right business op-portunities, the right projects in the country that will bring benefits. I am optimistic that the recent political changes in Georgia we will manage to attract new investors and partners, and move the country forwards. We should keep in mind that America is far away, it is too big and finding partners will be difficult for Georgia. This is not related to the advantages or disadvantages of Georgia. Find-ing American investors is not easy. Everything depends on our entre-preneurs and businessmen. They have to find the right partners, do proper marketing, create a success-ful case and convince them to make investments, here in Georgia. Many do not realize that if Americans can earn the same amount in their own country they will not invest in Geor-gia. The only reason why they do it is for the diversification of business or higher ROI. We must remember that we are not the only ones; we are one from around 140 countries in the world.

Q. What will the main chal-lenge be for the Georgian economy and your company in 2013?

A. We frequently hear that ac-cess to cheap credit resources is im-portant for the country. We cannot blame the banks for that because financial resources are expensive for Georgian banks due to the glob-al economic problems. Expensive credit is consequently hampering business development. Handling such high interest rates would be re-ally positive sign. Political stability is a significant factor. We have suc-cessfully carried out elections with-out any conflict or mass protests and that was a very good message to be delivered to the international world. After the past 15-20 years Georgia has finally, lawfully changed govern-ment.

The third main factor is moving the country in the right direction. I cannot see any left-wing power in the current government so I am optimistic that Georgia will main-tain a course towards the west. The fact that the current PM has a busi-ness background is a positive sign. It means that he does understand how to develop business and better business environment the country. The European crisis will most prob-ably have its impact on Georgia. If the recession escalates it will firstly influence the banking sector and the result of that will be more expensive credit resources.

GeorGe ChirakaDze, president of uGt Holding

The 2008 Russia-Georgia war made that clear, that Cyber secu-rity is very important issue. The

attacks carried out in the banking sector and many state structures were an important tool used by

Russia during the war.


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Georgia is a regional leader in the banking and finance sector. Well-regulated, transparent banks, a clear system for collateral and mortgages, and an established track record in the performance of international credit documents have combined to attract significant capital to the market.

Since the 1990s our lawyers have worked on international project financings and commercial credit lines into Georgia: from the billion dollar plus financing of its transnational oil and gas pipeline network, to the earliest post-privatization industrial projects and utilities, to the first foreign credit lines to Georgian banks.

Today we continue to represent international financial institutions in their loans to Georgian businesses and banks, as well as Georgian borrowers seeking credits from these same institutions to grow their businesses. Our practice has expanded to include swaps and derivatives and international bond issuances.

Our experience means our lawyers can finish your work fast, efficiently, and with minimum fuss. That means more of the money you raise in international credit markets goes into your pocket, and not to pay the lawyers.

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U.S. Business In GeorgiaFrequent Changes to Tax Code Concern

for Foreign BusinessesThe FINANCIAL

by NANA MGhebrIshvILI

Georgian rev-enue admin-istration in both the tax

and customs spheres is now very modern with a strong client service ap-proach, ample infrastruc-ture, innovative thinking, effective use of technol-ogy and good IT infra-structure, and a young, motivated and focused staff, claims Deloitte.

“The only backlog is that there is a practice of making frequent changes to the Tax Code and tax regulations, sometimes several times a year. While the main intention of such changes is to clarify the law, this may be difficult for taxpayers to under-stand their obligations,” John Rob-inson, Audit partner at Deloitte CIS told The FINANCIAL in an exclusive interview.

Mr. Robinson, who is the resident Partner in Georgia, supported by a local Tax Director, says that cor-ruption has been eliminated and the country has made great progress in tax administration. Lately a strong emphasis has been put on the devel-opment of e-services.

“Now the relations of a taxpayer and tax authority are mainly e-based, through an electronic portal. This has resulted in a very high level of electronic filing and reduced tax-payer compliance costs as well as ad-ministration costs for the Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia. Many services at the Rev-enue Service are free. A number of services have become fee-based, of-ten with the fees related to speed of service or personalized assistance,” said Robinson.

Deloitte opened its office in Geor-gia in 2001. The Georgian practice is part of a wider CIS practice. Across the whole region the firm has 98 partners and employs approximate-ly 2,500, and of those around 70 are resident in Georgia.

John Robinson is originally from the UK, but has spent much of his professional life after qualifying as an accountant outside of the UK. He initially spent some time in the Middle East, before spending ap-proximately sixteen years in Central Europe mainly working in Poland, also spending time working in most of the Central European countries. Robinson spent two years in the US and most recently spent almost two years in Nigeria.

“I have only recently arrived in Georgia, and after just a few months have started to get a feel for the peo-ple, place and the business environ-ment and its challenges,” he contin-ued. “Compared to other places that I have worked in, audit requirements in Georgia are a little different, as it is primarily only required for the banks and public interest entities and for those entities that require audit as a result of requirements imposed on them by providers of loans and other related financing arrangements. The market therefore is quite small with many companies, even some large ones, not in need of these services. Whilst the services of the auditors are appreciated by the clients we have, as the regulations for audit do not touch many smaller and medium sized enterprises the understanding of what an audit actually is, and the added benefits that can be derived from this service are not always well understood in the marketplace.”

Q. Please could you name the biggest sectors and companies which you serve?

A. As you would imagine, because of the fact that banks and public in-terest entities (PIEs) are the ones that actually require audits, these make up a reasonable proportion of the work we do in audit. We do also have significant clients in the retail, real estate and manufacturing sec-tors. Within the tax department we have an impressive list of clients in all sectors providing them with a full range of taxation services. There is an increasing appetite though for additional consulting projects in the market which we are looking at carefully in col-laboration with our other CIS colleagues. At the moment we use combined CIS and Georgian teams in order to bring the best of Deloitte to our clients.

We have some senior members of staff from our US firm resident in Georgia work-ing on two large USAID projects with a number of local experts. The two projects we have are a USAID four-year Eco-nomic Prosperity Initiative (EPI) which is designed to improve enter-prise, industry, and country-level competitiveness in Georgia. The project serves as a catalyst to spur investments, increase employment, productivity and access to local finance in agriculture and high-export manufacturing and service sectors. The second is a three year USAID Hydropower Investment Promotion Project (HIPP) that sup-ports market-based initiatives to stimulate and secure international investments into Georgia’s small

and medium-sized hydroelectric power market.

Q. In your opinion what are companies’ expectations of their auditors?

A. Many times the companies are looking to get efficient audits and to meet the deadlines set by the vari-ous stakeholders of the businesses. The added benefit of having a fresh pair of eyes look at certain aspects to the business though is invaluable. Whilst there is no doubt a benefit to the audit process, it does inevi-tably lead to some disruption. Lo-gistically just having space for our teams can be challenging, but more

importantly the client’s staff still have their day-to-day work to complete as well as to answering our enquiries. We need to be re-spectful of this in the way in which we approach the work and to plan as much as pos-sible to minimize any disruption so that this indeed can be as efficient and effective as possible.

Q. Each firm has its own standards and guidelines that a client should meet. What cir-cumstances should clients sat-isfy to be audited by Deloitte?

A. Deloitte as with all the other Big Four firms has a very robust system of client and engagement acceptance. Quite a lot of time and effort goes into background checks, conflict of interest checks and other such matters. We strive to work with clients that share our own high stan-dards and values. This is not nec-essarily only size related, however from a practical perspective as our cost structures are higher because of the investments that we make in how

we operate as a business and the in-vestment we make in our people and tools we are often more expensive. We do not apologize for this however as we want to be measured by value added rather than simply the cost of the services.

Q. Due to the high expenses many SMEs cannot afford the cost of being audited. Do you serve SMEs in Georgia and what are your offers for them? In general do you think that audit is necessary for SMEs?

A. Many of the SME companies do not require audits by law and therefore the cost does not really factor unless they have specific cir-cumstances that require them to be audited. My own opinion however is that the market would benefit from more entities being subjected to au-dit procedures. The quality of finan-cial information will be enhanced and the decision-making will im-prove as the underlying data will often be more reliable. It also gives these businesses an insight from a group of professionals that see in the course of any time period a lot of different issues. Some of these are recurring issues and some are specif-ic. As we deal with such issues on a daily basis we can more easily bring cost-effective solutions to clients.

Q. You are auditing interna-tional firms in Georgia, what are the major concerns and ob-stacles for foreign businesses in Georgia?

A. The foreign businesses we deal with are generally less concerned with how things work in Georgia compared to other more challeng-ing places. Bureaucracy is not some-thing we hear as a major concern of the international clients that we have.

Q. Please tell us the advan-tages of having an internal au-dit department within a com-pany. In your opinion is the service becoming popular in Georgian companies?

A. Internal audit is a valuable function provided that its mandate is clear and its reporting lines are well established. The establishment of an internal audit plan for any giv-en period needs to be clear as this is not the same scope as for external audit. There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all model. As clients get more sophisticated these will certainly become more and more visible in companies, however there is some way to go before I would say that it is “becoming popular” in Georgian companies.

Q. Please name the most im-portant recent changes to the tax system of Georgia?

A. Attractiveness of the Georgian tax system has been boosted by the following tax administration reform initiatives:

• Rationalizing the number of taxes;

• Restructuring the headquarters and the operational units of the Georgian Revenue Service;

• Strengthening client orientation with modernized public offices and new services such as the Personal Tax Advisor service and e-services;

• Compliance initiatives such as a new Alternative Audit option for taxpayers and requiring cash-based businesses to use modern cash reg-isters with real time reporting to the Revenue Service;

• A new mediation process that aims to avoid tax audit disputes and reduce the likelihood that these will escalate to formal disputes.

Q. How does the firm support the development of its employ-ees’ careers?

A. We are ultimately a “people business” - our people deal with our clients’ people. Our people are our main asset as a professional services firm.

We have an enormous amount of interest shown in our firm both globally and locally. And we are in a position where we can be selective and bring people in who are high-quality, both in terms of what they have achieved academically and in-tellectually.

All client-facing professionals are required to study for internation-ally and locally recognized qualifica-tions depending upon their field of expertise. This is supported by the firm in terms of time off for study as well as of course financial support. Our people are updated on new and upcoming changes through ongo-ing training programmes. For our people on the job training, coaching by more senior employees and feed-back from the engagement work are as important as any formal training programmes and we put significant efforts into these in order to devel-op the best professional staff in the market.

Q. What is the main chal-lenge for the firm at the mo-ment?

A. One is that we need to develop our own talent pool as there is not a large labour market with the right skills from which we can hire. There-fore we need to hire people and then train and give them the experiences to develop into competent profes-sionals which takes time and re-sources.

Another challenge would be the tremendous fee pressure in the mar-ketplace for professional services. There is a continuing downward trend that is, to a great extent, un-sustainable in a developing market. The cost of living and general cost of labour cannot increase with the cost of professional services going down. This coupled with the fact that we need to invest more in talent devel-opment just adds to the complica-tion. Having said that though we work closely with our clients to have value driven rather than cost driven discussions and we are confident that in time we will reach a situation where fair fees for outstanding ser-vice are the norm.

“inteGrity anD an overall DeSire to

“Do the riGht thinG” GoeS a lonG way in bUSineSS aS well aS the appliCation oF CoMMon SenSe.”

john robinSon, audit partner at deloitte cis


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U.S. Business In Georgia“Today’s Young Generation is More Educated,”

President of Caucasus University The FINANCIAL


Almost 100 per-cent of Cau-casus Univer-sity’s Master’s

graduates are employed, while up to 90 percent of Bachelor’s graduates are in work as well. “Demand for our graduates is very high,” Kakha Shengelia, President of Caucasus University, told The FINANCIAL. “It is con-stantly being said that the unemployment rate in Georgia is very high, but in reality any good spe-cialist is needed and in demand. I know of many businesses that cannot find properly qualified staff to work for them.”

Caucasus University has up to 300 graduates of both masters and bach-elors degrees a year.

“All graduates who study well are either employed or have their own businesses. There are many examples of our graduates working abroad. They work in many different cities including Baku, Yerevan, Mos-cow, New York, London, Prague, Tokyo, even Buenos Aires. We are spreading Georgia’s fame through-out the whole world.”

Q. Who are the main employ-ers of your graduates?

A. They are employed in all sec-tors. The biggest employers are banks and audit firms as well as big companies like Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Metalurgi Rustavi.

Q. Caucasus University was founded with the support of the USA. What are the possibil-ities of studying in the US for your students?

A. Lots of our students study in the USA. 20-30 students go there each semester. So we give them double-diplomas. We have the first 4 year American Ph.D programme in Georgia which was financed by US-AID and is very successful.

We offer the most double-diplo-mas in the Caucasus and many inter-national programmes. Our students currently study in the USA, UK, France, Japan, South Korea, Argen-tina, Canada etc. We want to make learning abroad one of the necessary components for graduating from Caucasus University.

Currently about 100 of our stu-dents are studying abroad. We choose them by ratings. The uni-versity finances a lot of them but we have many cases where we just help a student to study abroad while the student pays for themselves.

Q. How does USAID support the University?

A. USAID helps us to create good programmes. This concerns Bachelor, Master as well Ph.D pro-grammes. At the same time, they have supported us in several proj-ects including a lecturers exchange programme and trainings for busi-nesswomen. If not for the support of the USA and this fund we would not have been created at all.

Q. Caucasus University was founded in 1998. What has changed in the system since then?

A. The systems of then and now are totally different. The way that we have developed since 2003, when Saakashvili’s government came into power, has really been a time of building an entirely new education system. There was great corruption

in the system at the time. We could not even run examinations properly. Corruption was later abolished how-ever, and we along with the whole system made significant progress.

As for the University, Caucasus Business School was founded by the American State Department and US-AID. This was an entirely American project. Lots of people still know Caucasus University as Caucasus Business School. There are several good universities but the first Ameri-can school in the Caucasus still has the biggest fame in the region.

I hope that the new government will pay more attention to educa-tion and that the system will grow as a result. This automatically means our growth. We are currently one of the most competitive universities in Eastern Europe and we have possi-bilities to develop even further.

Q. Is the volume of students also different now to how it was back then?

A. The country’s youth is com-pletely different. The general level of knowledge of students nowadays compared to in that period is incom-parable. The young generation today has a deal more knowledge. I’m glad that such a generation is growing and that they will soon be the ones to rule the country.

Q. You said that the edu-cation system is developing greatly. But what western standards must still be adopt-ed?

A. What we are missing is disci-pline. Curriculums have to improve significantly. Lecturers are of quite a low level as well; the system really lacks good lecturers. There are only a few good teachers of each sub-

ject. Part of the young generation, who have been educated abroad or worked there, are returning to Georgia to teach here, but it is not enough.

As for us, from the beginning we had our curriculums taken from American universities and have con-tinued to do so up till now. We have been following the Western standard guidelines for all these years.

Q. Which are the most and least demanded faculties at the moment?

A. Our school of Business has been maintaining its huge popular-ity as well as Law. Tourism and IT are gaining more and more popular-ity with time. Engineering is quite in demand also. Humanitarian fac-ulties are the least popular. Fortu-nately, psychology is still in slight demand unlike philology or history.

Of course, this is not good. But the market rules the process. I still think that the state has to support the situation; a little interference is necessary.

Q. How do you see the role of universities in this process?

A. Private universities can’t inter-fere in this. It is the responsibility of the state and therefore state univer-sities. My responsibility is to offer good programmes in the directions which are in demand and to produce qualified professionals; the specific faculties are not most important to us.

Q. How would you evaluate the business environment in the country?

A. On the whole the situation is good. But I hope that the new government will change a lot and improve the general situation sig-nificantly. It is difficult to make a prognosis at a time when there are big changes happening in the gov-ernment. Business must become totally independent from the state. The only communication between business and state must be in the paying of taxes. Our hope for the future is that it will be much better than the current situation.

Q. What are the main chal-lenges for foreign and espe-cially American businesses in Georgia?

A. Their main interest when start-ing a business in Georgia is how safe their capital will be here. So the safe-ty of their capital is the main chal-lenge for them. Investors are also interested in low taxes. high living standards additionally support in-vestors entering the country. A lack of any of these factors may become a challenge for foreign businesses.

The entrance of more Ameri-can businesses is very positive for the country. What it means is that American money will be in the coun-try and as a result the USA will be more interested in the safety and prosperity of Georgia.

Q. What is your advice for to-day’s young generation? How can they gain success in busi-ness?

A. I advise everyone to be hard-working. Only in that way will they have the possibility to grow in to good professionals. If they do work hard, then I’m sure that they will gain great success. Hard work is the only way for any student to become a good employee or run their own business.

kakha ShenGelia, president of caucasus university


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Advertiser: Caucasus University. Contact FINANCIAL Ad Dep at [email protected]

Studium Pretium Libertatis

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Advertiser: Radisson BLU Hotel Batumi. Contact FINANCIAL Ad Dep at [email protected]

Advertiser: Radisson BLU Iveria Hotel. Contact FINANCIAL Ad Dep at [email protected]


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Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel has had the Best Occupancy Rate in 2012

The FINANCIALby TAKo KheLAIA

The year 2012 has been the best year so far in terms of occupancy

according to Michael Jacobi, General Manager of Radisson Blu Ive-ria Hotel. The Hotel has been in operation since September 2009 and its business levels have grown steadily since the opening according to Mr. Jacobi.

“A lot of business over the sum-mer was related to the parliamen-tary elections on 1 October,” said Mr. Jacobi.

“October was a little bit quieter than initially forecasted which was linked to the election outcome. Sev-eral projects were on hold during the formation of the new govern-ment which affected the numbers of visitors coming to Tbilisi. We are optimistic about the rest of the year,” Jacobi said.

“We are predominantly a business hotel and mainly host visiting guests

from outside of Georgia. Our key feeder markets remain the CIS and our neighbouring countries, how-ever we also see increasing demand from areas in Western Europe, the United States as well as Asia,” Jacobi said.

Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel often hosts different celebrities from all around the world. Among the ce-lebrity guests of Radisson Blu Ive-ria there have been Roberto Cavalli, Sharon Stone, Andy Garcia and many more.

“All of our guests are important to us and the real celebrities for us are the guests that are loyal and come back to stay with us over and over again. These guests get the real VIP treatment they deserve. We are proud to have built up a large num-ber of repeat visitors already and this number is growing steadily,” Jacobi said.

According to Mr. Jacobi, as part of the Hotel’s Responsible Business Program they launched the Think Planet initiative in May of this year. This initiative aims to reduce 25% of electricity consumption by 2015 and 5% by the end of this year.

“We have a range of activities linked to energy saving and I am happy to report that we are exceed-ing the saving targets quite substan-tially,” he added.

“We have plenty of additional facilities at the Hotel. Our spa is a real wow factor. It is located on the top floors of the hotel with amazing views over Tbilisi. It is spread over 1,600 sq.m and its facilities include several treatment rooms, an infin-ity pool overlooking the city, sauna

and steam rooms as well as a fantas-tic gym. The spa is one of the most popular facilities with our visitors,” Jacobi said.

Mr. Jacobi says that the Hotel wel-comes competition as competition keeps them alert and on their toes.

“The best way to beat the com-petition is to offer better services, better facilities, friendlier staff and simply a better value offering. We have some very good hotels here in Tbilisi so we have to spend a lot of time and effort to stay ahead,” Ja-cobi said.

New Year is coming soon and as usual Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel will offer its guest different events and celebrations specially for this date.

“As in the last few years we will once again host a great party over New Year’s Eve, including an amaz-ing live band and delicious food and beverages in a relaxed and fun atmo-sphere. I recommend people to call our hotel as soon as possible to make an early booking as the demand is already very high. We will also have some activity in our fantastic Filini Restaurant and there will be plenty of action over the Christmas period as well,” Jacobi said.

As Mr. Jacobi says, the Hotel is starting their super Sunday Brunch again, which will be the biggest and most generous brunch buffet that Tbilisi has seen so far.

“Brunch is starting from 4 Novem-ber, timings are from 12.30pm to 3.30pm and include an all-you-can-eat buffet with live cooking stations, a designated kids’ corner as well as unlimited soft drinks, selected wine and beer,” Mr. Jacobi said.

Radisson Batumi Expecting High Occupancy over New Year Celebrations

The FINANCIALby TAKo KheLAIA

Radisson Blu Batumi Hotel expects high occupancy dur-

ing the New Year celebra-tions according to Mr. Torbjorn Bodin, General Manager of the Hotel. As Mr. Bodin says, summer is the high season in Ba-tumi and this is reflected in the increased number of hotel bookings during this period. “We were running at almost full hotel capacity from mid-June to mid-September with a lot of people in the Hotel, around the pools and in the restaurants,” he added.

Featuring 168 rooms the property is located at the centre of the city alongside the famous Batumi Bou-levard. It is conveniently located in the main business district of Batumi. The Radisson Blu Hotel, Batumi, is designed for comfort. The bedrooms

feature trendy and modern interior design and come equipped with com-plimentary high-speed Wi-Fi. The majority of the rooms offer breath-

taking views over the Black Sea.Radisson Blu Hotel was officially

opened on 10 August, 2011. During this period the Hotel gained popu-

larity and success with its stunning combination of luxury and intuitive service with panoramic beauty and high class comfort.

“We opened the Hotel in late 2011 and we are still in the ramp-up stage with the hotel operations. A year to date the Hotel is performing as planned, where of course the sum-mer season is our high performance period,” Mr. Bodin said.

“Business travellers are our busi-ness base in the off season. For win-ter our focus will be to attract con-ference and meeting groups. Since Batumi is very nice during the winter as well, we will also get people trav-elling for leisure,” Mr. Bodin said.

There are many hotels in Batumi and more to come. If all hotels should be able to give a return on investment we need to create a more attractive atmosphere around Batumi. The pri-vate sector needs to join forces with the Government and the Department of Tourism of Adjara to attract more visitors,” Mr. Bodin stated.

“Since the opening our hotel has followed the expected performance. If we consider the individual book-ings, since the booking pattern var-ies between groups and individuals, most of our reservations come on-line, mainly through our website: radissonblu.com/hotel-Batumi,” Mr. Bodin said.

“We are expecting a moderate in-crease in occupancy for next year,” he added.

”The price of a hotel room varies in all hotels on an almost daily ba-sis. You cannot save an unsold hotel room and sell it the next day. This is why the rates are different during the high season and low season. For

Radisson Blu Batumi the rates in the low season are around USD 150 and in the high season around USD 250,” Mr. Bodin said.

“Our hotel is a well-equipped, full service hotel. Besides our 168 stunningly designed modern hotel rooms, we are offering state-of-the-art meeting and events facilities, an outstanding Anne Semonin Spa with outdoor and indoor swimming pools, four restaurants and bars, including the acclaimed Clouds Bar and Restaurant with a view over the city and the Black Sea. In the build-ing there is also Casino Iveria,” Mr. Bodin said.

“This year, besides guests living in Georgia, our visitors mainly came from Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Azer-baijan, Armenia and different parts of Europe. Since the Hotel is almost new, we are not looking for major changes at the Hotel. We have just launched our new Experience Meet-ings concept where we offer a new style of personalized meetings,” Mr. Bodin stated.

“Our hotel is quite popular in terms of arranging business meet-ings and forums. Many international meetings are held in Batumi and we have had a large number of par-ticipants staying in our hotel,” Mr. Bodin said.

Radisson Blu Batumi hotel is starting to prepare for the New Year and Christmas celebrations. Accord-ing to Mr. Bodin they are working on different concepts for the New Year festivities.

“I can already say that we will have a New Year’s party with dinner and dancing to live music in a warm and elegant environment,” he said.

torbjorn boDin, General manager of the radisson blu batumi Hotel

MiChael jaCobi, General manager of radisson blu iveria Hotel


C M Y K


FrANK KLobuCArGorbI

Most understand that the quality of life for the poorest Geor-gians is quite

bad. It would be reasonable, though, to think that the situ-ation has been improving with the seemingly steady growth in GDP, right? Unfortunate-ly, this is quite untrue. The poor of Georgia are among the hungriest in the world, at least by self-assessment.

Georgian Opinion Research business International, with partners around the globe, carried out the most recent Global Barometer survey for WIN-Gallup International. We asked respondents wheth-er they had problems feeding themselves at any point over the last 12 months. World-wide, 12% of respondents said they often had too little to eat (3%) or that it was a problem sometimes (9%). Georgians fared worse than that with a 62% “freedom from hunger,” a rate higher than only five other countries.

These numbers may seem radical, but we can find cor-roborating evidence in many surveys. GORBI has many times asked the question, “Which of the following best describes your family’s finan-

cial situation?” In 2005, over half of respondents said they had enough money for food, but not for clothing; another 20% said they hadn’t enough money even for food. These numbers have not improved, either. In fact, 43% of respon-dents said they didn’t have enough money for clothing in 2012, and 37% had times where they could not afford enough food.

wealthThe global distribution of

this hunger is somewhat sur-prising, and has far less to do with wealth than you might expect. Virtually all of some countries’ citizens feel they had enough to eat last year, such as Hong Kong (99%), Tunisia (99%), and Azerbai-jan (96%). Other countries have much more trouble feeding their citizens, such as Cameroon (49%), Palestine (48%), and the terribly hun-gry South Sudan (20%).

This “felt-hunger” rate seems to be completely unre-lated to the strength of a coun-try’s economy. The countries in this poll were categorized into high, middle, and low income countries (based on local purchasing power), and there was virtually no dif-ference in the average felt-hunger by income strata. The

US, with a per capita GDP of $48,442, scored a 78% on the felt-hunger index. However, Vietnamese earning $3,435 a year on average, less than Georgians, had virtually no problems eating in the last 12 months (96%).

The reason this is worth mentioning: this is one of a series of examples clearly showing that GDP growth does not solve socioeconomic problems like hunger and ex-treme poverty; the research-ers who worked on this study suggest that felt-Hunger likely has social roots beyond poverty. Especially in coun-tries like Georgia, different kinds of economic and social reform would be needed to properly address these issues.

Massive amounts of foreign investment have flowed into

the country, and the govern-ment has borrowed well over a billion dollars from the IMF to enact economic reform. Because of this, Georgia has enjoyed some very impressive GDP growth since the mid-1990s, repeatedly posting double digit annual growth. This has not been a robust and inclusive growth, though, as income is distributed less equally in Georgia than in ev-ery western country, includ-ing the US.

I would suggest the nearly exclusive investment on tour-ism and viticulture industries is a major factor in this asym-metric growth, especially when combined with crony-ism at all levels of govern-ment. If the Georgian govern-ment is serious about solving

the widespread hunger prob-lems, it will steer foreign and domestic investments to areas which, while not providing big and immediate returns, provide a better foundation for work and security for the poorest and hungriest Geor-gians.

SelF-aSSeSSMentS

Finally, it’s important to briefly discuss the fact that these numbers come from self-assessment; if we can at-tribute the persistence of hun-ger to culture, we could cer-tainly attribute an inclination to over represent felt-hunger and poverty to culture. Per-haps Georgians aren’t actually so hungry, but rather they like to complain. Unfortunately for the hopeful, other statis-tics that don’t rely on self-assessment seem to confirm these numbers.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), for ex-

ample, calculates world hun-ger by estimating the calorie intake of various members of the household and under-nourishment in the popula-tion. The total number of hungry people by the FAO’s calculations is 925 million as of 2010, whereas this survey estimates 840 million suffer from felt-hunger. On a coun-try level, the FAO does not place Georgia as far down on the list as our poll has, but it still declares that over one million Georgians suffer from undernourishment, around 25% of the population.

Even with a disagreement on the extent of undernour-ishment, all agree: Georgia has far too many hungry citi-zens.

This report is exclusively provided to The FINANCIAL. Crediting The FINANCIAL is obligatory.Visit GORBI website at gorbi.com

Bidzina, Mshia!Often Sometimes "Freedom from

felt-Hunger"Hong Kong 0% 1% 99%Tunisia 0% 1% 99%Germany 1% 1% 97%Netherlands 1% 2% 97%Poland 0% 3% 97%Global Average 3% 9% 88%Georgia 23% 15% 62%Nigeria 23% 24% 54%South Africa 7% 39% 54%Cameroon 20% 31% 49%Palestinian territories 17% 34% 48%South Sudan 17% 63% 20%

# of Countries "Freedom from felt-Hunger"

Low Income(<10,000 USD PPS)

24 87%

Middle Income(10,000 - 30,000 PPS)

17 89%

High Income(> 30,000 USD PPS)

16 88%

which makes it easier for western companies to find and train employees; and of huge importance is Georgia’s geographical location along the old Silk Road and its in-frastructure development over the last few years. We have two ports, a rail system, international airports and a continuously improving set of roads and highways connect-ing them.

Q. What has changed in Georgia since Am-Cham was established and what is the role of the Chamber in these processes?

A. You are asking about a time spanning the days when we didn’t have regular elec-tricity to run the computers in our offices through to to-day - a time when, by most accounts we live in a modern, European country. The short answer is that the changes have been unprecedented in scope and speed. The role of AmCham has been steadfast in these fourteen years of our existence although we do employ various methods of achieving our goals based on the various political and eco-nomic environments we have worked through. We always work for the overall better-ment of the business climate, to promote US and Foreign Direct Investment and pro-tect the economic interests of our members. Specifically, our biggest successes have been major revisions of the

Tax and Customs codes. In-suring the Labour Code is a competitive one for bringing investment, numerous Trade and Investment Conferences and Delegations aimed at promoting Georgia as a place to invest and creating a strong platform for open dialogue between the public and pri-vate sectors.

Q. Which fields are the most attractive for US businesses currently?

A. US investors are slightly more risk-averse than other foreign investors. That being said, we see lots of US man-agement contracts and con-sultancy. We have the big five audit & accounting firms. We also have investors interested

in energy, technology and hospitality.

Q. What should Ameri-cans that are thinking of investing in Georgia know in advance?

A. Well, for those familiar with The Wizard of Oz book and movie, “you’re not in Kansas anymore!” They need to understand that this is a developing economy and a developing democracy. Obvi-ously Georgia is an emerging market with all the opportu-nity and risks associated. As far as Georgia-specific issues are concerned, the pace at which legislation can change in Georgia has often been diz-zying. You need an excellent and well-informed tax or le-gal advisor to keep you up to date. Due diligence is key.

Q. Which Georgian products could be made popular in the US and what do Georgian busi-nesses lack when it comes to expanding to foreign markets?

A. Wine, water and per-haps processed agricultural products could be popular in the US. As for the weak sides of Georgian business, when it comes to expanding to foreign markets I would sort out capi-tal (financial) resources and experience in international marketing strategies.

Q. How does the US benefit from investing in Georgia?

A. Speaking of the US as a country, meaning a govern-ment, I think it is a strategi-cally important geo-political

decision and I strongly urge the US to continue on its course of support to Georgia. MCC, OPIC and even EBRD in which the US has a signifi-cant capital share, are exam-ples of financial investment mechanisms the US Govern-ment has.

Q. In your opinion, which American fran-chises might be success-ful in Georgia? Why are global brands like Star-bucks, Burger King or others not expanding their markets to Geor-gia?

A. I think that the number one impediment to those com-panies and others like them coming to Georgia is the small market size. Although, specifi-cally for Starbucks and many others, the lack of protection of Intellectual Property Rights (brand protection) in Georgia is also strongly concerning.

Q. Do you take into consideration David Lee’s experience as the former President of Am-Cham? And how does he help you in running the Chamber?

A. I served as David’s Vice President for the four years that he was President and I certainly learned a lot from watching the way he led the AmCham and the experiences we went through. He did a great job. He now serves in an advisory capacity, as an Emeritus, which gives the Board and me the ability to benefit from his experience when needed.

28 new CoMpanieS joineD the aMeriCan ChaMber oF CoMMerCe in GeorGia thiS

year, whiCh ConSiSteD oF 165 CoMpanieS in total. SinCe itS inCeption, aMChaM haS inCreaSeD itS MeMberShip year on year. in jUSt the

laSt Few MonthS, aMChaM haS welCoMeD Frontera

reSoUrCeS, DeChert GeorGia, Grant thornton, the hanGar

bar, Statoil, perDUe FarMS., DexUS, hUalinG international

SpeCial eConoMiC zone, noDia, UrUMaShvili & partnerS anD poliCy anD ManaGeMent

ConSUltinG GroUp (pMCG).

the Main ChallenGe to the CoUntry anD to oUr bUSineSSeS

waS to Get throUGh the eleCtion proCeSS peaCeFUlly

anD DeMoCratiCally. i’M proUD to Say that, onCe

aGain, GeorGia exCeeDeD the worlD’S expeCtationS. i think that next year will preSent a

SiMilar ChallenGe anD i expeCt another peaCeFUl proCeSS.

Continued from p. 2



C M Y K


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current prices on Gasoline and diesel 5 November, 2012, GeorGia

Gasoline prices presented by BusinessTravelComHotel and airticket bookinG: 2 999 662 | sky.Ge

KhachapuriIndex

KhachapurI Index Is exclusIvely provIded to the FinanCial by iSet

october 2012

KhachapurI Index:

consuMer expectatIons

are up, and so are prIces, too!

by erIC LIvNY ANd LAshA LAbAdze

In October 2012, the Tbilisi price of khachapuri added 3.3% compared to the previ-ous month, while prices in Ba-tumi and Kutaisi increased by

3.2% and 3.6%, respectively. Tela-vi saw the largest increase (5.7%), as could be expected at this time of the year. Calculated as a simple average of individual city indices, the national Kh-Index added al-most 4% compared to September 2012, reaching 3.3 GEL.

While traditionally the main driver of Khachapuri Index in-flation at this time of the year is cheese, last month an additional element of drama was supplied by the post-election hike in the price of wheat flour. In Telavi, for example, the cheapest flour pro-duced from locally grown wheat added some 13% (from 80 to 90 tetri), while a 50kg bag of “Kar-men” flour increased by about 20% (from 40 to 48 GEL). On average, the price of flour did not increase as much: by 8% in both Telavi and Kutaisi, and by 5% and 3% in Batumi and Tbilisi, respec-tively.

econoMIcs lesson oF the

WeeK. consuMer

conFIdence boosted by

electIons, In tbIlIsI

Our Consumer Confidence Sur-vey was conducted in the third week of October, capturing the effect of higher bread prices and elections. These two events may have worked in the opposite direc-tions, partially cancelling out each other, yet the overall effect is posi-tive, especially as far as expecta-tions are concerned.

The sharp improvement of al-most 8 percentage points in the Consumer “Expectations Index” is a sign that as a whole the Geor-gian public is welcoming the first orderly and peaceful democratic transition in Georgia’s modern history. The overall Consumer Confidence Index did not improve as much, climbing from -11.8% in September to -8% in October 2012. Still, this is the highest level reached by the index since its launch in May 2012. Consumers’ assessment of the current situa-tion (measured by the “Present

Situation Index”) remained with-out change (-17% compared to -16.8% in September). However, expectations regarding personal financial standing and the gen-eral economic situation improved quite significantly, crossing for the first time into the positive ter-ritory (+1%, compared to -6.8% in September).

Georgia being far from homoge-neous, it may be useful to see how people’s perceptions of the recent changes in the economic in politi-cal realities vary across different strata of Georgia’s population.

As could have been expected, the (positive) impact of elections is more pronounced in Tbilisi rel-ative to the (negative) impact of higher bread prices. This is quite consistent what we know about Tbilisi. First, it has predominately voted for the Georgian Dream. Second, it is quite a bit wealthier than the rest of Georgia, spending less on food as a share of income, and – as a result – suffering less from food inflation and the hike in the flour and bread prices.

Tbilisi now exceeds rest-of-Georgia on almost all Consumer

Confidence parameters, but the differences are most pronounced as far as the likelihood of mak-ing major purchases and abil-ity to save are concerned. Tbilisi residents are considerably more confident that now is the time to save (question 10) and make ma-jor purchases (question 8). They are also more certain about their ability to save (question 11) and make such purchases in the future (question 9).

It is worth noting, however, that ability to save (questions 11 and 12) remains a major com-mon weakness for all Georgians, regardless of age, gender, type of settlement and education. This is evident from our survey and the macroeconomic data avail-able from the National Bank of Georgia. As a country, Georgia is saving much less than most other nations in the region or countries that are comparable to Georgia in terms of economic development. A partial solution – at the individ-ual level – is being currently pro-vided by subsistence farming and the steady inflow of remittances but a more “civilized” policy solu-

tion should be sought in the me-dium term.

… and depressed by hIGher prIces

In rest oF GeorGIa

Most interestingly, however, there was very little change in 9 out of 12 consumer confidence parameters of the non-Tbilisi population and, in particular, there was almost no change at all in any of the expectations-related parameters. Thus, outside Tbilisi people seem to have no hopes (or illusions) concerning the new government’s ability to quickly generate change and turn around the difficult economic situation. Moreover, if anything, the chang-es in sentiment we do observe are negative, perhaps under the in-fluence of the recent price hikes. People tend to think that com-pared to September now is a less appropriate time to make major purchases or save. They also be-came somewhat more negative in their assessment of the change in Georgia’s general economic situation over the past 12 months (question 3).

the Iset KhachapurI

IndexThe ISET Policy Institute (ISET-

PI, www.iset-pi.ge) is an indepen-dent think-tank associated with the International School of Economics at TSU (ISET). ISET-PI designed a simple and robust way of track-ing inflation and the differences in the cost of living across Georgia’s major cities. Unlike traditional “consumer baskets” used for moni-toring price inflation, our “basket” includes only those ingredients that are needed to cook one Imeretian khachapuri (cheese, butter, flour, yeast, eggs, and milk) and energy inputs (gas and electricity). We conduct a monthly survey of the major markets in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi and Telavi to measure the differences in the cost of living across Georgia and to track the monthly fluctuations in the prices of all relevant ingredients.

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believe this is nonsense and is being used for political purposes. Georgia has an interest in doing business with both American and Rus-sian companies. The United States is the larg-est economy in the world and I see no reason why the election of the new government would be an obstacle for further trade and a strength-ening of ties. It is obvious that a normalizing of relations with Russia would have benefits for the economy and hence be good for American and any other foreign businesses in Georgia,” David Lee said.

“As a US business, Magticom sees the peace-ful transfer of power to the new administration as a wonderful achievement that reduces busi-ness risk considerably. We have no intention of delaying any of our planned investments in in-frastructure and new products. I am delighted that we are now able to carry all the Georgian language TV channels on our MagtiSat service which will enable all Georgians, wherever they live, to receive high quality TV,” Lee added.

“I am not a politician or a diplomat and do not care to speak of diplomatic relationships. However I lived for four years in Sakhalin and three years in Moscow. I believe that the vast majority of ordinary Russians think of Georgia and Georgians fondly and with kindness. They wish to import our products and holiday here as it was before. This is surely a foundation on which the new administration can build a united Georgia that is on friendly terms and trades with all its neighbors, especially with the EU and I hope one day again with Russia,” he added.

“Georgia is now a democratic country and the world watched and took note. As the Co-Chair of the EUGBC DCFTA Committee, I met with EU representatives recently and it is clear that their perception of Georgia and the lead-ership has changed. Two months ago many people laughed at the prospects of Georgia joining the EU and NATO. No-one is laughing now. A peaceful transfer of power is the best thing that could have happened for business confidence and FDI. Georgia is a “Buy”.”

“For a long time this has been a much great-er factor than the state of the diplomatic rela-tions with Russia. After the initial surprise, my colleagues in the United States and other west-ern countries were delighted that the elections accurately reflected the will of the people to be truly democratic and progressive and they look forward to an improved investment climate.”

Due to the uncertainty of the pre-election period and governmental changes in the country, it is possible that some investors lost confidence in doing business in Georgia or suspended business in the country, but David Lee thinks that the political situation is not an obstacle for investors in Georgia.

“The ease of business tables did not reflect the critical lack of confidence in the judicial and tax processes that existed before the elec-tion. The successful and peaceful transfer of power sends a signal to the whole world that Georgia is open for business. Georgia is a “buy” and I expect many investors will return and new ones will arrive,” said Lee.

David Lee: Georgia is a “buy”Continued from p. 2

“Since Georgia's independence more than 20 years ago, the United States has supported its democratic transition and Europe-Atlantic aspirations. At the outset of your tenure as Prime Minister, we recommit to our strong partnership and look forward to deepening our relationship in the years to come,”

U.S. President Obama's Letter of Congratula-tion to PM Ivanishvili. October 29, 2012


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DaviD Kharazishvili crosseD the finish line in 1hour anD 14 minutes…

TbilisiMarathon, a grand event orga-nized on the Tbilisi Sea Territory on Sunday, October 28, was finalized with the winners’ award ceremony.

TbilisiMarathon was the first grand half-marathon in Georgia dedicated simultaneously to establishing healthy lifestyle in Georgia and to charity. The project was implemented under the aegis of the HeidelbergCement with support of the Athletics National Fed-eration. Everyone, amateur or profes-sional, could participate in the mara-thon. Tbilisi Marathon will be held every year, in autumn, and become a tradition.

GEL 5,000 collected from registration of marathon participants will be transferred to Iavnana Charity Fund for beneficiaries from Tbilisi, Rustavi and Kaspi regions. It is note-worthy that HeidelbergCement, the organizer of the event, doubled this amount and trans-ferred additional GEL 5,000 to the charity fund.

HeidelbergCement, as a building materials producer, implements social projects in those regions, where its enterprises are located. Re-spectively, the Tbilisi Marathon Charity Fund is designated for Tbilisi, Rustavi and Kaspi regions.

Heidelbergcement Doubled the Amount of Money Collected During Charity Marathon

Winners got identified in three categories, namely: for 5km distance winners were re-vealed among boys and girls under the age of 17; on 21 km distance winners were identified in 18 -35 and over 35 - year age categories, also separately among men and women. Winners were awarded with valuable prizes – comput-ers and digital equipment.

David Kharazishvili, being under 35-year category, covered 21 kilometers within 1 hour and 14 minutes and was the first to cross the finish line.

All marathoners received diplomas certify-ing their participation in the first grand half-marathon in Georgia.

Among marathon participants were em-ployees of HeidelbergCement, other business companies and embassies, as well as Tbilisi residents and foreign guests.

„First half-marathon came to its end. The idea turned to be the right one – it was a charity event where the main ob-jective was participation not winning. TbilisiMarathon will become a tradi-tion and we are expecting more par-ticipants for the next year”, - said Nino Subeliani, Communications Manager of Hei-delbergCement.

Memorandum of Cooperation was conclud-ed between Heidelbergcement and the Ath-letics National Federation. Main objec-tive of the Memorandum is to promote a healthy lifestyle in Georgia, specifically to organize sports events – marathons, semi-marathons and runs and promote wide participation of the public in such undertakings.

HeidelbergCement is the global market leader in aggregates and a prominent player in the fields of cement, concrete and other downstream activities, making it one of the world’s largest manufacturers of building materials. The company employs 53 000 peo-ple in 2 500 enterprises across 40 countries of the world. HeidelbergCement is operating in Georgia since 2006 and manages 3 cement and 3 concrete plants.

IREX Georgia Media Development Program to be a Priority


To improve the quality and diversity of content and broaden delivery IREX has provided up to USD 2,000,000 in grants to

media outlets in Georgia for the production of public affairs, investi-gative and other specialized content. The Regional Election Initiative cre-ated a coalition of more than 60 regional media outlets which pro-duced TV, radio and internet cov-erage of the parliamentary election campaign.

“We have also trained more than 100 journalists in new media con-tent production and we are helping a number of media outlets estab-lish websites and create multime-dia content,” Matt Shelley, Country Director, told The FINANCIAL. “This initiative to train journalists in multimedia content production and use of social media will become more intensive in the upcoming (third) year of the project. This is a very ambitious programme and cov-ers a full range of issues important to the establishment and support of independent media. In funding the G-MEDIA Program to this extent (USD 13 million over four years), USAID has established media devel-opment as a priority in Georgia,” he added.

IREX is an international non-profit organization providing lead-ership and innovative programmes to improve the quality of education,

strengthen independent media, and foster pluralistic civil society devel-opment.

Founded in 1968, IREX has an annual portfolio of USD 50 million and a staff of over 400 profession-als worldwide. IREX and its partner IREX Europe deliver cross-cutting programmes and consulting exper-tise in more than 50 countries.

Q. Independent media is one of the main problems in Georgia. Everyone knows that different TV channels were controlled by different politi-cal forces. Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is Prime Minister in Geor-gia, is an owner of Channel 9. In your opinion, is it right when politicians have an im-pact on TV channels or are even the owners of TV stations and how does that hamper me-dia independent improvement in Georgia?

A. I can’t necessarily say that a politician’s ownership of a TV sta-tion is inherently wrong but com-mon sense tells us that when a media outlet is owned by someone active in politics then the news cov-erage will likely reflect the interests of the owner. There is no question that political interests have con-trolled media in Georgia and this is contrary to an independent media sector which is managed according to market forces and where news coverage and programming is based on the interests and needs of the public and not on political factions.

Independent media and journal-ists should serve the interests and

needs of the public rather than special interests, including political parties. A media sector that is con-trolled by political interests will not have the trust and support of a pub-lic which is understandably scepti-cal and even cynical. Access to infor-mation, advertising business, access to public officials and events all become subject to political power. Independent media thrive on trans-parency, a free and open forum for public discussion and a social and business climate in which people are not intimidated by political powers.

Q. What was the biggest project IREX implemented in Georgia in 2012, can you single out the most successful ones?

A. The largest single project in dollar terms was development of the Multimedia Education Center. This is a tremendous space that of-fers first class teaching facilities and the latest digital production equip-ment for student training. It sup-ports teaching for students from the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management (CSJMM at GIPA), the Caucasus School of Media, training programmes run by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty practical skills in order to prepare them for careers in journalism.

Transparency International has used G-MEDIA support to fund a number of important studies in-cluding problems in the advertis-ing sector, difficulties of journalists working in the regional media, and they have been very active in key ef-forts regarding the must-carry rule, regulations on access to information

and transparency in media owner-ship. GYLA uses IREX G-MEDIA support to defend, consult and train journalists on legal issues.

We support a variety of civil so-ciety and media advocacy groups. These groups continue to be an im-portant voice for independent me-dia, working on the safety of jour-nalists, access to information and other issues crucial for development of a free and professional press.

We know that efforts to build in-dependent journalism in Georgia will not be successful unless inde-pendent media outlets are sustain-able. We are working with a number of (mostly regional) media on busi-ness planning and we have trained more than 50 sales and business professionals from media outlets in Tbilisi and the regions. We are also providing support for the first radio audience research project, which will help radio stations sell advertis-ing to businesses in and outside of Georgia. An audit of the TV research system will be done early next year in order to help build advertiser confidence in that system.

Q. What are the upcoming programmes?

A. We are halfway through our four year project. This year we will continue the projects I have dis-cussed but we also have a number of priorities. A key issue facing the Georgian public and media is the digital switchover. This has tremen-dous implications for how broad-cast signals will be provided in the future, who will operate the trans-mission system and who will have

access to it.We will work with our advocacy

organizations to encourage the Gov-ernment to provide a very public process in which all technical, eco-nomic and social issues affected by this change will be openly discussed. We believe the regional media are making progress in terms of their locally-produced programming and we want to support that by provid-ing international trainers to work on-site with their journalists and technical colleagues.

Social media played a significant role in the previous election but we know that many journalists and media outlets are anxious for more training and technical support so we will put new resources into that in the coming year. We are also happy to support radio audience research starting next year. The radio sta-tions have struggled in finding ad-vertisers because they did not have audience data. The IREX G-MEDIA Program has selected a company to start a programme of regular re-search and that company is working with the radio stations and advertis-ing agencies so the system can be sustainable after our support ends. We also want to help the TV sector by providing an audit of the ratings system.

These systems are typically au-dited every couple of years but the Georgian TV industry has not been able to afford an audit in some time and we believe that this will increase the credibility of the TV ratings which will be a benefit to the TV sta-tions and advertisers as well.


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U.S. Business In GeorgiaUSAID Project Secured USD 109 Million FDI,

Waiting for Additional USD 559 MillionThe FINANCIAL


With just 50 employees in total, Economic

Prosperity Initiative’s (EPI) project in Tbilisi, financed by USAID, has so far secured USD 109 million in foreign invest-ment and commitments, with an additional pipeline of investment opportuni-ties of USD 559 million. “In close cooperation with governmental agencies EPI facilitated USD 155 million in exports, mostly through its efforts in the wine and MICE tourism, hazelnut and apparel sectors,” said Tina Mendelson, Project Director for EPI. Tina Men-delson, currently residing in Georgia, is a senior man-ager at Deloitte Consulting, LLP, the implementing firm of the EPI project.

“EPI also achieved consistent in-creases in productivity with 40% average productivity increases for all of its value chains. Our sectors gener-ated 7,050 new jobs and contributed to annual revenue increase of 27% or USD 11.8 million for the agricultural sector, and 61% increase or USD 47 million for the manufacturing and services sectors. As you can see we are passionate about measuring our results, so we better understand our return on investment before we en-gage in new project activities.”

“Since 1992 USAID has imple-mented projects in Georgia that stimulate economic growth, improve the business environment and ex-pand opportunities for the private sector. To this end USAID has in-vested almost USD 2 billion in Geor-gia. Recognizing the opportunity to build upon the combination of assets and an attractive business environ-ment available in Georgia, USAID designed EPI to further increase the country-level competitiveness. The EPI approach is unique in Georgia as it is foremost commercial, target-ing whole sectors to improve their competitiveness, benefiting as many companies and employees as pos-sible.

Similarly, we look for opportuni-ties within Georgia to identify in-terested private companies to serve as our partners. EPI facilitated an alliance with Ferrero, a global con-fectionary company, to provide their own resources and know-how. We conduct a joint programme to enable hazelnut growers in West Georgia to adopt the best growing practices that can significantly increase the quality and yield of Georgian hazelnuts.

We try to help Georgian companies implement production, marketing or other practices that do not require heavy investments. Sometimes very small change can make a huge differ-ence. The mandarin sector is the best example in this regard. Modern tech-niques of pruning or orchard floor management require even less efforts compared to what is common here in Georgia. However, adoption of these practices will significantly increase yields and quality of Georgian manda-rins that can eventually compete with mandarins from Spain or Turkey.

Q. What are the main chal-lenges that Georgian business-es currently face and how does

EPI support the solving of such challenges?

A. The Georgian business climate has changed dramatically over the past decade. The removal of petty corruption, efficiencies in customs operations, low and streamlined tax rates and eGovernance systems that focus on efficiency and customer services, are just some of the ben-efits Georgian businesses can take advantage of that don’t exist in other countries in the region. The chal-lenges, however, that the businesses face, are much more structural in nature. With some notable excep-tions of course, a vast majority of businesses, and especially small and medium-size enterprises, still need to increase their competitiveness to be able to compete domestically and globally. With Georgia being a small country, the only option is to connect to global markets in order to achieve economic development that will al-low its population to prosper.

To start with, businesses need to understand their market and the customer, their specific preferences, standards and quality requirements. Once they know that, they need ac-cess to finance and relevant work-force skills that allows them to de-velop the right product or services, streamline production processes, manage their supply chain efficient-ly, and adopt new technologies. And this is where the challenge exists - businesses lack market linkages and even when they establish them, their access to finance and skilled employees is often very limited. This prevents whole sectors from increas-ing their competitiveness and that is exactly what EPI was designed to support.

Q. What are Georgia’s main perspectives globally?

A. Georgia benefits from a strategic location, beautiful physical features and historical treasures, and tal-ented, energetic people. These assets

can be successfully used to become a part of today’s global economy. For instance, Georgia has the potential to become a regional hub for trade and transit goods - a regional cen-tre for moving goods between large markets in Europe, Central Asia, and even China. Georgia has already been placed on a wine tourism map with its long-standing wine tradition and history, numerous historical places, largest grape varieties and excellent wines, Georgia will be a favourable destination for wine lovers and en-thusiasts. Another important sector is Georgia’s hydro energy potential, especially when supported by the right regulatory and policy frame-work. I think Georgia’s strength is in these rare assets. And of course, there is the role of the government - creating a predictable, business friendly environment that encour-ages transparency and promotes economic development. The rest is a matter of aspiration of Georgian businesses and people. It is their de-cision what story they would like to tell to the rest of the world.

Q.EPI is supporting several sectors in Georgia. From your point of view, which sectors need the biggest support in Georgia and why?

A. Currently EPI is focusing on mandarin, hazelnut, open-field and heated greenhouse sectors in agricul-ture, and several manufacturing and services sectors like apparel, wine and MICE tourism, transport and logis-tics, paper packaging and information and communications technology. To-gether, the selected value chains con-stitute a substantial portfolio that will contribute powerfully to Georgia’s economic growth in terms of employ-ment generation, export growth and attraction of foreign investment.

For example, support of the ap-parel sector is important as it is the fastest way to introduce light manu-facturing in Georgia that currently

represents a very small percentage of Georgian productive sectors. Ap-parel business can increase jobs and incomes for the Georgian popula-tion. This is especially critical for the rural population where a major-ity of the population is subsistence farmers. Since the beginning of our assistance, Georgian-owned apparel sector companies reported their first exports and overall sector exports in-creased by USD 5.6 million.

Q. What do you consider the biggest achievement of EPI in Georgia?

A. It is hard to focus on one achievement, since every single ac-tivity EPI does is committed to the revitalization of different sectors that, in turn, contribute to the eco-nomic growth of Georgia.

Our programme activities have created an impact for broad groups of stakeholders - this past year alone we managed to reach almost 6,000 farmers, over 200 agribusinesses, and almost 600 businesses in the manu-facturing and services sectors through our training and consulting activities. EPI also engaged over 130 agricultur-al and business service providers so that they increased their capabilities, building their long-term sustainabil-ity long after EPI ends - a key premise of the USAID Forward initiative.

During this year, EPI engaged farmers and agribusinesses at EPI Knowledge Plots focusing on low-cost technologies that, when ad-opted, will significantly increase productivity. Overall, these increases in productivity resulted in increased sales of USD 12 million including exports, during the year. Accompa-nied by the project’s development and dissemination of feasibility and financial models for investors and financial institutions to better un-derstand the returns, investment re-quirements, and investment facilita-tion services for interested investors, generated over USD 26.5 million in

domestic investments to establish or expand heated greenhouses, signifi-cantly increasing the industry’s ca-pacity. Foreign investment outreach generated additional results, with USD 63.8 million in foreign invest-ments currently being facilitated by EPI to establish heated greenhouses for this and the upcoming off-season vegetable production.

Focusing on the export of agricul-tural products, EPI also provided targeted assistance to local testing laboratories to gain international ac-creditation by the American National Standards Institute. This will allow for the first time recognition of Georgian laboratories test results by buyers in European and other high-value mar-kets, for such products as fruits, veg-etables, hazelnuts, mineral water and wine. The estimated impact on hazel-nut exports alone ranges from USD 7.5 million to USD 18.8 million per year. Another important area related to ag-riculture is our support in the develop-ment of the crop insurance industry in Georgia. Our assistance in the devel-opment of crop insurance products, tailored training programmes for the insurance industry on agricultural insurance, and a crop insurance pilot project have created 17-fold growth in the annual total sum insured to over USD 7.3 million in 2012, only two years since the project’s start.

On the policy side, EPI garnered the support and resources of global shipping lines and port operators, Georgian railways, freight forward-ers, the Customs and Data Exchange Agency to jointly implement a port community system similar to those of the most developed ports, such as Rotterdam and Singapore. The first releases of the system are already underway, which will create further trade efficiencies in cargo manage-ment, and position Georgia closer to its aspiration to become a regional trade hub. We also partnered with Sakpatenti and directly contributed to a sharp and sustained increase in trademark applications and at least USD 2.4 million in annual savings for public and private sector stakehold-ers through the development of an e-filing system of Intellectual Property Rights applications. Also, through our assistance to the Revenue Service on a number of fronts to implement a risk-based approach to the tax au-dit and administration and a stream-lined tax payments system, Georgia will have a more efficient tax environ-ment for Georgian and international businesses. The estimated benefits for business include as much as USD 14.6 million in annual cost savings.

Q. How would you evaluate the business environment in Georgia?

A. Georgia has been rated as one of the best countries for doing business according to its business infrastruc-ture, financial, legal and profession-al services, and its tax policy. This year Georgia climbed 11 ranks in the World Economic Forum’s 2012-2013 Global Competitiveness Report. With an overall score of 4.1 out of a possi-ble 7, the country moved to 77th posi-tion out of 144 economies. According to the same report, the country has shown some positive indicators in relation to the removal of trade bar-riers and the burden of customs pro-cedures and I am proud that EPI con-tributed to improvement in this area.

Of course, Georgia still faces a number of challenges that need to be addressed to achieve economic prosperity. Predictable business en-vironment, enforcement of property rights, and especially intellectual property rights to spur innovation, effective tax administration, sustain-able environmental policy, fair com-petition and targeted educational and workforce policies, are among them. The new policy makers have a difficult task ahead of them and I look forward to being able to sup-port Georgia through the EPI proj-ect in taking solid steps to improve the country’s competitiveness and achieve prosperity for Georgians.

tina MenDelSon, project director for epi


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U.S. Business In Georgia“Georgia Didn’t Do a Sufficient Job in

Attracting US Funds”MaMUka tSereteli, aMeriCa-GeorGia bUSineSS CoUnCil, believeS that bUSineSS iS waitinG For More FreeDoM in GeorGia

The FINANCIALby NANA MGhebrIshvILI

“The interests of US companies in Georgia are divided in to two areas: the first is interest in American ex-ports of goods, technologies, equip-ment and services; and the second area is investments in the Georgian economy. At this stage we should expect interest in energy, transpor-tation, agribusiness, tourism and financial sectors, but it is also impor-tant to state that any business that brings profit can be interesting for American investors,” said Mamuka Tsereteli, President of the America-Georgia Business Council.

On behalf of its members the America-Georgia Business Council (AGBC) promotes investment op-portunities in Georgia and provides support for Georgian companies seeking export opportunities and international partnerships. AGBC relies on a deep understanding of the Georgian political and business landscape, direct access to high-level government officials and agencies, and diversified business contacts to deliver value and maximize oppor-tunities in Georgia for our members. AGBC was formed in January 1998.

AGBC continually seeks opportu-nities for increased business trans-actions between the two nations, defends the interests of its members, and serves as a platform for con-structive dialogue on a myriad of issues related to the bilateral trade as well as the business climate in Georgia.

“It is hard to talk about the results of the elections at this stage, but ex-pectations are very high among the businesses that are already engaged, as well as among the Georgians who live in the US, that the business en-vironment will change for the better, towards more freedom and more op-portunities,” he said.

Q. You were quoted in your previous interview as saying: “There are between USD 2 and 3 trillion of investment capital available in the US now sitting idle and expecting a destina-

tion for investments. With ef-forts focused on a marketing campaign and internal re-forms some of this money may end up in Georgia.” Where has this money gone? Is it partially invested in Georgia?

A. Most of this money is still not invested. Unfortunately Georgia didn’t do a sufficient job in attracting these funds. According to the World Investment Report of 2012, a large number of multinational corpora-tions still have large amounts of cash reserves that they do not invest due to uncertainties in the world econo-my. With greater stability and pre-dictability, an appropriate market-ing campaign and better allocation of resources Georgia could attract part of these funds.

Q. You have intensive con-tact with businesses in the United States. What is their perception of Georgia?

A. In general awareness of Georgia in the United States is still limited. People know Georgia from news stories that are rarely positive and in most cases are related to conflicts with Russia. Promotion of a positive image of Georgia is very important. The previous government made some effort in this direction, but this effort was scattered and not strate-gic. The new government needs to focus on this issue. Awareness of Georgia will improve the competi-tive position of the country in terms of the attraction of investments or tourists, as well as in terms of the

sale of Georgian products thoughout the world. In general, the perception of Georgia among people who have visited the country is positive, so it is important to find ways to bring more people to Georgia.

Q. How would you evaluate the general business environ-ment in Georgia, has it been progressing from year to year?

A. Georgia has most of the basic laws and regulations, as well as basic infrastructure, that is essential for business activities. Some of the areas of activities are open to competitive business activities. At the same time there are different barriers of entry in a few areas of business activi-ties. The new Georgian Government promised to eliminate those barri-ers. They also promised to estab-lish judiciary independence and an impartial dispute resolution system that should facilitate investments in the Georgian economy. This last point is particularly important since it was almost impossible to win tax or property related cases against the Government in the last several years.

Q. How does the Georgian economic environment and legislation fit Americans’ re-quirements?

A. The limited regulations that exist in Georgia are attractive for investors. I know there is a discus-sion in Georgia about revision of the labour law. I think that the new government should approach this issue with great caution: some basic principles should be in place, but the

labour law shouldn’t become prohib-itive for businesses, otherwise busi-nesses will not invest in Georgia. In general, the key problem of Georgia is not government regulations, but how the Government exercised its power vis-à-vis business, and how the Government approached prop-erty rights, as well as taxation of businesses.

Q. Georgia is advertised by World Bank as the Top Busi-ness Friendly country in the world. It’s reported that Geor-gia is the best choice when it comes to the ease of doing business. Unfortunately this is having no significant influence on the investment volume from the US. Can you explain why?

A. Doing Business ranks coun-tries based on the written rules and regulations, not by their execution. It also limits its assessment by a limited number of indicators. Coun-tries around the world learned how to make changes in written laws and regulations in order to get higher rankings. These changes are not al-ways reflected in the realities of life. Again, a high ranking in Doing Busi-ness is good for the promotion of the country, but it is not enough: you need to have a well-developed, com-petitive market; independent judi-ciary and private properties need to be protected. Georgia had problems in later issues and if improvements are not made, problems with eco-nomic development and job creation will remain.

Q. Which significant deals would you outline from the US side in 2012-13?

A. I hope that there will be some important deals in the hydro-energy area in 2013. The America-Georgia Business Council is working hard with several groups of potential in-vestors to make this happen. I also expect that there will be some invest-ments in agribusiness, if the USD 1 billion agribusiness fund, promised by the new government, is in place and if the fund decides to co-invest, or otherwise mitigate the risks of private investments in agriculture and agribusiness. We also facilitated small investment in the distribution of pharmaceutical products in 2012 which will facilitate the creation of a more competitive market for these products in Georgia.

Q. What should the Georgian state or business sector do to expand US business in the country?

A. The Georgian Government should have equal treatment for all the investors and create a com-petitive environment for Georgian, American, Turkish or any other in-vestors. It is also important to have a stable and predictable legislative, regulatory and tax environment for many years to come. Particular sec-tors of the economy may require ad-ditional incentives, but the policy of infrastructure development and sta-bility of environment should facili-tate more American business com-ing and investing in Georgia. Again, raising awareness of the country is important. The Government needs to revitalize Investment Agency and Invest in Georgia conferences. The America-Georgia Business Coun-cil plans to host its fifteenth annual conference in Washington D.C. on 12 December to facilitate this process.

Q. What are Georgian busi-nesses’ prospects in the US?

A. I have worked for many years on the promotion of Georgia wines in the US. Georgian wines are com-peting with producers from all over the world who are supported by their governments on the US market. Georgian producers have no such support. The Government needs to invest consistently for at least three to five years in the marketing of Geor-gian wines in the US and that will al-low us to establish Georgian wines as a category on the US market. As a result every wine shop will have at least several shelves filled with qual-ity Georgian wines. Wine represents the best that Georgia can offer to the world markets, and wine is also the best tool to raise awareness of Geor-gia. Wine could serve as a driver for other Georgian products as well.

United States is the 7th Largest Trading PartnerThe FINANCIAL

by TAKo KheLAIA

United states is among the top trading partners of Georgia by turnover in January-September 2012 and holds the 7th

place in the list with the turnover USD 341 282, 6 000. Total turnover of trading partners of Georgia from January to September this year was USD 7 594 551, 4 000. Turkey, Azer-baijan, Ukraine Germany, China, Russia, US, Bulgaria, Italy and Ar-menia share the list of top trading partners of Georgia by turnover, ac-cording to GeoStat.

United States is on the 3rd place among top trading partners of Geor-gia by export from January-Septem-ber this year with USD 176 594, 8 000 with 10% share. In the same

period last year USA was top trading partner by export with USD 118 428, 6 000 what is less by USD 581 662 000 in accordance with January-September 2012.

Total exports by trading partners of Georgia amounted to USD 1 770 419, 6 000 in January-September 2012 of which exports of Azerbaijan totalled USD 468 305 6 000, Arme-nia USD 186 374, 5 000, Ukraine USD 119 214, 000, Turkey USD 117 880, 8 000, Canada USD 72 966, 9 000, Bulgaria USD 51 473, 8 000, Belgium USD 48 539, 8 000, Ka-zakhstan USD 43 041, 7 000, Italy USD 36 809, 9 000 and other coun-tries USD 449 217, 8 000, according to GeoStat.

Compared to January- September 2011. The volume of export grew by 14 percent and reached USD 1770 million, while import increased by 17 percent amounting to USD 5824 mil-

lion. The trade deficit reached USD 4054 million and amounted to 53 percent of the total trade turnover.

Total imports in Georgia from January-September 2012 amounted to USD 5 824 131, 8 000. Among top trading partners by imports of Geor-gia is Turkey with USD 1 051 474, 2 000, Azerbaijan USD 472 373, 7 000, Germany USD 428 871, 7 000, Ukraine USD 425 470, 8 000, China USD 418 399, 000, Russia USD 338 899, 5 000, Japan USD 228 703, 4 000, Italy USD 203 282, 2 000, Bul-garia USD 192 633, 8 000, Romania USD 179 272,1 000 and other coun-tries USD 1 884 751, 6 000.

Motor cars had 24,4% share among major commodity positions by ex-ports in January-September 2012. Ferro-alloys 11,5%, fertilizers 5,9%, nuts 3,7%, gold 3,5%, spirituous bev-erages 3,5%, mineral waters 2,6%, bars 2,4%, wine 2,4%, ferrous waste

2,4% and other products 37,7%.Petroleum had 12,1% share of ma-

jor commodity positions by imports in January-September 2012. Motor cars 8,5%,wheat 3,2%, gases 3,1%, medicaments 2,8%, telephones 1,4%, transformers 1,4%, automatic data processing machines 1,3%, structures 1,3%, tractors 1,1% and other products 63,8%.

Index of export import of Georgia has quite increased for January-Sep-tember 2012 in accordance with the last few years. Increase is mostly sig-nificant by export in compare with the year 2009 January-September. Export for this year January-Sep-tember in compare with the year 2009 has increased by 116 %.

For january-September this year Georgias external trade turnover with EU countris amounted to USD 2064 million what is higher by 22% in compare with the index of same

period last year from which Export totalled USD 260 million and import USD 1804 million.

External trade with CIS countries in January-September this year to-talled USD 2378million , up by 11% in accordance with the same period last year. Export from CIS countries amounted to ISD 910 million and import USD 1468 this year.

For January-September 2012, share of 10 biggest trade partners of Georgia by external trades to-talled 66%. the biggest trade part-ner of Georgia is Turkey with USD 1169 million, Azerbaijan USD 941 million and Ukraine USD 545 mil-lion, according to GeoStat. External Merchandise Trade (excluding non-organized trade) of Georgia amount-ed to USD 7595 million in January-September 2012, up 16 percent from the same period of the previous year according to GeoStat.


C M Y K

NoveMber 5, 2012

1Clubs, Pubs…19:00 - Geishas dancesSushi bar Samurai 9 G. Tabidze Str. mob: 577-22-60 01; Tel: 240-29-9921:00 - band “Good company”, DJ DatunaSkyybar 22 metekhi Str. mob: 592 32-32-32 restaurant is working 24 hoursentertainment at the restaurant “mghvime” is colorful. every evening from 20:00 inextinguishable star of Georgian estrada Gia Suramelashvili.estrada ensemble “mghvime” (3 boys and one girl), tam-tam, violin.During weekdays: Singer, composer Kaki Bolkvadze and hot Georgian and asian dancesrestaurant “mghvime”address: left bank of mtkvari river (next to shop “Riverside”) Phone: 2 305 558/ 2 359 540; 599 56 60 72everyday from 17:00 restaurant bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. music program starts from 19:00:Dato archvadze’s quartet “taoba”: Georgian folk and city songs. estrada singers: Giorgi tsiklauri, nina okroashvili, Giorgi Kakutia restaurant “bermukha”agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; mob: 598 59 69 69 20:00-23:00 - Georgian songs with live performance restaurant “Dzveli Sakhli” 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:30 - maidan Jazz band restaurant “maidan” 6, rkinis rigi Str. Tel: 275-11-88; 590 75-11-88 21:00 - rezo Kiknadze - saxophonistcafé “Kala” 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-37 21:00-24:00 - band “Goblins” (covers) pub “Dublin” 8 akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-67

2Cinema“rustaveli” cinema 5 rustaveli ave. Tel: 293-22-53, 2 555-000 “James bond: Skyfall”;“Killing them Softly”;“poker with love rules”;“love with accent”;“hotel transylvania” 3D (Ticket Price: 6,50 - 11,50 Gel)“amirani” cinema 36 Kostava Str. Tel: 299-99-55 “James bond: Skyfall”;“Killing them Softly”;“love with accent”;“hotel transylvania” 3D(Ticket Price: 6,50 - 11,50 Gel)“Sakartvelo” cinema2/9, Guramishvili Ave. Tel: 230-80-80; 269-66-47“James bond: Skyfall”;“poker with love rules”;“love with accent”(Ticket Price: 4 - 8 Gel)

3Theatreroyal District theatre10 abesadze Str. Tel: 299-61-71Katzelmacher Director: Mikhail Charkvianicast: Gaga Shishinashvili, Salome maisashvili, iako chilaia, ani Guliashvili, magda lebanidze, ana TsereteliDuration: 80 minutes time: 20:00 price: 7, 10 Gel

4GalleryGallery “Vernisage” is pleased to invite you of levan Varazi, temur Kuliani, zezva archemashvili exhibitionGallery Vernisage7, brothers Zubalashvili Str. Tel: 299-88-08 till - November 9Personal exhibition of Gia Gugushvilitbc art Gallery 7, marjanishvili Str. Tel: 227-27-27 Gallery’s working hours: monday-friday 12:00-20:00 till - December 1The first Triennale - offside effectSh. amiranashvili art museum1, Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 299-71-76museum is working everyday except monday. from 11:00 till 17:00 till - November 20project “pirosmani and modern arts”, iV international exhibition dedicated to niko pirosmanashvili and talks at “pirosmani’s table”tbilisi museum of history (Karvasla)8 Sioni Str. Tel: 292-32-27 (museum is working everyday except monday. from 11:00 till 17:00) till - November 5lado Gudiashvili exhibition “Promenade” is presented at thelado Gudiashvili exhibition hall11 l. Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 293 23 05exhibition hall is working every day, 11:00 - 18:30 except Mondays and official holidays.entry: adults - 5 Gel / people from 6-18 - 3 Gel / Students and pensioners (with iD) - 3 Gel / admission is free for orphan groups (with proof of status) and for children under 6http://lgexhibitionhall.info-tbilisi.com/ till - May 30Dimitri Shevardnadze national Gallery will host the exhibition “reframing the 80s: Georgian art at the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s”D. Shevardnadze national Gallery 11, rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-80-22Gallery’s working hours: Saturday-Sunday 10:00-18:00 till - November 20exhibition “new life of eastern collections”.on exhibition will be presented masterpieces of eastern collections reserved in Shalva amiranashvili art museum of Georgian national museum Simon Janashia State museum3, rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-80-22museum is working everyday except monday. from 10:00 till 18:00 till - December 30

NoveMber 6, 2012

1Clubs, Pubs…restaurant is working 24 hoursentertainment at the restaurant “mghvime” is colorful. every evening from 20:00 inextinguishable star of Georgian estrada Gia Suramelashvili.estrada ensemble “mghvime” (3 boys and one girl), tam-tam, violin.During weekdays: Singer, composer Kaki Bolkvadze and hot Georgian and asian dancesrestaurant “mghvime”address: left bank of mtkvari river (next to shop “Riverside”) Phone: 2 305 558/ 2 359 540; 599 56 60 7221:00 - band “Good company”, DJ DatunaSkyybar 22 metekhi Str. mob: 592 32-32-32 19:00 - Geishas dancesSushi bar Samurai 9 G. Tabidze Str. mob: 577-22-60 01; Tel: 240-29-9920:00-23:00 - “Kalakuri’s Quartet” - with live performance of city songs, and also universal songsrestaurant “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 every day from 17:00 restaurant bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. music program starts from 19:00:Dato archvadze’s quartet “taoba”: Georgian folk and city songs. estrada singers: Giorgi tsiklauri, nina okroashvili, Giorgi Kakutia restaurant “bermukha”agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; mob: 598 59 69 69 20:00-23:00 - Georgian songs with live performance restaurant “Dzveli Sakhli” 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:30 - Georgian folk ensemble “urmuli”, georgian dancesrestaurant “maidan” 6, rkinis rigi Str. Tel: 275-11-88; 590 75-11-88 21:00-24:00 - Jazz bandrestaurant “chardin 12” 12 chardin Str. Tel: 293-15-56; mob: 577 480-460 21:00 - maia Kankavacafé “Kala” 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-37 21:00-24:00 - band “Goblins” (covers) pub “Dublin” 8 akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-67


3Theatrerustaveli theatre17, rustaveli ave. Tel: 272-68-68host and Guest Director: valerian Gorgoshadzecast: bacho chachibaia, manana abramishvili, ia Sukhitashvili, Levan Khurtsia, Gela LezhavaDuration: 135 minutes hall: Small Stage time: 19:45 price: 8, 10 Gelmarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966naphthaline Director: Davit Sakvarelidzecast: Guranda Gabunia, Ninaka Gelashvili, Temur Kiladze, Joseph Gogichaishvili, Alexander Getsadze, maia Tatishvili, beka Goderdzishvili, Zaza Goguadze, Vaja Kvitaishvili hall: big Stage time: 20:00 price: 4 - 10.50 Gelmarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966private lives Director: levan Tsuladzecast: irma berianidze, Tamar bukhnikashvili, Zaza Iakashvili, Nika KuchavaDuration: 90 minutes hall: Theatre in attic time: 20:00 price: 11 Gelliberty theatre2 rustaveli ave. Tel: 298-58-21the Kennel Director: Vano Khutsishvilicast: Slava NatenadzeDuration: 90 minutes time: 19:00 price: 5, 8, 10 Gelpantomime theatre37 rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-63-14host and Guest Director: amiran ShalikashviliDuration: 50 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 7.50 Gel

4GalleryGallery “Vernisage” is pleased to invite you of levan Varazi, temur Kuliani, zezva archemashvili exhibition Gallery Vernisage

7, brothers Zubalashvili Str. Tel: 299-88-08 till - November 9 Personal exhibition of Gia Gugushvilitbc art Gallery 7, marjanishvili Str. Tel: 227-27-27 Gallery’s working hours: monday-friday 12:00-20:00 till - December 1 The first Triennale - offside effectSh. amiranashvili art museum1, Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 299-71-76museum is working everyday except monday. from 11:00 till 17:00 till - November 20lado Gudiashvili exhibition “Promenade” is presented at thelado Gudiashvili exhibition hall11 l. Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 293 23 05exhibition hall is working every day, 11:00 - 18:30 except Mondays and official holidays.entry: adults - 5 Gel / people from 6-18 - 3 Gel / Students and pensioners (with iD) - 3 Gel / admission is free for orphan groups (with proof of status) and for children under 6http://lgexhibitionhall.info-tbilisi.com/ till - May 30Dimitri Shevardnadze national Gallery will host the exhibition “reframing the 80s: Georgian art at the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s”D. Shevardnadze national Gallery 11, rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-80-22Gallery’s working hours: Saturday-Sunday 10:00-18:00 till - November 20exhibition “new life of eastern collections”.on exhibition will be presented masterpieces of eastern collections reserved in Shalva amiranashvili art museum of Georgian national museum Simon Janashia State museum3, rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-80-22museum is working everyday except monday. from 10:00 till 18:00 till - December 30

NoveMber 7, 2012

1Clubs, Pubs…“book Day” at amarcord - bring your book with you to our art-cafe and exchange it to another book brought by someone else. You can also sell your books if you like.Visit us and help us making amarcord a place for literature meetings!price: for freeart-café amarcord8, Janashia Str. Tel: 284-64-7321:00 - band “Good company”, DJ DatunaSkyybar 22 metekhi Str. mob: 592 32-32-32 20:00-23:00 - “Kalakuri’s Quartet” - with live performance of city songs, and also universal songsrestaurant “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 19:00 - Geishas dancesSushi bar Samurai 9 G. Tabidze Str. mob: 577-22-60 01; Tel: 240-29-99restaurant is working 24 hoursentertainment at the restaurant “mghvime” is colorful. every evening from 20:00 inextinguishable star of Georgian estrada Gia Suramelashvili.estrada ensemble “mghvime” (3 boys and one girl), tam-tam, violin.During weekdays: Singer, composer Kaki Bolkvadze and hot Georgian and asian dancesrestaurant “mghvime”address: left bank of mtkvari river (next to shop “Riverside”) Phone: 2 305 558/ 2 359 540; 599 56 60 72every day from 17:00 restaurant bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. music program starts from 19:00:Dato archvadze’s quartet “taoba”: Georgian folk and city songs. estrada singers: Giorgi tsiklauri, nina okroashvili, Giorgi Kakutia restaurant “bermukha”agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; mob: 598 59 69 6920:00-23:00 - Georgian Dancesrestaurant “Dzveli Sakhli” 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 22:00-01:00 - Group “comic condition”tavern “Scarlet Sails” 25, leselidze Str. Tel: 293-10-28 20:30 - maidan Jazz band restaurant “maidan” 6, rkinis rigi Str. Tel: 275-11-88; 590 75-11-88 21:00 - live bandcafé “Kala” 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-37 21:00-24:00 - band “zarebi” (covers)pub “Dublin” 8 akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-67


3Theatremarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966revisor Director: Gizo JordaniaCast: Davit Dvalishvili, Manana Kozakova, Nata mjavanadze, onise oniani, roland okropiridze, avtandil Mikadze, Zura Berikashvili, Davit Khurtsilava, Nodar Doghonadze hall: big Stage time: 20:00 price: 4 - 10.50 Gelmarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Woman with Dog Director: levan TsuladzeCast: Nika Tavadze, Nanka Kalatozishvili, Nata Kakhidze, beso baratashviliDuration: 120 minutes hall: Theatre in attic time: 20:00 price: 11 Gelliberty theatre2 rustaveli ave. Tel: 298-58-21Garden within the Conflict Zone Director: avto varsimashviliCast: Sandro Margalitashvili, Vano Kurasbediani, Giorgi Jikia, Ani Aladashvili time: 19:00 price: 5, 7 Gel

4GalleryGallery “Vernisage” is pleased to invite you of levan Varazi, temur Kuliani, zezva archemashvili exhibitionGallery Vernisage7, brothers Zubalashvili Str. Tel: 299-88-08 till - November 9Personal exhibition of Gia Gugushvilitbc art Gallery 7, marjanishvili Str. Tel: 227-27-27 Gallery’s working hours: monday-friday 12:00-20:00 till - December 1The first Triennale - offside effectSh. amiranashvili art museum1, Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 299-71-76museum is working everyday except monday. from 11:00 till 17:00 till - November 20lado Gudiashvili exhibition “Promenade” is presented at thelado Gudiashvili exhibition hall11 l. Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 293 23 05exhibition hall is working every day, 11:00 - 18:30 except Mondays and official holidays.entry: adults - 5 Gel / people from 6-18 - 3 Gel / Students and pensioners (with iD) - 3 Gel / admission is free for orphan groups (with proof of status) and for children under 6http://lgexhibitionhall.info-tbilisi.com/ till - May 30Dimitri Shevardnadze national Gallery will host the exhibition “reframing the 80s: Georgian art at the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s”D. Shevardnadze national Gallery 11, rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-80-22Gallery’s working hours: Saturday-Sunday 10:00-18:00 till - November 20exhibition “new life of eastern collections”.on exhibition will be presented masterpieces of eastern collections reserved in Shalva amiranashvili art museum of Georgian national museum Simon Janashia State museum3, rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-80-22museum is working everyday except monday. from 10:00 till 18:00 till - December 30

NoveMber 8, 2012

1Clubs, Pubs…21:00 - band “band’a’roll”, DJ DatunaSkyybar 22 metekhi Str. mob: 592 32-32-32 22:00 - resident DJ takolounge bar “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 every day from 17:00 restaurant bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. music program starts from 19:00:Dato archvadze’s quartet “taoba”: Georgian folk and city songs. estrada singers: Giorgi tsiklauri, nina okroashvili, Giorgi Kakutia restaurant “bermukha”agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; mob: 598 59 69 6919:00 - Geishas dancesSushi bar Samurai 9 G. Tabidze Str. mob: 577-22-60 01; Tel: 240-29-99restaurant is working 24 hoursentertainment at the restaurant “mghvime” is colorful. every evening from 20:00 inextinguishable star of Georgian estrada Gia Suramelashvili.estrada ensemble “mghvime” (3 boys and one girl), tam-tam, violin.During weekdays: Singer, composer Kaki Bolkvadze and hot Georgian and asian dancesrestaurant “mghvime”address: left bank of mtkvari river (next to shop “Riverside”) Phone: 2 305 558/ 2 359 540; 599 56 60 7220:00-23:00 - “Kalakuri’s Quartet” - with live performance of city songs, and also universal songsrestaurant “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 22:00 - maia Kvirkvelia & DJ Dachiclub “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:00-23:00 - Georgian songs with live performance restaurant “Dzveli Sakhli” 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:30 - Georgian folk ensemble “urmuli”, georgian dancesrestaurant “maidan” 6, rkinis rigi Str. Tel: 275-11-88; 590 75-11-88 21:00-24:00 - Jazz bandrestaurant “chardin 12” 12 chardin Str. Tel: 293-15-56; mob: 577 480-460 21:00 - Guliko chanturiacafé “Kala” 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-37 21:00-24:00 - band “zarebi” (covers)pub “Dublin” 8 akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-67

2Cinema“rustaveli” cinema 5 rustaveli ave. Tel: 293-22-53, 2 555-000 “James bond: Skyfall”;“Killing them Softly”;

“poker with love rules”;“love with accent”;“hotel transylvania” 3D (Ticket Price: 6,50 - 11,50 Gel)“amirani” cinema 36 Kostava Str. Tel: 299-99-55 “James bond: Skyfall”;“Killing them Softly”;“love with accent”;“hotel transylvania” 3D(Ticket Price: 6,50 - 11,50 Gel)“Sakartvelo” cinema2/9, Guramishvili Ave. Tel: 230-80-80; 269-66-47“James bond: Skyfall”;“poker with love rules”;“love with accent”(Ticket Price: 4 - 8 Gel)

5Concerttbilisi V. Sarajishvili State conservatory Grand Stage8 Griboedov Str. Tel: 293-46-2419:00 - concert of Vocal musicSoloists: irine ratiani (Soprano), Sulkhan Gvelesiani ( baritone)concertmaster - irine aivazova - (Ticket Price - 5 - 15 Gel)

3Theatrerustaveli theatre17, rustaveli ave. Tel: 272-68-68King lear Synetic theatreDirector: Paata Tsikurishvili hall: Grand Stage time: 19:45 price: 15 - 40 Gelmarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Kote marjanishvili Director: Levan Tsuladze, Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Akaki Khidasheli, Eka Chkheidze, Manana Kozakova, Nino Dumbadze, Lile Pilpani, Lika Kobuladze, Zurab Berikashvili, Dimitri Tatishvili, Varlam Korshia, Roland Okropiridze, Nika KuchavaDuration: 180 minutes hall: big Stage time: 20:00 price: 4 - 10.50 Gelmarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966me, Grandmother, Grandfather and Demons Sokhumi State Dramaturge TheatreDirector: Giorgi Tavadzecast: Nugzar chikovani, Nino Shavgulidze, merab brekashvili, marina Solomonia, Nugzar Tserediani hall: Theatre in attic time: 20:00 price: 11 Gelliberty theatre2 rustaveli ave. Tel: 298-58-21Jeans Generation Director: Davit DoiashviliCast: Marina Janashia, Nana Darchiashvili, Goga Chkheidze, Dima Merabishvili, Merab Kolbaia, Lela Metreveli, Jaba Kiladze, Mariam Nadiradze, Apolon Kublashvili, Sandro MargalitashviliDuration: 165 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 5, 10, 12 Geltumanishvili film actors theatre164 agmashenebeli ave. Tel: 234-28-99first Died then married Director: Gogi margvelashvilicast: Goga Pipinashvili, Nineli chankvetadze, vano Tarkhnishvili, Eka Andronikashvili, Giorgi Kipshidze, Keti asatiani, Gia abesalashviliDuration: 140 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 10 GelV. abashidze State music and Drama theatre182 agmashenebeli ave. Tel: 234-80-90carmenDirector: Kote Purtseladzecast: anne aleksishvili, ana Tsereteli, ekaterine Demetradze, Gigi Karseladze, Giorgi Toriashvili, Bacho chachibaia, archil SologhashviliDuration: 90 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 10 Gelakhmeteli theatre8 vekua Str. Tel: 262-54-37, 262-59-73, 262-61-97black Sneakers Director: Dimitri Khvtisiashvilicast: Tamar Tkemaladze, ana matuashvili, Tamar bezhuashvili, Salome Tsurtsumia, mamuka mazavrishvili, Imeda Natroshvili, Kote Mzhavia, Vaso ShikhashviliDuration: 80 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 7, 10 Gel


NoveMber 9, 2012

1Clubs, Pubs…21:00 - agora live band, DJ DatunaSkyybar 22 metekhi Str. mob: 592 32-32-32 22:00 - resident DJ takolounge bar “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 19:00 - Geishas dancesSushi bar Samurai 9 G. Tabidze Str. mob: 577-22-60 01; Tel: 240-29-99every day from 17:00 restaurant bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. music program starts from 19:00:Dato archvadze’s quartet “taoba”: Georgian folk and city songs. estrada singers: Giorgi tsiklauri, nina okroashvili, Giorgi Kakutia restaurant “bermukha”agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; mob: 598 59 69 69restaurant is working 24 hoursentertainment at the restaurant “mghvime” is colorful. every evening from 20:00 inextinguishable star of Georgian estrada Gia Suramelashvili.estrada ensemble “mghvime” (3 boys and one girl), tam-tam, violin.During weekdays: Singer, composer Kaki Bolkvadze and hot Georgian and asian dancesrestaurant “mghvime”address: left bank of mtkvari river (next to shop “Riverside”) Phone: 2 305 558/ 2 359 540; 599 56 60 7220:00-23:00 - “Kalakuri’s Quartet” - with live performance of city songs, and also universal songsrestaurant “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 22:00 - Gio Khutsishvili & DJ Dachiclub “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:00-23:00 - Georgian Dancesrestaurant “Dzveli Sakhli” 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 22:00-01:00 - Group “comic condition”tavern “Scarlet Sails” 25, leselidze Str. Tel: 293-10-28 20:30 - maidan Jazz band restaurant “maidan” 6, rkinis rigi Str. Tel: 275-11-88; 590 75-11-88 21:00-24:00 - Jazz bandrestaurant “chardin 12” 12 chardin Str. Tel: 293-15-56; mob: 577 480-460 21:00 - maia baratashvilicafé “Kala” 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-37 21:00-24:00 - band “zarebi” (covers)pub “Dublin” 8 akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-67


5Concerttbilisi V. Sarajishvili State conservatory Grand Stage8 Griboedov Str. Tel: 293-46-2419:00 - concertSoloist - ani Takidze (Piano).Tbilisi State opera and ballet Theatre Symphony orchestra.conductor - revaz Takidze - (Ticket Price - 5 - 15 Gel)

3Theatrerustaveli theatre17, rustaveli ave. Tel: 272-68-68now do we look like refugees?! Director: aleki blightCast: Marina Janashia, Temiko Chichinadze, Ketevan Svanidze, edmond minashvili, lasha okreshidzeDuration: 60 minutes hall: experimental Stage time: 19:00 price: 6 Gelrustaveli theatre17, rustaveli ave. Tel: 272-68-68King lear Synetic theatreDirector: Paata Tsikurishvili hall: Grand Stage time:19:45 price: 15 - 40 Gelmarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Kakutsa cholokashvili Director: levan TsuladzeCast: Nika Tavadze, Nika Kuchava, Lela Meburishvili, ioseb Gogichaishvili, Gia burjanadze, Zura berikashvili, Dimitri Tatishvili, Zaza iakashvili, roland okropiridze, beka Goderdzishvili, onise oniani, leo antadzeDuration: 180 minutes

hall: big Stage time: 20:00 price: 4 - 10.50 Gelmarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966tango with illegitimate Director: Ketevan Kharshiladze, Guram VashakidzeCast: Kote Tolordava, Ia Shughliashvili, Eka Nijaradze, lile Philphani, Nino Gomarteli, Nino Dumbadze, Tamar bukhnikashvili, Nikusha chikovani Duration: 140 minutes hall:Theatre in attic time:20:00 price: 11 Gelliberty theatre2 rustaveli ave. Tel: 298-58-21Dolls’ house Director: Vano Khutsishvilicast: Tamuna Nikoladze, Giorgi Zanguri, bacho Chachibaia, Maia Khornauli, Nino Philphani, Devi bibileishvili time: 19:00 price: 5, 7, 9, 12 Geltumanishvili film actors theatre164 agmashenebeli ave. Tel: 234-28-99the avalanche Director: rusudan bolkvadzeCast: Lia Kapanadze, Revaz Tavartkiladze, Ani Imnadze, Giorgi Kipshidze, Darejan Khachidze, Gia Abesalashvili, laura rekhviashviliDuration: 100 minutes time: 19:00 price: 7 GelV. abashidze State music and Drama theatre182 agmashenebeli ave. Tel: 234-80-90carmenDirector: Kote Purtseladzecast: anne aleksishvili, ana Tsereteli, ekaterine Demetradze, Gigi Karseladze, Giorgi Toriashvili, Bacho chachibaia, archil SologhashviliDuration: 90 minutes Date: hall: time: 19:00 price: 10 Gelakhmeteli theatre8 vekua Str. Tel: 262-54-37, 262-59-73, 262-61-97pantheon Director: Dimitri Khvtisiashvilicast: mamuka mazavrishvili, Tamar bezhuashvili, Shalva Bakhtadze, Neli Badalashvili, Kakha JokhadzeDuration: 80 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 7, 10 GelGriboedov theatre2 rustaveli ave. Tel: 293-11-06thunder Director: vakhtang Nikolavacast: mikhail arjevanidze, archil baratashvili, irina Meghvinetukhutsesi, Vano Kurasbediani, Sofia Lomjaria, ana arutunyan, oleg mchedlishvili time: 18:00 price: 5 Gelpantomime theatre37 rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-63-14terenti Graneli - the coriander thrown to the moon Director: amiran ShalikashviliDuration: 60 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 10 Gel


NoveMber 10, 2012

1Clubs, Pubs…21:00 - Veriko turashvili & live band, DJ DatunaSkyybar 22 metekhi Str. mob: 592 32-32-32 19:00 - Geishas dancesSushi bar Samurai 9 G. Tabidze Str. mob: 577-22-60 01; Tel: 240-29-9922:00 - resident DJ takolounge bar “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 restaurant is working 24 hoursentertainment at the restaurant “mghvime” is colorful. every evening from 20:00 inextinguishable star of Georgian estrada Gia Suramelashvili.estrada ensemble “mghvime” (3 boys and one girl), tam-tam, violin.During weekdays: Singer, composer Kaki Bolkvadze and hot Georgian and asian dancesrestaurant “mghvime”address: left bank of mtkvari river (next to shop “Riverside”) Phone: 2 305 558/ 2 359 540; 599 56 60 72every day from 17:00 restaurant bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. music program starts from 19:00:Dato archvadze’s quartet “taoba”: Georgian folk and city songs. estrada singers: Giorgi tsiklauri, nina okroashvili, Giorgi Kakutia restaurant “bermukha”agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; mob: 598 59 69 6920:00-23:00 - “Kalakuri’s Quartet” - with live performance of city songs, and also universal songsrestaurant “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 22:00 - merab Sephashvili & DJ Dachiclub “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:00-23:00 - Georgian Dancesrestaurant “Dzveli Sakhli” 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 22:00-01:00 - Group “comic condition”tavern “Scarlet Sails” 25, leselidze Str. Tel: 293-10-28 20:30 - maidan Jazz band restaurant “maidan” 6, rkinis rigi Str. Tel: 275-11-88; 590 75-11-88 21:00-24:00 - Jazz bandrestaurant “chardin 12” 12 chardin Str. Tel: 293-15-56; mob: 577 480-460 21:00 - Keti paresashvilicafé “Kala” 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-37 21:00-24:00 - band “rustavi 2” (covers)pub “Dublin” 8 akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-67


5Concerta. Griboedov russian State Drama theatre2 rustaveli ave. Tel: 293-11-06one act ballets19:00 - marguerite and armand, P.Tchaikovsky - Serenade, Reflectionscast: Nina ananiashvili, vasil akhmeteli.Piano: Tamar machavariani - (Ticket Price - 7 - 30 Gel)

3Theatrerustaveli theatre17, rustaveli ave. Tel: 272-68-68the prince of homburg Director: Gosha GorgoshidzeCast: Irakli Macharashvili, Marina Janashia, Ia Sukhitashvili, Zura ingorokva, Sandro mikuchadze-Ghaghanidze, David Uplishashvili, bacho chachibaia, bachi lezhava, beka Songhulashvili, manana abramishvili hall: Grand Stage time:19:45 price: 6 - 15 Gelmarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966as You like it Director: levan TsuladzeCast: Manana Kozakova, Nato Kakhidze, Ketevan Shatirishvili, Ketevan Tskhakaia, Nata Murvanidze, Tamar bukhnikashvili, Nikoloz Tavadze, malkhaz abuladze, Beso Baratashvili, Davit Khurtsilava, Nika Kuchava, Zurab berikashviliDuration: 120 minutes hall: big Stage time: 20:00 price: 4 - 10.50 Gelmarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966landscape’s lack of Warmth Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Eka Chkheidze, Varlam Korshia, Lile Philphani, Dimitri TatishviliDuration: 120 minutes hall: Theatre in attic time: 20:00 price: 11 Gelliberty theatre2 rustaveli ave. Tel: 298-58-21i love You, i love You, i love You Director: avto varsimashviliCast: Mariam Jologua, Apolon Kublashvili, Ani Aladashvili, Giorgi Jikia, Kakha Mikiashvili, Mamuka Mumladze, Sandro margalitashviliDuration: 150 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 5, 10, 15 Geltumanishvili film actors theatre164 agmashenebeli ave. Tel: 234-28-99bald-headed Singer lady Director: Zurab Getsadzecast: Nana Shonia, Temo Natroshvili, vano Tarkhnishvili, maia Gelovani, Giorgi Nakashidze, Nanuka litanishviliDuration: 85 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 7 GelV. abashidze State music and Drama theatre182 agmashenebeli ave. Tel: 234-80-90macbeth Director: David Doiashvilicast: ana aleksishvili, imeda arabuli, buba Gogorishvili, Nanka Kalatozishvili, Tornike Gogrichiani, Giorgi vardosanidze, archil Sologhashvili, Tato chakhunashviliDuration: 140 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 10 Gelakhmeteli theatre8 vekua Str. Tel: 262-54-37, 262-59-73, 262-61-97a light in the Darkness Director: Nino ShotadzeCast: Marina Kharchilava, Vazha Tsitsiloshvili, Gvantsa Kandelaki, Akaki KhidasheliDuration: 80 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 7, 10 Gelroyal District theatre10 abesadze Str. Tel: 299-61-71Streap-tease Director: Nika Tavadzecast: Paata inauri, Data TavadzeDuration: 70 minutes hall: time: 20:00 price: 7, 10 GelGriboedov theatre2 rustaveli ave. Tel: 293-11-06Killing a man

Director: Giorgi margvelashviliCast: Irina Meghvinetukhutsesi, Valery KharutchenkoDuration: 150 minutes hall: time: 18:00 price: 5 Gel

4GalleryPersonal exhibition of Gia Gugushvilitbc art Gallery 7, marjanishvili Str. Tel: 227-27-27 Gallery’s working hours: monday-friday 12:00-20:00 till - December 1The first Triennale - offside effectSh. amiranashvili art museum1, Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 299-71-76museum is working everyday except monday. from 11:00 till 17:00 till - November 20lado Gudiashvili exhibition “Promenade” is presented at the lado Gudiashvili exhibition hall11 l. Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 293 23 05exhibition hall is working every day, 11:00 - 18:30 except Mondays and official holidays.entry: adults - 5 Gel / people from 6-18 - 3 Gel / Students and pensioners (with iD) - 3 Gel / admission is free for orphan groups (with proof of status) and for children under 6http://lgexhibitionhall.info-tbilisi.com/ till - May 30Dimitri Shevardnadze national Gallery will host the exhibition “reframing the 80s: Georgian art at the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s”D. Shevardnadze national Gallery 11, rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-80-22Gallery’s working hours: Saturday-Sunday 10:00-18:00 till - November 20exhibition “new life of eastern collections”.on exhibition will be presented masterpieces of eastern collections reserved in Shalva amiranashvili art museum of Georgian national museum Simon Janashia State museum3, rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-80-22museum is working everyday except monday. from 10:00 till 18:00 till - December 30

NoveMber 11, 2012

1Clubs, Pubs…21:00 - agora live band, DJ DatunaSkyybar 22 metekhi Str. mob: 592 32-32-32 every day from 17:00 restaurant bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. music program starts from 19:00:Dato archvadze’s quartet “taoba”: Georgian folk and city songs. estrada singers: Giorgi tsiklauri, nina okroashvili, Giorgi Kakutia restaurant “bermukha”agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; mob: 598 59 69 6920:00-23:00 - “Kalakuri’s Quartet” - with live performance of city songs, and also universal songsrestaurant “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 19:00 - Geishas dancesSushi bar Samurai 9 G. Tabidze Str. mob: 577-22-60 01; Tel: 240-29-99restaurant is working 24 hoursentertainment at the restaurant “mghvime” is colorful. every evening from 20:00 inextinguishable star of Georgian estrada Gia Suramelashvili.estrada ensemble “mghvime” (3 boys and one girl), tam-tam, violin.During weekdays: Singer, composer Kaki Bolkvadze and hot Georgian and asian dancesrestaurant “mghvime”address: left bank of mtkvari river (next to shop “Riverside”) Phone: 2 305 558/ 2 359 540; 599 56 60 7222:00 - Karaoke party! host - Salome Gogiashvili & DJ Dachiclub “Kalakuri” 3 Shavteli Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:00-23:00 - Georgian songs with live performance restaurant “Dzveli Sakhli” 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:30 - Georgian folk ensemble “urmuli”, georgian dancesrestaurant “maidan” 6, rkinis rigi Str. Tel: 275-11-88; 590 75-11-88 21:00-24:00 - Jazz bandrestaurant “chardin 12” 12 chardin Str. Tel: 293-15-56; mob: 577 480-460 21:00 - live bandcafé “Kala” 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-37 21:00-24:00 - band “rustavi 2” (covers)pub “Dublin” 8 akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-67


5Concerta. Griboedov russian State Drama theatre2 rustaveli ave. Tel: 293-11-06one act ballets15:00 - marguerite and armand, P.Tchaikovsky - Serenade, Reflectionscast: Nina ananiashvili, vasil akhmeteli.Piano: Tamar machavariani - (Ticket Price - 7 - 30 Gel)

3Theatrerustaveli theatre17, rustaveli ave. Tel: 272-68-68the prince of homburg Director: Gosha GorgoshidzeCast: Irakli Macharashvili, Marina Janashia, Ia Sukhitashvili, Zura ingorokva, Sandro mikuchadze-Ghaghanidze, David Uplishashvili, bacho chachibaia, bachi lezhava, beka Songhulashvili, manana abramishvili hall: Grand Stage time: 19:45 price: 6 - 15 Gelmarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966as You like it Director: levan TsuladzeCast: Manana Kozakova, Nato Kakhidze, Ketevan Shatirishvili, Ketevan Tskhakaia, Nata Murvanidze, Tamar bukhnikashvili, Nikoloz Tavadze, malkhaz abuladze, Beso Baratashvili, Davit Khurtsilava, Nika Kuchava, Zurab berikashviliDuration: 120 minutes hall: big Stage time: 20:00 price: 4 - 10.50 Gelmarjanishvili theatre8 marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966extravagansa finger TheatreDirector: Beso KupreishviliCast: Zaal Kakabadze, Teona Maghalashvili, Giorgi mebaghishvili, elene Pirtskhalava, Tinatin TsuladzeDuration: 55 minutes hall: Theatre in attic time: 20:00 price: 11 Gelliberty theatre2 rustaveli ave. Tel: 298-58-21beautiful Georgian Woman Director: avto varsimashviliCast: Goga Barbakadze, Tamuna Nikoladze, Keta Lortkipanidze, Kakha Mikiashvili, Jaba Kiladze, Apolon Kublashvili, Mariam Jologuahall: time: 19:00 price: 5, 10, 15 Geltumanishvili film actors theatre164 agmashenebeli ave. Tel: 234-28-99one evening with poets “naked theatre”Director: avto bakradze, Giorgi GiorgadzeCast: Nini Kvaskhvadze, Guram Laliashvili, Giorgi maghaladze hall: time: 19:00 price: 7 GelV. abashidze State music and Drama theatre182 agmashenebeli ave. Tel: 234-80-90macbeth Director: David Doiashvilicast: ana aleksishvili, imeda arabuli, buba Gogorishvili, Nanka Kalatozishvili, Tornike Gogrichiani, Giorgi vardosanidze, archil Sologhashvili, Tato chakhunashviliDuration: 140 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 10 Gelakhmeteli theatre8 vekua Str. Tel: 262-54-37, 262-59-73, 262-61-97in the pitcher?!... Director: otar bagaturiacast: Shalva bakhtadze, vako mandzulashvili, ana Matuashvili, Kote Mzhavia, Valeri Toronjadze, Lekso Turiashvili, vaso SikhashviliDuration: 80 minutes hall: time: 19:00 price: 7, 10 GelGriboedov theatre2 rustaveli ave. Tel: 293-11-06tale of King Saltan Director: avtandil varsimashviliCast: Mari Kitia, Mikhail Arjevanidze, Apolon Kublashvili, Karina Kenia, Sopo Lomjaria, Ludmila Artyomova-mghebrishviliDuration: 70 minutes hall: time: 12:00 price: 5 Gel

4GalleryPersonal exhibition of Gia Gugushvilitbc art Gallery 7, marjanishvili Str. Tel: 227-27-27 Gallery’s working hours: monday-friday 12:00-20:00 till - December 1The first Triennale - offside effectSh. amiranashvili art museum1, Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 299-71-76museum is working everyday except monday. from 11:00 till 17:00 till - November 20lado Gudiashvili exhibition “Promenade” is presented at thelado Gudiashvili exhibition hall11 l. Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 293 23 05exhibition hall is working every day, 11:00 - 18:30 except Mondays and official holidays.entry: adults - 5 Gel / people from 6-18 - 3 Gel / Students and pensioners (with iD) - 3 Gel / admission is free for orphan groups (with proof of status) and for children under 6http://lgexhibitionhall.info-tbilisi.com/ till - May 30Dimitri Shevardnadze national Gallery will host the exhibition “reframing the 80s: Georgian art at the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s”D. Shevardnadze national Gallery 11, rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-80-22Gallery’s working hours: Saturday-Sunday 10:00-18:00 till - November 20exhibition “new life of eastern collections”.on exhibition will be presented masterpieces of eastern collections reserved in Shalva amiranashvili art museum of Georgian national museum Simon Janashia State museum3, rustaveli ave. Tel: 299-80-22museum is working everyday except monday. from 10:00 till 18:00 till - December 30

for more information, please,visit the following website:

www.info-tbilisi.comE-mail: [email protected]


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Bronco Bamma and Mitt Romney: Abigael’s Tears

Abigael Evans is a four-year old red haired, pinkish and highly sensitive kid from Colarado. She was travel-ling in a car, seated behind

her mother at the steering wheel, and enjoying the ride just a few days ago when disaster struck. The National Public Radio station began the usual coverage of the US Presidential Elec-tion. Abigel burst into tears and sobbed uncontrollably. Her mother pulled the car into a public car park and asked Abigel what was wrong. The four-year old began to sob and cry, with her mouth pouted angrily and with tears rolling down her cheeks. Choking with emotion, Abigael moaned “ am tired of Bronco Bamma and Mitt Romney”.

The mother obviously videoed the child’s outrage and within hours it hit the YouTube and major TV channels including mainstream channels such as CNN. Hearing of the kid’s mental trauma, the National Public Radio sta-tion responsible issued an apology: “On behalf of NPR and all other news outlets, we apologize to Abigael and all the many others who probably feel like her. We must confess, the campaign’s gone on long enough for us, too. Let’s just keep telling ourselves: “Only a few more days, only a few more days, only a few more days,”

Perhaps, only in a country such as the United States, a Public Broad-casting company or any channel for that matter will take a child’s plea on a major global event seriously. The Broadcasting company’s response to Abigael’s sorrow is tantamount to say-ing that this noisy campaign where ev-erything from Mitt Romney’s breakfast cereals to Bronco Bamma’s spiritual-ity are viewed as having an impact on the ability to govern, may have indeed over-shadowed some of the real issues which need to be addressed.

While those who have the power to elect the next President grapple with national issues of jobs and money, of religion and morals, those outside the United States whose lives are of-ten affected by key American policies and initiatives can only wait and hope that the next President of the world’s biggest economy can build bridges and bring hope. A Hong-Kong-based AFP-Ipsos Poll recently found that 86 per cent of Japanese would like to have Barack Obama continue in power while 63 per cent Chinese would like to have the same incumbent President. Japan and China being too rather large economies, this does send a signal on what the thinking could be outside Washington.

Mitt Romney’s anti-China state-ments related to currency manipula-tion, his forthright stance on beefing up the American military corridor in the Pacific, and his open and defiant stance where Russia is pitted as Ene-my No.1 will not certainly sit well with the Asians who may view him as far too right of the centre. And given the contortions in the Middle East and the continuing destruction, the suffering and the destabilization of economies and societies, Asians would rather have a more positive and engaging American foreign policy which gives them a level of comfort and a certain insurance against man-made disas-ters.

Barrack Obama did win a Nobel Prize for Peace. He admitted he did not deserve it and in fact he did not know why he was ever awarded a Nobel Prize. Probably the Prize was given to exhort him to seek and ob-tain global peace, across continents, using the staging power America has. Although his tenure in the Oval Of-fice did not bring about any strategic or transformational change in the way one hoped as he was sworn in, he did

manage to keep to a broader agenda of disengagement from Iraq, Afghani-stan while keeping the pressure on hunting down the terrorists across as number of countries. He also started his term as President with an Ameri-can economy in dire straits, the global economy in tatters and a multitude of problems following him from nations which were American allies and sworn enemies. Throughout his term, com-ing to an end with the worst hurricane in American history, he could not have had an easy ride.

Mitt Romney sees the world very much as a full-blooded American su-per-hero, not willing to take a chance on anything which will hurt American interests, at home or outside. It is his second shot at the Presidency. He was governor of a blue-ribbon state and understands the path to wealth cre-ation as he has done for himself and his family. He envisions America as a nation which must continue to be the superman at all costs, with much more fire power. I believe that this is where Obama and Romney are adrift, not necessarily in the billions of dollars to be spent to maintain that power, but in the overall philosophy of engagement with other nations, especially those which are now showing much econom-ic and political muscle, and are shifting the balance of power.

I was a student of Joseph Nye and Michael Dukakis at Harvard where I took a keen interest in American For-eign Policy. Joseph Nye is a brilliant scholar with an in-depth understand-ing of leadership, power and power-drivers. He had always argued that coercive power that subjects others to any form of fear or indignity would be counter-productive in the long term. I am still his disciple and I believe in his philosophy of engagement that reduc-es tensions, builds common grounds, builds bridges and constantly provides positive signals for understanding and cooperation.

America, being a super power, has a great responsibility for actively setting a global agenda for peace which will last beyond the lifetime of any presi-dency. American voters also need to understand that, apart from pursuing their own limited gains at home, they need to show other nations that they are genuinely and devoutly conscious of freedom, democracy and economic prosperity elsewhere on earth. This cannot be achieved by extolling the virtues of freedom, democracy and economic prosperity, but in develop-ing a long road map and milestones for achieving them, in every single nation.

The world has become somewhat de-sensitized to human suffering only because the scale at which it hap-pens both through wars, rebellions, suppressions and of course the rage of nature from Fukushima to New York. One sees, with vivid pictures on TV, the bombings, the bloodshed, destroyed homes and streets, death and torment of people fleeing for their lives with babes in arms. The Syrian catastrophe is almost 19 months old. The intensity of fighting by the reb-els, the bombings by the government forces still go unabated. There does not seem to be an end in sight while the children lose their limbs, mothers bury their sons and daughters. Mil-lions are caught in the cross-fire.

America needs a more stubborn, un-wavering and engaging foreign policy that does not double-deal with dicta-tors and corrupt governments. It’s for-eign policy signals must be undiluted, direct and convincing to those who may step out of line. Waging of wars must be the last resort against unjust aggression by a tyrant or a nation. There is too much at stake for people everywhere.

by dAAN hArMseN, FINANCIAL MANAGer, GeoCAPITAL

MICroFINANCe orGANIzATIoN

Since Georgia’s Rose Revolution in 2003, the investment cli-mate has improved dramatical-ly: doing business has become much simpler, and stability

has increased. The country has wit-nessed especially massive investments by International Financial Institutions (IFIs), such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Overseas Private Investment Corpora-tion, and the World Bank.

These institutions are often able to provide financing where private in-vestors cannot or don’t want to: they have a higher tolerance for risk, be-cause they are not necessarily looking for profit for their investors, usually fulfill political or social objectives set by their funders or shareholders. They often co-invest with private investors, because investors know that govern-ments are less likely to interfere in projects that are backed by IFIs.

However, as the economy becomes

more developed, Georgia needs to make the transition from depending on capital provided by multilateral institutions to seeking more private capital.

For Georgia, one of the biggest barri-ers to foreign private investment is the perception of risk that is present among members of the investment commu-nity. “Didn’t the Russians invade them three years ago?” “Wasn’t Georgia part of the Soviet Union? No thanks.” These perceptions prevent many foreign in-vestors from even considering the pos-sibility of investing in Georgia. They simply think there is too much risk.

No matter how safe Georgia actu-ally is, and how much opportunity there is, unless the country manages to change some of these perceptions, it will be difficult to attract signifi-cant private investment. The fact is that many foreign-owned businesses in Georgia have operated in Geor-gia with relative ease, and have been able to profit from the abundance of opportunities that can be found in this country. We at GeoCapital have been doing business in Georgia for almost two years, and have found

the business climate to be conducive to foreign investment: regulations are generally business-friendly, and government services are often very streamlined.

After the elections, investor con-fidence in Georgia suffered a tem-porary setback. While the relatively democratic transition of power is certainly positive, the investor com-munity is still holding back slightly to see who the “new guy on the block” is, and what his government will do. Reputational damage has been done during the election campaign, but hopefully the new government will be able to show that they will continue the business-friendly policies of the past years and maintain stability.

Georgia has benefited enormously from the investments of IFIs over the years, but now is the time to show the world how much it has achieved in terms of improving the business climate, and how many investment opportunities there still are. Georgia is not scary, and the world needs to know it: we are LONG Georgia.

[email protected]

Attracting foreign investment

Bank Republic Invites Students to a Masterclass

Bank Republic invited the students of arts and hu-manities studying at Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University to the Dimitri

Shevardnadze National Gallery for a Masterclass held my art expert Kete-van Kintsurashvili today. The topic of the Masterclass was the life and work of the prominent immigrant artist Vera Pagava.

After a brief tour around the gal-lery, Ketevan Kintsurashvili sat down with the students in the ex-hibition hall, in the surrounding of Vera Pagava’s artworks, and spoke

about the uniqueness of her art. At the end of the Masterclass, the art expert answered the questions of the audience.

The exhibition of the paintings of Vera Pagava at the National Gal-lery opened in Mid-September. The paintings were initially planned to stay in Georgia for a month. How-ever, due to the high public interest, the decision was made to give the Georgian art lovers an opportunity to enjoy the artworks of Vera Pagava for a little longer.

Teiko Kandelaki, Head of Corpo-rate Communication Department:

“It is very important for Bank Repub-lic, as a socially responsible banking institution, to maintain its close ties with students and future generation, and to participate in the formation of their value system. We have invited Ms. Ketevan Kintsurashvili, the art expert, to conduct the Masterclass for the art students. She knew Vera Pagava in person and was close to her works even in the early period. Bank Republic will be pleased to organize events for students in the future, contributing to having the young generation who appreciates genuine art.


VTB Bank (Georgia) starts loan campaign for small and medium businesses.

From October 31 VTB Bank starts campaign - loans at “minus 3%” for small and medium businesses.

The main purpose of the campaign is credit refinance for small and medium businesses at a reduced up to 3 % of interest rate.

Within a campaign, till October 30, with VTB Bank loans is pos-sible to repay loans at other Banks or lending institution at a reduced up to 3 % of interest rate.

• Loan amount is up to 250,000 Gel (or the equivalent in USD and euro)

• Loan type – according to stan-

dard or seasonal schedule, credit line

• Maximum period - 7 yearsThe loan will be issued within 2

working days, the procedure is sim-plified, what excludes loss of time.

To obtain a credit it is necessary to have a minimum 12 month of work experience.

The existence of the current loan at other bank.

JSC VTB Bank Georgia, head of the Department of small and medi-um-sized businesses Archil Chach-khiani declared:

From today VTB Bank (Georgia) offers new profitable conditions to

the representatives of small and medium businesses, mentioned of-fer will give them an opportunity to repay the current loan, at a signifi-cantly reduced rate, moreover the loan will be issued within 2 days with simplified procedure.

Reference: JSC VTB Bank Geor-gia is member of International Fi-nancial Group VTB. Today Group VTB operates at more than 20 countries. VTB Group universal model includes: corporate, retail and investment businesses. JSC VTB Bank Georgia has the highest credit rating of BB among banks operating in Georgia.


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U.S. Business In GeorgiaUSAID Spent USD 52 Million

in Georgia this YearThe FINANCIAL

by MArIAM PAPIdze

The largest project US-AID implemented in 2012 was the Power and Gas Infrastructure Pro-gramme. USAID’s bud-

get for fiscal year 2012 was USD 52.2 million with the following sectoral breakdown (in millions of USD):

Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation $0.5 1%Democracy and Governanc $19.9 38%Health and Education $7.4 14%Economic Growth $24.4 47%

The FY2013 budget has not been finalized yet. USAID expects a modest reduction from 2012 lev-els.

“There have been many success-es in USAID’s nearly twenty year history partnering with Georgia,” ,” Stephen Haykin, the Mission Director for USAID programmes in Georgia, told The FINANCIAL. “After the August 2008 conflict, USAID assisted nearly 40,000 farm families, including all inter-nally displaced persons, by im-proving crop yields on more than 36,000 hectares of land in con-flict-affected areas. The Business Climate Reform project achieved significant results, which contrib-uted to Georgia’s rise from 112th on the World Bank’s Doing Busi-ness 2006 survey to 12th on the 2012 survey. Energy programmes provided assistance to improve management and operations at the Government of Georgia’s larg-est regional energy distribution company. For many Georgians - especially for those outside Tbilisi - these improvements meant con-sistent electricity in their homes and businesses for the first time in fifteen years,” he added.

“The October 2012 parliamenta-ry elections were widely viewed as the most competitive and peaceful in Georgia’s history. USAID sup-port enabled the Central Election Commission (CEC) to increase election transparency and helped political parties develop campaign strategies informed by voter re-search. Assistance also supported international elections observer missions,” Haykin said.

“USAID’s Applied Civic Educa-tion and Teacher Training Pro-gram has been improving the quality of school-based civic edu-cation in Georgia and encourag-ing participation of youth in civic and democratic processes. It has achieved a number of successes, including creating a 50-hour ac-credited training course for civic education teachers, establish-ing 200 school-based civics clubs throughout Georgia, developing civics curriculum materials on active citizenship, and forming a national forum of civics teachers to encourage the best practices in civic education,” he added.

As for the upcoming pro-grammes, in 2013, USAID intends to support democratic checks and balances and accountable gover-nance, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and a healthy, stable and integrated society.

Q. Which fields were the most attractive for US and foreign business in Georgia this year? Could you forecast what fields will be interest-ing in 2013 as well?

A. American investors are in-volved in a number of fields in Georgia, from communications to aviation, from hotels to food production. Generally, U.S. and foreign investors are interested in the same sectors the Georgian Government is promoting - hydro-power, tourism, agriculture, and

logistics. I expect that this trend will continue in 2013, especially logistics. Businesses are looking to see what signals the new govern-ment will send and how the dif-ferent political groups will work together. Our hope is that the in-coming government will facilitate increased levels of private sector investment, development, and growth.

Q. USAID is involved in the healthcare system and has a programme for improv-ing the system. What are the achievements so far?

A. When USAID began operat-ing in Georgia twenty years ago, the original programme focus was humanitarian assistance in response to conflict in South Os-setia and Abkhazia through pro-viding food, clothing, medicine and other equipment to those dis-placed by conflict. In health, our work started back in the second half of the ‘90s by supporting the routine essential immunization of all children in Georgia. After a decade of extensive support from the international community (US-AID, UNICEF, Government of Ja-pan, WHO, GAVI), we were able to graduate our assistance in immu-nization in 2007.

Since 2006, USAID has provid-ed technical assistance to the Gov-ernment of Georgia to improve the healthcare system. Since 2009, USAID’s project contributes to these efforts by strengthening in-surers’ capacity to provide quality health insurance services, provid-ers’ capacity to manage and deliv-er quality healthcare services, and the government’s capacity to guide and monitor health reforms.

The impressive 48% decline in the total abortion rate from one of the highest registered rates in the world (3.2 in 2005 down to 1.6 in 2010) was mostly due to the donor assistance, with USAID being a leading donor along with UNFPA. The total fertility rate increased from the below the re-placement rate of 1.6 in 2005 to 2.0 in 2010, which is very impor-tant for the sustainable develop-ment of the 4.2 million population Georgia.

USAID has also provided a loan guarantee to TBC Bank for an USD 8 million loan to a private hospital investor, for the construction and renovation of eight hospitals in West Georgia.

Q. What were the main problems in the healthcare system before USAID started its project?

A. The major problem that Georgia’s health sector faced was a lack of financial access to even ba-sic healthcare services for most of the people, hurting the disadvan-taged and vulnerable segments of the population most of all. Ineffi-ciency of an over-expanded medi-cal facilities network and low qual-ity of medical services was another major drawback/challenge. The

total abortion rate in Georgia was documented as highest in world, with very little information about voluntary contraception avail-able. The burden of TB and emerg-ing HIV infection was almost unbearable for the poorly func-tioning state.

Q. The US Government sup-ported a nuts training pro-gramme in Georgia. What is Georgia’s potential in pro-ducing nuts and can it be profitable for the country? Will the nuts sector be an important source of revenue growth in agriculture?

A. Georgia is one of the top six producers and exporters of hazel-nuts in the world. Hazelnuts ac-count for 24% of Georgian agricul-tural exports. The amount of land currently dedicated to Georgian hazelnut production is expanding, and for good reason. Hazelnuts have a clear-defined value chain, and they are a leading export crop for Georgia, as they continue to at-tract foreign confectioners such as Ferrero International among oth-er international large companies. Due to the growing global demand for hazelnuts, large companies are able to choose suppliers who pro-duce a large quantity of high quali-ty of goods. Georgia is in a position to attract additional global buyers.

The hazelnut value chain faces several key constraints: Georgian hazelnut yields are significantly lower than international aver-ages, thus reducing net income, quantity available for processing by the Georgian hazelnut sector, and amount sold/exported on an international scale. Because of the fragmentation and small size of hazelnut producers, they have different varieties which they har-vest at different times, and they use different production and stor-age technologies - which impacts quality. Georgian hazelnut proces-sors typically sell directly to the European market on the basis of price or through Turkish suppli-ers. Other non-traditional buyers exist who will pay more for ha-zelnuts and who wish to develop long-standing relationships with consistent sellers.

In partnership with AgriGeorgia LLC Ferrero International’s local subsidiary jointly implement ha-zelnut farmers training to increase farmers’ productivity. More than 800 farmers were already trained in orchard floor management, pruning, integrated pest manage-ment (IPM), and harvesting and post-harvest handling. For the next year the trainings will be pro-vided to 1,000 farmers.

In August and September 2012, USAID, in close cooperation with GIZ Private Sector Development Program South Caucasus in Geor-gia, carried out a series of meet-ings and workshops with hazel-nut value chain actors operating in Samegrelo, Guria, and Kakheti regions to refine the understand-ing of the main gaps and chal-lenges affecting the product qual-ity across the hazelnut value chain countrywide. GIZ, USAID and the GOG, will provide relevant as-sistance to increase quality stan-dards and quality infrastructure capacity.

USAID, in collaboration with the Georgian Accreditation Center (GAC) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has been working to improve Geor-gia’s capacity in accreditation and conformity assessment. Both ar-eas are considered key technical barriers in increasing the export of Georgian products to interna-tional markets. Universally recog-nized and accepted test results and certificates from these laboratories will validate the quality of Geor-gian produce and enable Georgian exporters to have better access to more high-end markets such as

established supermarket chains. EPI’s impact assessment for the hazelnut sector alone indicates that this accreditation will result in increased export value between USD 7 to USD 14 million annually.

Q. A lot of problems have been discovered in the court system. How does USAID help this system and what have the results been so far? In your opinion what are the main problems in the court system today, and how can Georgia solve them?

A. According to the U.S. State Department’s 2011 Human Rights Report, “Shortfalls in the rule of law, such as concerns about en-suring the judiciary’s indepen-dent and even-handed application of due process protections” was named as one of the three most important human rights problems in Georgia.

Some of the problem areas that consistently come up are lack of transparency of courts in general, lack of transparent and objective disciplinary proceedings against judges, opaque judicial selection, appointment and promotion rules and extremely weak role of indi-vidual judges and judges’ self-gov-ernance in administration of the judiciary.

USAID’s current project in sup-port of justice system reform is the Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project (JILEP), implemented by the US organi-zation East-West Management Institute. As a result of JILEP technical assistance and consulta-tions, some important steps have been made towards the transpar-ency of the High Council of Justice (HCOJ).

JILEP supports nearly 30 non-governmental watchdog organiza-tions and media outlets that have pooled their efforts to advocate for justice system reforms through the Coalition for Independent and Transparent Judiciary. The creation of the Coalition is an im-portant result itself, since it is not a frequent practice in Georgia for civil society organizations to join their efforts to strengthen their advocacy.

Through JILEP, USAID has worked with both Transparency International and the Georgia Young Lawyers Association to build their capacity to undertake effective court monitoring activi-ties. This is the first time in Geor-gia that NGOs have engaged in court monitoring and made their findings public. Both organiza-tions publish their monitoring re-ports quarterly.

Q. Due to the pre-election period and governmen-tal changes in the country, some investors have lost confidence in doing busi-ness here. Some of them have suspended their business in the country. They are wait-ing for more political stabil-ity. What do you think about this? Will such a political situation be an obstacle for investors in Georgia?

A. We have heard similar re-ports from foreign investors, many of whom were looking for signs of stability and a demo-cratic election. I don’t think this is unusual or unexpected. Georgia faced a true test in its first demo-cratic transition of power and so far, Georgia and its leadership are giving investors renewed confi-dence. So we remain optimistic. We look forward to further im-provements in the business envi-ronment, including improvement in the administration of justice, increased competition and greater respect of international labour and environmental standards, all within the context of a private-sector oriented economy.

Stephen haykin, the mission director for usaid programmes in Georgia

U.S. ASSiStAnce to GeorGiA

The United States has provided over $3 billion in assistance to Georgia since its independence in 1991, in-cluding a $1 billion post-conflict assistance package in the after-

math of the 2008 conflict. U.S. assistance is critical to supporting Georgia’s progress toward democratic governance, a stable market-based economy, and Euro-Atlantic integration. U.S. assistance is designed to sustain, leverage, and build upon prior pro-grams--especially those launched with the $1 billion assistance post-conflict package--and to further institutionalize gains made to ensure strong democratic and economic foundations for Georgia. The United States will continue to develop assistance projects that bolster democratic and participatory governance, develop institutions that up-hold and enforce the rule of law, improve the quality and delivery of social services, pro-mote integration with NATO and increased regional cooperation, lay the groundwork for a sustainable resolution of conflicts with the separatist regions based on Georgia’s territo-rial integrity, and achieve stable economic growth.

Georgia was one of the first countries to receive a Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact in September 2005. The 5-year $395 million Compact focused on en-hancing regional infrastructure and energy security. Following completion of the initial Compact in April 2011, Georgia was one of the first countries selected as eligible for a second Compact.

Ongoing U.S. support aims to help citizens exercise a more active role in their own de-mocracy and to engage constructively in po-litical dialogue and oversight over their gov-ernment. Programs are designed to enhance the ability of civil society and independent media to enable informed civic participation and public debate, provide improved means of communicating citizen interests, and pro-mote government accountability. U.S. pro-grams also strengthen democracy and gov-ernance by enhancing institutional checks and balances. This includes assistance to strengthen the rule of law; increase gov-ernment transparency, accountability, and responsiveness; and promote political com-petition and democratic electoral processes. U.S. assistance also supports economic growth by promoting private sector competi-tiveness and development of key sectors of the economy such as agriculture. Programs also provide technical assistance aimed at developing a business-enabling environment that will strengthen investor confidence and lead to widespread growth. U.S. programs continue to assist internally displaced popu-lations and also seek to increase the standard of living of all Georgians through develop-ment and reform of the education and health sectors. U.S. assistance works to builds ca-pacity in the security sector by enhancing the professionalism and capacity of the armed forces, furthering Georgia’s ability to secure its borders, improving law enforcement, and addressing cross-border challenges such as trafficking in persons and narcotics.

The strength of U.S.-Georgia relations is codified in the U.S.-Georgia Charter on Stra-tegic Partnership, signed in January 2009. The first meeting of the Strategic Partner-ship Commission, held in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2009, launched four bilateral working groups on priority areas identified in the Charter: democracy; defense and secu-rity; economic, trade, and energy issues; and people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Senior-level U.S. and Georgian policymak-ers lead yearly meetings of each working group to review commitments, update ac-tivities, and establish future objectives. Since the signing of the Charter, the United States and Georgia have strengthened their mutual cooperation based on U.S. support for Geor-gia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and its commitment to further democratic reform.

Source: State Department


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Sancho

23, Akhvlediani Str. Tel: 298 25 98

DiScoVerY

40, Chavchavadze Ave. Tel: 229 42 30

24/24

picaSSo

4, Vashlovani Str.Tel: 298 90 86

# 20 Shavteli Str. Tel: 293 10 80

hangar bar

better seen than heard

16, Akhvlediani Str. Tel: 293 60 52

buffalo bill

red café - bistro & cafe

# 71 Vazha-phavela Ave.Tel: 2201 211

[email protected]

Vera SteaKhouSe

37, Kostava Str.Tel: 298 37 67

Segafredo zanetti espresso

26, Chavchavadze Ave

Tel: 222 36 77

tSiSKVili

Beliashvili Str. Tel: 253 07 97

better seen than heard

Dublin iriSh pub

8, Akhvlediani Str.Tel: 298 44 67

coffee Ge

27, Abashidze Str.Tel: 222 50 66

preGo

2, Vazha pshavela Ave. Tel: 237 36 10

7, Paliashvili Str. Tel: 225 22 58

25, Tarkhnishvili Str. Tel: 225 25 16

41, Gamsakhurdia Str.Tel: 237 96 88

SianG-Gan

prospero’s books34, rustaveli ave. tel: (+995 32) 2923 592

enGliSh tee houSe

5, Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 294 16 20

32, Paliashvili Str.Tel: 222 11 09

belle Ville

french - european bar-restaurant Pleasant and cozy atmosphere high quality service, live music every day

26, l.Kiacheli Str. Tel: 293 65 53

entree

13 Taktakishvili Str.20 Rustaveli Ave.19 Petriashvili Str.

7 Pekini Str.78 Chavchavadze Ave.

(Bagebi)86 Aghmashenebeli ave.

Tel.: 599 21 53 83

DonutS

10/12, Abashidze Str. Tel: 225 39 85

4 Freedom Square,Tel: 254 70 30

[email protected]

www.citadines.com

VeltinS

43 Abashidze Str. Tel: 222 60 18

literaturuli cafÉ

2, Tarkhnishvili Str.Tel: 244 45 46

31, Pekini Str.Tel: 231 30 57

22, Abashidze Str.Tel: 222 02 7636, Kostava Str.Tel: 299 07 46

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please contact:

577 741 [email protected]

For advertising please contact:

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BusinessTravelComHotel and airticket bookinG: 2 999 662 | sky.Ge

dining| places we strongly reccommend to visit |

16 Rustaveli Ave.17 Akhvlediani Str.

Tel: 2519 966


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