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Issue no: 838/24
• APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
• PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY
PRICE: GEL 2.50
In this week’s issue...
CiDA Hosts
International
Conference on
Promoting CSR
in Georgia
PAGE 3
Are Working Women Happy
Women? View from the
Greater Caucasus
ISET PAGE 4
FOCUS
THE GOLD IN THE FLEECE
The revival of the
shearing industry, with
the help of Caritas
Czech Republic and a
Slovakian expert
PAGE 6
Tourism Administration and IDS
Borjomi Sign Memorandum
BY ANA AKHALAIA
T
he Georgian mineral water company IDS
Borjomi Georgia has signed a Memorandum of Partnership with the Georgian
National Tourism Administration (GNTA)
and presented the first international gastronomic portal gastroguide.borjomi.com/ge.
General Director of IDS Borjomi Georgia, Zaza Kikvadze, and Head of GNTA, Giorgi Chogovadze signed
the Memorandum according to which IDS Borjomi is
ready to contribute to the development of the country’s tourism.
Continued on page 2
FINCA Bank Georgia First
SMART Certified Financial
Institution in Georgia
PAGE 7
Walsh, SDSU:
Georgia Needs
More Involvement
from the Private
Sector
PAGE 9
Canadian and Korean
Delegations Talk Investment
Potential in Georgia
PAGE 10
Prepared for Georgia Today Business by
Markets
Asof22ͲAprͲ2016
STOCKS
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GHG(GHGLN)
TBCBank(TBCBLI)
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CrudeOil,Brent(US$/bbl)
GoldSpot(US$/OZ)
INDICES
Price
w/w
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w/w
m/m
GBP21.82
+5,9%
+7,5%
GEOROG05/17
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+0,1%
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+0,3%
+13,9%
m/m
GEORG04/21
BONDS
110.89(YTM4.41%)
+1,3%
+3,3%
US$10.20
+2,0%
+1,0%
GRAIL07/22
107.88(YTM6.20%)
+0,3%
+1,4%
GEBGG07/17
103.75(YTM4.47%)
+0,2%
+0,1%
Price
w/w
m/m
45,11
+4,7%
+7,9%
CURRENCIES
w/w
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1233,03
Ͳ0,1%
Ͳ1,2%
GEL/USD
2,2400
Ͳ
Ͳ3,0%
GEL/EUR
2,5138
Ͳ0,7%
Ͳ3,0%
Price
Price
w/w
m/m
GEL/GBP
3,2269
+1,3%
Ͳ1,5%
FTSE100
6310,44
Ͳ0,5%
+1,9%
GEL/CHF
2,2922
Ͳ1,2%
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FTSE250
16871,46
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0,0337
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DAX
10373,49
+3,2%
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0,7863
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18003,75
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1,4941
+1,2%
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4906,23
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GEL/AMD
0,0047
+2,2%
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MSCIEMEE
130,17
+2,1%
+2,7%
GEL/UAH
0,0884
+0,5%
+0,2%
MSCIEM
845,21
Ͳ0,2%
+1,8%
EUR/USD
0,8909
+0,5%
Ͳ0,1%
SP500
2091,58
+0,5%
+2,0%
GBP/USD
0,6941
Ͳ1,4%
Ͳ1,4%
MICEX
1967,26
+3,1%
+3,4%
CHF/USD
0,9786
+1,1%
+0,6%
MSCIFM
2501,89
+0,5%
+1,6%
RUB/USD
66,5325
+0,1%
Ͳ1,4%
NASDAQ
Ͳ0,9%
GTIndex(GEL)
796,75
Ͳ
Ͳ10,1%
TRY/USD
2,8488
Ͳ0,2%
Ͳ0,6%
GTIndex(USD)
705,07
+0,9%
Ͳ7,5%
AZN/USD
1,4995
Ͳ2,2%
Ͳ7,2%
2
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
New Double-Decker Swiss Trains to
Ensure Traveler Comfort this Summer
BY EKA KARSAULIDZE
G
eorgia is becoming an ever-more
favorable and friendly environment
for travelers, both local and foreign,
increasingly offering new comfort
and choice. Georgian Railway is stepping up its own services, considering the high
demand of Georgia’s Black Sea resorts in the summer, with the intention of putting into operation
four new double-decker trains from the Switzerland
Stadler Rail AG Company this July.
“The four new trains are equipped with all modern equipment and ultramodern security systems,
which fully meet European standards. What’s more,
they will be the first trains in Georgia to fully meet
the needs of people with disabilities, something
that is really important for us,” said representatives
of Georgian Railway.
The new trains will operate from Tbilisi to various Black Sea resort cities, like Batumi, Kobuleti
and Ureki. Moreover, the trains will not stop at
other stations along the way, so allowing faster
travel and more comfort for passengers. Each new
train will be able to service about 530 passengers
at once and reach a maximum speed of 160 km/h.
And while the trains will now be of European
standard, Georgian Railway says it has no plans to
raise the cost of tickets. At present, a ticket from
Tbilisi to Batumi costs 19-26 GEL.
Georgian Railway claims they were able to buy
trains at relatively low rates. “The reason for this
was that in the railway sector we are seeing a decline
in demand, which has led to lower prices,” said
Mamuka Bakhtadze, the Director General of Georgian Railway. “We are grateful to the Stadler Company for understanding our situation and adjusting
their prices accordingly.”
Stadler is a leader in its field. They will provide
the KISS train model for Georgia, which is available in both the S-Bahn train and the long-distance
train variants (Intercity and inter -regional transportation).
Moreover, Georgian Railway noted, the staff working on the new trains will be trained in Europe in
order to ensure the expected high standard of service.
EU Foreign Ministers Support
Immediate Visa-Free Regime
for Georgia and Ukraine
BY TAMAR SVANIDZE
E
uropean foreign ministers from the Baltic States, Nordic countries and Visegrad
Group members the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have called
for immediately granting visa-free travel
to Georgia and Ukraine.
At a meeting in the Latvia’s Baltic Sea resort town
Jurmala on Friday the ministers discussed multiple
security issues and reiterated the importance of
maintaining unity and solidarity amongst all EU
members amid rapidly increasing tensions with
Russia and the ongoing migrant crisis. The group
also stressed that the EU’s Eastern Partnership
policy should top Brussels’ agenda for the time being.
“The ministers confirmed their readiness to continue bolstering the implementation of the Association Agreements with Georgia, Ukraine, and
Moldova and emphasized that cooperation with
other partner countries should develop in conformity with the differentiation principle,” the Latvian
Foreign Ministry said in a prepared statement.
The European Commission announced early last
week that Ukraine had met its criteria for visa liberalization.
Georgia expects its visa-free regime with the EU
to come into force by June. In December 2015, the
European Commission proposed that the Council
of the European Union and the EU Parliament lift
visa requirements for Georgian citizens within six
months.
Tourism Administration and IDS
Borjomi Sign Memorandum
Continued from page 1
The main goal of a new Georgian gastronomic
portal created by IDS Borjomi is to encourage tourism, and gastronomic tourism in particular, by
highlighting and promoting Georgian cuisine.
“Borjomi is a flagship brand of Georgia’s export
sales,” Kikvadze said. “Development of tourism
and especially regional tourism in Georgia will
further help to promote and increase awareness of
Georgian products, including Borjomi, in foreign
countries. Tourists are attracted to the Georgian
cuisine; Borjomi and the Georgian Feast are inseparable concepts. That's why we decided to push
the issues of regional gastronomy and thus encourage regional tourism.”
The website is trilingual - Georgian, English and
Russian. The company will promote the website,
as well as Georgian cuisine, in local and strategic
markets, such as Ukraine, the Baltic States, Russia,
Kazakhstan and Belarus. Many new and exciting
recipes, news, and information about gastronomic
trends will be added to the website over time.
Tourists are always interested to see the production process of the legendary mineral water Borjomi with their own eyes and the company IDS
Borjomi Georgia is ready to set up special tours to
the Borjomi bottling factory.
Borjomi is a brand of naturally carbonated mineral water from springs in the Borjomi Gorge of
central Georgia. Borjomi is exported to over 40
countries. IDS Borjomi Georgia is a part of IDS
Borjomi International, the biggest producer of
natural mineral water and a market leader in bottled natural mineral waters in the CIS and the Baltics.
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
3
CiDA Hosts International Conference
on Promoting CSR in Georgia
the socially vulnerable.
Zsolt Dudas, International Labor
Organization’s (ILO) Chief Technical
Adviser in Georgia, concentrated on
labor rights. Dudas incorporated child
labor themes, announcing that a survey
being carried out by ILO in Georgia on
Child Labor will be released shortly.
Michael Cowgill, Vice President of
the American Chamber of Commerce
in Georgia, gave his input on investors’
expectations while seeking business
opportunities in Georgia. Cowgill offered
a pyramid model for business and CSR
relations, naming profitability as the
central topic for most businesses.
BY ZVIAD ADZINBAIA
T
he Civil Development
Agency (CiDA) hosted a
two-day international conference on Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Georgia on April 22-23 in
the Hotel Tbilisi Marriott, bringing
together over 100 Georgian and foreign
delegates around the subject of CSR in
a conference co-organized by Global
Compact Network Georgia and the
Human Rights Secretariat of the Georgian Government Administration.
Invited foreign speakers included Corporate Sustainability and Business Ethics Experts from the Headquarters of
Ericsson and TeliSonera Group, Chief
of Local Networks at the United Nations
Global Compact, New York office, and
a Delegation from the Global Compact
Network Poland.
The themes of international standards
in corporate sustainability, international
and Georgian experience in the field,
and future perspectives for the development of CSR in Georgia united dozens of speakers from different sectors
to offer various approaches on the
pressing topic. The conference also
touched upon the topics of sustainable
development, environmental issues,
human rights and business environment
with regard to CSR.
The conference’s core mission was
that of the United Nations Global Compact, which believes that it is possible
to create a sustainable and inclusive
Zviad Devdariani, Executive Director of Civil Development Agency (CiDA), welcoming
speech. Photo: Gela Bedianashvili
economy that delivers lasting benefits
to people, communities and markets.
David Jalaghania, a Deputy Foreign
Minister of Georgia, as a panel speaker
underlined Georgia’s obligations with
the EU in terms of CSR, emphasizing
the government’s role in the process as
an architect of a proper basis for the
system to function well.
Applying the local Georgian examples
to international CSR practice, Valeri
Chekheria, a representative of the
Global Compact Network in Georgia,
gave the example of the Rooms Hotel
chain in Georgia. Chekheria, who also
heads the same chain, spoke of how
the business he is involved in contributes to CSR- Rooms in Georgia is wellknown for its hospitality and creativity,
but it also works to help those in need.
One example was the transferring of
the expenses of annual Christmas giftsgiven to Rooms employees and partners- into a financial contribution to
When a business
is viable enough
and the
government gives
it opportunities to
develop, it is
possible to invest
in philanthropy
which serves to
the public good
According to him, when a business is
viable enough and the government gives
it enough opportunities to develop, it
is easier to invest in philanthropy which
serves the public good.
The audience’s attention was also
directed to the topic of creating the
proper conditions for physically disabled persons in Tbilisi and Georgia with
Giorgi Akhmeteli, the head of ‘Accessible Environment for Everyone,’ a civil
society organization that aims to protect
the rights of the disabled, warning of
the massive breaching of those rights
in the country. The representative asked
the government to oblige the private
sector to fulfill their commitments in
terms of giving equal opportunities to
all members of society.
Corporate Social Responsibility, in
other words corporate conscience or
responsible business, is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a
business model. CSR policy functions
as a self-regulatory mechanism whereby
a business monitors and ensures its
active compliance with the spirit of the
law, ethical standards and national or
international norms. Sometimes, a firm's
implementation of CSR goes beyond
compliance and engages in actions that
appear to further some social good and
beyond the interests of the firm and that
which is required by law.
The Conference was supported by the
East-West Management Institute’s
(EWMI) ACCESS project though the
USAID funding. The United Nations
Global Compact and the American
Chamber of Commerce in Georgia partnered the event.
4
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
THE ISET ECONOMIST
A BLOG ABOUT ECONOMICS AND THE SOUTH CAUCAUS
www.iset-pi.ge/blog
The ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI, www.iset-pi.ge) is an independent think-tank associated with the International School of Economics at TSU (ISET). Our blog carries economic analysis of current events and policies in Georgia and the South Caucasus region ranging from agriculture, to economic
growth, energy, labor markets and the nexus of economics, culture and religion. Thought-provoking and fun to read, our blog posts are written by international faculty teaching at ISET and recent graduates representing the new generation of Georgian, Azerbaijani and Armenian economists.
Are Working Women Happy Women?
View from the Greater Caucasus
BY NINO DOGHONADZE, NORBERTO
PIGNATTI, KARINE TOROSYAN
“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life,
the whole aim and end of human existence”
Aristotle
WHY STUDY HAPPINESS?
Already in ancient times philosophers debated the
nature of happiness and the recipes for a happy
and fulfilling life. Today this question is also hotly
debated by scientists and politicians, who are particularly interested in what can be done to increase
the happiness of their voters (and citizens, more
generally). Happiness has become so important
nowadays that four countries: Bhutan, Ecuador,
UAE and Venezuela went so far as to employ ministers of happiness!
Everywhere around the world, including the West,
we now hear proposals to assess public policies
not only by looking at the impact they have on
standard economic indicators but also on how they
affect other aspects of wellbeing. For example, a
greater focus on happiness has been recently advo-
cated by UK’s Prime Minister David Cameron. "It's
time we admitted that there's more to life than
money”, he argued, “and it's time we focused not
just on GDP but on GWB – general wellbeing."
This is the motivation behind happiness economics – a new, fast developing field in economics
research striving to increase our understanding of
what, really, increases individual wellbeing.
DOES WORK FOR PAY MAKE THE SOUTH
CAUCASUS WOMEN ANY HAPPIER?
We decided to contribute to the happiness literature by providing evidence about happiness and
life satisfaction of working women and housewives
in the South Caucasus. There are several immediate economic benefits to a society related to greater
female participation in the labor market. Not being
confined to the traditional role of housewives,
women greatly contribute to a country’s development by providing a helping hand with productive
activities, be it in services (including IT), agriculture and manufacturing. Additionally, by acquiring
professional skills and experience women become
less dependent on their spouses and/or society.
Finally, having more than one bread winner in a
household reduces its vulnerability to negative
shocks, thereby reducing the risk of poverty.
These all appear to be very good arguments for
policymakers to encourage women to acquire professional skills and enter the labor market. But what
if we add women’s happiness to the equation?
The first question to ask is how women really
feel about entering the labor market. Importantly,
work for pay can both enhance and reduce individual happiness of working women. For example,
working women may feel quite happy when pursuing own interests and personal fulfillment. Most
often, however, paid work does not result from a
free (unconstrained) choice, but rather responds
to a need. In this case, there are two opposing forces
at play. On the one hand, women may be forced to
work and earn income in order to satisfy their
needs and those of their families. Being able to earn
additional income is certainly a good thing, promoting any person’s feeling of happiness. On the
other hand, however, paid work outside the household may come on top of whatever activities women
have to perform at home (even in the less traditional
western societies house chores are mostly performed by women). A woman who ends up working “the second shift”, as Arlie Hochschild put it
in 1989, might find it hard to enjoy her job and the
extra income that comes with.
The increased burden on working women is likely
to be especially heavy in traditional societies, in
which stereotypical gender roles are still very
strongly rooted. The three countries in the South
Caucasus are a clear case in point. In both Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, traditional values
maintain their sway on households and societies
as a whole, leading to a very unequal division of
housework and care responsibilities among the
genders. With this in mind it is not at all obvious
that entering the labor market should always lead
to an increase in women’s happiness.
TAKING THE QUESTION TO THE DATA
To shed some empirical light on this question we
conducted a comparative analysis of happiness and
life satisfaction of employed women and housewives in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, using
the CRRC Caucasus Barometer data for 2010-2013.
In each country we matched working women with
comparable housewives (i.e. women with very
similar demographic characteristics, like age, number or children, education level, etc.), and tried to
understand: 1) which of the two groups seemed
happier / more satisfied with life and 2) what
seemed to drive the difference in happiness between
the two groups.
Our findings indicate that there are some curious
differences in the way women feel given their
employment status. In particular, we find a significantly lower level of happiness among employed
women in Armenia (the gap is equivalent to 8% of
the average level of happiness), a milder but still
negative effect of employment on the happiness of
working women in Azerbaijan (equivalent to 3%
of the average level of happiness of women in this
country), and a large positive effect of employment
on life satisfaction of women in Georgia (equivalent to 15% of the average level of life satisfaction
for Georgian women). So, working women appear
to be less happy than housewives in Armenia and
Azerbaijan, and more satisfied with their lives than
Georgian housewives.
Further analysis suggests that the differences in
the average levels of happiness and life satisfaction
across the two groups are mostly driven by extreme
cases (women who attain the top or bottom levels
of happiness and life satisfaction). For example,
Armenian working women are 16% less likely to
be very happy compared to Armenian housewives.
In other words, work is preventing many Armenian
women from attaining the highest level of happiness. On the contrary, we find that working Georgian women are 9% less likely to report extreme
dissatisfaction with life compared to Georgian
housewives. In Azerbaijan, working women are 3%
less likely to be very happy, and are 2% more likely
to be very unhappy compared to Azeri housewives.
IS THERE SOMETHING THAT
GEORGIA IS DOING BETTER?
What are the reasons for the differential impact of
employment on working women’s happiness and
life satisfaction in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia? Is it due to ethnical and cultural differences?
Quality of formal institutions, such a preschool
education? Types of jobs available to women in the
three countries or any other economic incentives?
Understanding what is driving such differences
is quite important, especially if the different outcomes are not God-given but rather are driven by
institutions, which could be altered through public
policies. This is why, in the second part of our
research, we tried to disentangle the “country
effect” (that is the impact of formal institutions in
a country) from the “ethnicity effect” (that is the
impact of ethnic norms).
To answer this question, we conducted a separate
analysis of women of Armenian and Azeri ethnicity living in Georgia. We find no negative effect
from being employed among these ethnic groups,
suggesting that the negative impact of employment
on women’s happiness in Armenia and Azerbaijan
might be due to country-specific effects rather than
cultural or ethnic factors.
What could be these country-specific institutional
factors that make Georgia’s working women (regardless of their ethnicity) happier than their peers in
Armenia and Azerbaijan? The most likely candidates are the significantly higher pre-school enrollment rate, and higher incidence of part-time work
in Georgia. These factors might help minimize the
stress of combining household duties with paid
work, thus contributing to the feeling of happiness
on the part of working women.
These, however, are merely educated guesses at
the moment. Additional research would be required
to determine the true nature of the relationship
between public policies, institutions, female labor
force participation, and women’s happiness. Armed
with this knowledge, countries in the South Caucasus (and not only) would be able to heed to David
Cameron’s advice and maximize not only Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) but also people’s gross
wellbeing (GWB).
Country
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Fertility rate, average births per woman (2010)
1.74
1.92
1.82
Gross enrollment ratio in pre-primary education, % (2010)
31
25
58
Share of women in part-time work, % (2003, 2008)
30.1
24.3
53.7
Sources: UNESCO, “Education for all”; World Development Indicators.
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
5
Georgia's Export to EU
Decreased by 35% in Q1 2016
The share of the CIS countries in
the external trade turnover of Georgia
constituted 27 percent: 29 percent in
exports and 26 percent in imports.
Copper ore and concentrates
reclaimed the first place in the list of
top export items, equalling USD 84
million, or 19 percent of total exports.
Exports of Motor cars totalled USD
38 million and its share in the total
exports amounted to 9 percent. Other
nuts, fresh or dried occupied third
place. Exports of this commodity group
stood at USD 33 million and 7 percent
of the total exports.
The top import commodity in Janu-
BY ANA AKHALAIA
I
n January-March 2016, Georgia's
exports to countries of the
European Union (EU) decreased
by 35 percent compared to the
same period of the previous
year and amounted to USD 111 million,
while imports increased by 28 percent
and amounted to USD 601 million,
according to the preliminary data of
the National Statistics Office of Georgia.
The external trade turnover of Georgia with the EU in January-March 2016
amounted to USD 712 million, growing by 11 percent compared to the same
period of the previous year. The share
of these countries in the external trade
turnover of Georgia amounted to 33
percent: 25 percent in exports and 35
percent in imports.
The external trade turnover of Georgia with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries
decreased by 15 percent compared to
January-March 2015 and amounted to
USD 574 million. Exports decreased
by 26 percent and stood at USD 129
million, while imports decreased by
11 percent and equalled USD 445 million.
ary-March 2016 were medicaments,
which amounted to USD 260 million
and 15 percent of the total imports.
Petroleum gases and other gaseous
commodity group followed in the list
with USD 124 million, or 7 percent of
imports. Motor cars came third with
USD 99 million (6 percent of imports).
In January-March 2016 share of the
top ten trading partners in the total
external trade turnover of Georgia
amounted to 68 percent. The top trading partners were Turkey (USD 342
million), Ireland (USD 210 million),
Russia (USD 185 million) and China
(USD 169 million).
6
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
The Gold in the Fleece:
Remembering Lost Knowledge
BY VAZHA TAVBERIDZE
M
yths,asthenameimplies,
are not real, nor are
they necessarily
reputed to be accurate
accounts of real events
– but there is always at least a figment
of reality that a myth is borne from. Sadly,
unless there is a major archeological
discovery, we might never know what
the Golden Fleece really was or what it
looked like, or whether the epic journey
of the Argonauts truly took place (spoiler
tags: The dragon wasn’t real, after all!),
but there are underlying facts that we
can be certain of.
First, The Kingdom of Colchis, one of
the progenitor’s of modern Georgian
ethnos, was an advanced civilization that
even Greeks, avid explorers and colonizers that they were, marveled over. Georgia was a civilization, that, among other
things, was in possession of the coveted
knowledge of “distilling” gold from the
depths of the Fasis River, presumably by
using sheep hide as some sort of filter
for miniscule gold nuggets.
A less glamorous fact that a scholar
can deduce from this myth is that to have
been “masters of gold”, the Colchis first
needed to be masters of sheep, as, in
order to sustain a sizable “gold-distilling”
industry (which, once again, was impressive enough for those much-travelled
Greeks) they would need an impressive
supply of sheep hide, too.
For the Golden Fleece myth to emerge,
sheep herding must have been a Geor-
gian practice for millennia. Cradle of
wine that it is, Georgia holds a claim to
also being one of the earliest of “shepherding peoples”.
Fast-forward a few dozen centuries to
medieval times- the 13-24th centuries to
be precise. Sheep have become one of
the staples of the Georgian economy,
especially in the mountainous regions.
Documents mentioning wool as a product have become common, which serves
as an indication to an already well-developed shearing and wool-manufacturing
local industry.
It is during this time that the endemic
Tushetian sheep developed through
selective cross-breeding. Of small size
but robust, it is well-adapted to the harsh
conditions of the land it got its name
from, and the nutrient qualities of Tushe-
With the new
tools, they’ll be
getting a higher
quality endproduct and
actually see some
profit from it
Expert Slovakian shearer, Milan
Smolenak, together with Caritas
Czech Republic project manager
Alec Sumbadze, held shearing
master-classes for locals in
Vashlovani National Park
tian sheep’s dairy output and meat are
well-known. The annual route to Kakhetian grazing fields kept Tusheti economically sustainable for centuries with
sheep and wool the key to maintaining
the livelihoods in Tusheti and other
highland regions.
And that setting proved to be extremely
durable throughout the centuries. When
Georgia became part of the Soviet Union,
sheep and wool manufacturing gained
an additional organizational boost. Wool
was turned into an item of export and
was produced en masse. In 1976, for
example, 52 thousand tons of wool was
produced in Georgia. The cooperative
system, while having its obvious flaws,
transformed shearing procedures into a
mechanized process, increasing both
quality and output.
After the fall of the Soviet regime, one
would think that with the breeze of the
free market economy, wool production
would only expand further, but it was
not to be- the organizational structure
fell through with a government unable
to replace or upgrade the Soviet-style
cooperatives, the customary (and artificially made) export destinations suddenly disappeared, and the mechanized
process of shearing was slowly abandoned.
It’s fair to say that the Georgian sheep
industry has a long way to go yet towards
full recovery. In 2009, there was a temporary increase of export dimension:
the combination of good quality and
cheap prices and transportation costs
was hard to resist for countries like Iran,
Azerbaijan, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon,
Egypt, Qatar, and the UAE, where Georgian sheep meat replaced its Ukrainian
and Brazilian competition. But the
increasing demand brought about
increased prices and taxation from the
State, and struggling to maintain a balance between this and quality (misgivContinued on page 7
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
Continued from page 6
ings about sanitary precautions proved
to be extremely costly), the Georgian
sheep had to concede its place to even
cheaper competition.
An even sadder fate had befallen Georgian wool production. While theoretically eligible for the huge European
market under the coveted spot of animal
origin products (the same applies to
meat, which could vouch for the indemand bio-food niche), the volume of
sales has been progressively negligible.
The problem can be narrowed down to
a triple-head dilemma: the primitive level
of shearing and wool manufacturing, a
cost-ineffective local market and limited
export capabilities. The latter two stem
from the first as the primitive shearing
techniques, mostly by hand and mechanical scissors, result in poor quality wool
which many herders prefer just to throw
away than to toil with.
“Shearing became not a means of
acquiring wealth, but a way of disposing
of unwanted rubbish,” says Evzen Divis,
the regional manager of Caritas Czech
Republic, a humanitarian aid and development cooperation that has recently
launched a series of shearing trainings
in Tusheti, spearheaded by shearing pros
from countries with a proven track record
in quality wool production. “It’s a regrettable situation, really. The prices fell to
such a low that it is no longer worthwhile
to process the wool, so most sheep owners just throw it away. Additionally, the
manner of primitive shearing results in
low quality goods that cannot compete
on any market, be it international or
domestic. We want to share the knowhow: teach the locals how to use modern
equipment and show them proper shearing techniques, too. The way they shear
now results in fiber, with all the important part of quality wool being too short.
There is also a distinct lack of any sort
of organizational structure. So, the Czech
Development Agency purchased the
necessary equipment and entrusted it
to our partners, a local shepherd cooperative. With the new tools, they’ll be
getting a higher quality end-product and
actually see some profit from it,” Divis
concludes.
The point is echoed by the shearing
guru himself, a Slovakian professional
shearer by the name of Milan Smolenak,
who, together with project manager Alec
Sumbadze, embarked on a journey to
Vashlovani National Park to provide
some shearing master-classes for locals,
an experience he later assessed as “very
satisfying”.
“When it came down to practice, the
beginnings were hard,” he said, as he
found out that his “apprentices” lacked
both in knowledge of practical application and also that of wool processing
nuances. What they lacked in knowledge,
however, was soon to be overcome
through their motivation. “Initially, par-
ticipants kept making mistakes which
resulted in the wool being unusable.
However, once they understood the
shearing technique properly, it was
reflected in really good wool quality,
which I was very satisfied with,” Smolenak admitted, hailing the “fortitude”
and “humbleness” of Georgian people
living in “adverse conditions.”
“I feel quite happy about the training
impact,” he mused. “The best trainees
had very good results, the fleece they
produced was of sufficient quality.” A
quality that, provided with equally scrupulous processing, could see Georgian
wool on European markets in “the near
future.”
The sentiment is shared by Alec Sumbadze, the Caritas Czech Republic project manager, who is adamant that, with
effort, Georgian wool can find its place
on shelves abroad.
“It’s doable,” he says. “And that’s the
only way to get this industry going again
– broadening the export area to include
Europe. Obviously, that would also solve
the aggravating transportation problem
– with 1 kg of unprocessed wool costing
60 Tetri, sometimes transportation costs
exceed the sales margin. Tushetian wool
was taken to London for testing and,
though obviously there were some shortcomings, in general they were satisfied
with its quality. If the processing chain
improves, we can sell wool in Europe.
This change won’t happen overnight,
but with steps like these, it’s bound to
come eventually.”
Objective, yet driven, Mr. Sumbadze’s
calculations seem well-founded. And
apparently, our European partners also
find them agreeable: just recently, Georgia was added to the list of third countries
that can sell unprocessed wool on the
European market. According to the latest
bit of news, two Georgian wool production companies were deemed as meeting
the required standards by EU quality
control structures. And while it’s still
early to talk about any sizable volume of
exported goods, in the gargantuan task
of restoring Georgian wool manufacturing to its former glory it’s those initial
small steps that matter most – the basic,
forgotten knowledge, remembered now.
7
FINCA Bank Georgia First SMART
Certified Financial Institution in Georgia
Jeff Flowers, FINCA Vice- President and Regional
Director for FINCA Eurasia; Vusal Verdiyev, CEO,
FINCA Bank Georgia; and Andree Simon, Co-CEO,
FINCA Microfinance Holding Company
BY MERI TALIASHVILI
F
INCA Bank Georgia became
the first SMART certified
financial institution in Georgia
in recognition of its commitment to the best interest of its
clients - announced FINCA Bank representatives at a press conference held on
April 20th.
The SMART Campaign includes seven
Client Protection Principles: transparency, responsible pricing, privacy of client data, fair and respectful treatment
of clients, mechanisms for complaint
resolution, appropriate product design
and delivery, and over-indebtedness
prevention. FINCA Bank Georgia met
all these principles.
“Georgia has a very progressive market. The regulators certainly believe in
the importance of protecting Georgian
clients. So it is an enormous opportunity
for FINCA Bank Georgia to represent
the mission of FINCA, to take steps forward to make sure that Georgian clients
have access to responsible finance,”
Andree Simon, Co-CEO, FINCA Microfinance Holding Company told GEORGIA TODAY.
FINCA Bank Georgia has been offering
responsible financial services to small
and medium-entrepreneurs for more
than 18 years to build assets create jobs
and increase the standard of living. 79%
of total clients are from rural areas, who
have potentially limited access to financial services or convenient financial
services. Over 80,000 people earn their
livelihoods in the businesses that FINCA
Bank Georgia finances.
In 2013, FINCA Bank Georgia obtained
a banking license and since then has
been offering a full range of banking
services to its clients, including deposits.
“We have always held a strong commitment to responsible banking as well
as the well-being of our clients. This
independent validation lends credibility
to our strict internal standards and policies and our commitment to always treat
our clients fairly and ethically. We are
extremely proud to be the first financial
institution in Georgia to receive the
SMART Campaign Certificate. FINCA
Bank Georgia now joins the exclusive
group of 44 financial institutions globally having received the certificate for
being leaders in client protection,” Vusal
Verdiyev, CEO of FINCA Bank Georgia
said at the press-conference.
FINCA Bank Georgia is a Joint Stock
Company offering financial services to
more than 90, 000 clients via 40 branches
nationwide. With a loan portfolio of
over USD 70 million at the end of 2015,
FINCA Bank Georgia is a part of the
FINCA Global network, serving nearly
2 million clients in 23 countries with a
double bottom line of financial sustainability and social performance.
8
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
Three Textile Factories to be
Opened in West Georgia
BY ANA AKHALAIA
T
hree textile factories are to
open in Kutaisi and Poti by
the end of the year, according to the Head of the International Investors Association (IIA), Osman Chalishkan. The
factories will import raw materials from
Turkey, produce clothes and export them
to Europe.
Chalishkan further announced that the
factory will be built in Poti, Georgia’s
port city on the Black Sea coast, and will
employ 3,000 people. USD 3 million will
be invested in the factory, the construction of which will be completed before
the parliamentary elections in Georgia
on October 8th, 2016.
As for the factories in Kutaisi, the legislative capital of Georgia, investor companies will rent places for two factories
to employ 600 people. According to
Chalishkan, one of the companies was
founded last week and will be operational
in about two months. The second company is now selecting an area for the
factory.
The factories will not be launched
immediately because the companies
need to train employees for the first three
months, after which production will
begin.
International Investors Association
(IIA), founded on July 14 of 2009, is an
independent, non-governmental organization and one of the largest unions of
investors in Georgia whose members
present large companies of different sectors of businesses, including textile
industry, food production, construction
and construction materials, banking and
finance, insurance, and hotels.
UAE’s Green Valley to Launch Two
Large-Scale Projects in Georgia
BY ANA AKHALAIA
G
reen Valley International
Real Estate Group, one of
the largest real estate companies of the United Arab
Emirates, is set to launch
two large-scale projects in Georgia. Total
investment in both projects is USD 300
million.
The company will soon obtain permission to create Green Valley City, consisting of villas and apartments, in Tabakhmela, a resort village overlooking the
city of Tbilisi.
The second project is the construction
of two 21-storey towers in Batumi, a Black
Sea coastal city in Georgia, which will
include apartments, offices and shops.
Green Valley City will be located on
88 000 sq. m. Area, 35% of which will be
covered with greenery. The project will
combine modern architecture in line
with the highest environmental standards. The projects will consist of 10
buildings and 510 different types of residential accommodation, including studio and one and two-bedroom apartments.
Private houses and luxury class villas
will be also included in the project. Green
Valley City will introduce various recreational services. It is planned to build
swimming pools, tennis courts, halls for
10 Galaktion Street
Green Valley City, consisting of villas, apartments, shops and sports facilities, to be
built in Tabakhmela, a resort village overlooking the city of Tbilisi
football and basketball, as well as zones
for children, public gardens, Turkish
baths, a supermarket, luxury restaurants,
cafes and shops.
‘Batumi Towers’ will be the largest real
estate project in Batumi. Located in the
heart of the city, it will consist of two
towers of modern design and will contain a large shopping center.
The Towers will have their own access
to the Black Sea coast, being the first and
only residential complex in Batumi to
have its own section of the shore. The
buildings will be connected via an underground tunnel.
The complex, one square meter of
which will cost USD 1,300 – 1,500, will
have restaurants of western and oriental cuisine, two swimming pools, a gym
and a sauna.
According to the company’s general
manager, Ali Saeed Al Salami, Georgia
is one of the most attractive places in
Europe for the development of the real
estate market and has all the necessary
aspects, such as the environment, economic and political stability, good infrastructure, a good business climate, an
optimal tax system and geographical
proximity to the Arab world.
Tel: (995 32) 2 45 08 08
E-mail: [email protected]
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
9
Walsh, SDSU: Georgia Needs
More Involvement from the
Private Sector
BY TIM OGDEN
T
he ways in which to further
modernize and develop
Georgia dominate the conversations of many of its
citizens and the rhetoric of
all of its politicians. Some contend that
attracting business investments from the
United States, China and the UAE is the
answer, while others adhere to a vague
belief that as soon as Georgia attains
membership in the European Union, its
economy will somehow fix itself.
Yet the unpopular (though infinitely
more realistic) opinion that Georgia’s
democratic and developed future lies in
the education sector is beginning to gain
ground amongst the government and
the public. After an internal evaluation,
the Georgian government found that the
country fell behind in its STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math)
education. Following a previous successful collaboration between Georgia and
the Millennium Challenge Corporation
(MCC), which resulted in developed
enterprises and rehabilitated infrastructure including the Samstkhe-Javakheti
Road, Georgia reached out to them once
again in 2013.
Tender on one of the biggest higher
education projects within the 2nd compact was released across the United
States and attracted the attention of San
Diego State University, which was ultimately selected for the project in April
2014.
“This is Georgia’s second collaboration
with MCC, and I think the fact really
speaks to the strength of the relationship
between the USA and Georgia,” says Dr.
Ken Walsh, Dean of San Diego State
University Georgia.
The mutual benefits of the project also
attest to the partnership between Georgia and the US. As well as Georgians
now being able to earn American degrees
in their homeland, American STEM students now have a greater opportunity
to study abroad.
“SDSU became very interested very
quickly because one of our strategic
priorities is to triple the amount of our
students who study abroad,” says Dr.
Walsh. “We believe that there are two
primary reasons why someone goes to
university – one is to learn a body of
knowledge, the other is to develop as a
person. We strongly believe that personal
development is better facilitated by a
study abroad experience. One of the
challenges we face in sending our students to other countries is that scientists
and engineers usually won't go. Those
faculties are so specific in their curriculums it can be difficult to find somewhere
else where the course content will translate exactly. What we could see about
this program was that since we were
supposed to offer accredited programs
from the USA, it would be a place for
our scientists and engineers from our
main campus to come and get international experience, but be guaranteed that
the course is the same.”
Yet the main benefits of SDSU’s presence in Tbilisi will, naturally, apply to
Any story of how
universities
achieve greatness
all over the world
is by partnerships
with the private
sector
Read. Learn. Enjoy.
Pick up a copy of Georgia Today Education
at any BIBLUS shop or phone 229 59 19
Price: 2 Gel
Georgia. The turmoil of the 1990s prevented Georgia from developing effective and available higher education in
STEM fields, which resulted in Georgia
either having to hire foreign corporations (which proved expensive) or rely
on its own graduates from universities
with facilities and infrastructure far
below international standards (which
proved ineffectual).
“We're trying to address those issues
directly by providing a workforce with
an internationally accredited US degree
educated here in Georgia,” Dr. Walsh
states. Starting from 2015, SDSU offers
Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Chemistry/Biochemistry Bachelor of Science
programs in Georgia.
The trend of Western-educated Georgians is to leave the country and not
return, though Dr. Walsh does not believe
this problem will prevail amongst SDSU
Georgia graduates.
“Hundreds of thousands of students
come to the US for higher education
every year, and about two thirds of them
never leave. Once you go through your
undergraduate degree, in that time you
become a different person and connect
with the local industry in your degree
field; this is particularly true for STEM
fields, due to the ways in which they
coordinate with local industry. Students
develop a lot of familiarity with where
they are, especially after working internships in the summers and developing
personal relationships. With things like
that, it is much more likely students will
stay where they get their bachelor's
degree, so we think it is far more likely
that a significant number of our students
will stay in Georgia.”
Although producing US-educated
Georgians is a key aspect of the project,
it is not the only way in which SDSU is
helping to develop the country’s education sector.
“Our real objective here is to improve
the infrastructure for higher education
Says Dr. Ken Walsh, Dean of San Diego State University Georgia
in Georgia, which is why we partner with
three local universities in Georgia –
Technical University, Tbilisi State University and Ilia State University – and
we're building our facilities within their
campuses. We are also working with
their faculty; more than 40 of them have
been to San Diego to learn about our
teaching methods, technologies and
laboratory equipment. Some of them are
teaching on our courses right now and
there will be more over time, so it will
have a jump-start effect with this group
of young people who are currently studying with us. This will be magnified by
the fact that the infrastructure in these
universities has been upgraded very
quickly, and those facilities will also
become available to students studying
outside of the program, as well as students from other universities on a sharing basis.”
However, further investment from the
private sector remains a critical component for any project of this kind.
“There are so many examples all around
the world where universities and the
private sector work together in many
ways; any story of how universities
achieve greatness all over the world is
by partnerships with the private sector.
A key component right now, even though
our programs are relatively inexpensive
from the perspective of an international
student thinking to go to the USA to get
a US degree, they are still expensive in
the Georgian reality. The private sector
really needs to help us to provide
resources in scholarships and for students. It is not entirely a philanthropic
exercise because this workforce can
ultimately build their companies, and in
addition to that help us develop research
collaborations involving our students,
or internships involving our students,
so it can speed this university towards
private sector engagement.”
So far, SDSU’s involvement with Georgia is proving a resounding success, not
least in the performance of its students.
“We don't have a lot of experience with
Georgian students, we didn’t really know
what to expect. What we have discovered is that the students here are very
dedicated and very talented. In many
ways, they have outperformed their peers
at our main campus in San Diego. They
say things like 'I want to win the Nobel
Prize, I want to transform Georgia’, unlike
some of our American students who are
hoping to make money have a career.
The Georgian students are always pushing for what else they can do more.”
The lack of available higher-education
facilities is a frequent cause for complaint
amongst Georgians; MCC and SDSU
have now set a precedent for success
that will hopefully be followed.
10
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
Canadian and Korean
Delegations Talk Investment
Potential in Georgia
BY EKA KARSAULIDZE
T
wo foreign delegations
visited Georgia separately
to meet with high officials
last week, with the investment potential of the
country the hot topic. Canadian and
Korean authorities appreciated the
progress of Georgia and recognized
the favorable field for investment and
tourism potential in the region.
Investors from Westwood International Advisors, a privately-owned
investment management firm, visited
Georgia at the beginning of the week
and found satisfaction with the current business climate in Georgia, especially with the focus on Small and
Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and
on the on-going work to create a transparent investment environment.
“We came to Georgia to understand
and learn about what drives and motivates the people of Georgia to progress,” said Patricia Perez-Coutts,
Senior Vice President of Westwood
International Advisors. “The peacefulness of this environment is absolutely
remarkable and we will certainly
encourage everyone to travel here and
to understand what Georgia is all about.
The delegation of Korea's National Assembly
visited Georgia to discuss the importance of
deepening relations between the two countries
We look forward to returning here and
seeing the progress made to open up
the capital markets; the progress made
towards the pension fund reform, as
well as the progress for SMEs.”
Later in the week, the delegation of
Korea's National Assembly also visited
Georgia and highlighted the impor-
tance of deepening relations between
the two countries. The Chairman of
the Assembly, Chung Ui-hwa, said
Georgia could attract the attention of
the whole world and become an exemplary country for reform, democracy
and business. He also expressed the
desire to share Korea’s experience with
Georgia.
“Korea is a very important global
player in many areas, and we are pleased
that the relations between our countries become deeper and deeper. We
have achieved industrial development
in the shortest period of time thanks
to assistance from other countries.
Now we will try to share this assistance
with others,” said Ui-hwa.
Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi
Kvirikashvili, thanked the delegation
estimation and welcomed Korean
investments. He highlighted a 1 billion
USD investment which Korea recently
launched in Georgia’s energy sector
whereby its national water company
‘K Water’ is to build the Nenskra HydroElectric Power Plant in the Upper
Svaneti region in western Georgia.
Foreign trade turnover between Georgia and the Republic of Korea amounted
to more than 13.8 million USD for the
fi rst quarter of 2016. During 2015,
imports amounted to about 50.5 million USD. Georgia exported to the
Republic of Korea production of 600
thousand USD in the first three months
of this year, and about 3.5 million USD
for the entire year last year.
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
5-Star Hotel Construction to
be Launched in Ganmukhuri,
West Georgia
BY ANA AKHALAIA
T
he construction of a 5-star hotel is to
start in Ganmukhuri, a village on the
Black Sea coast close to Georgia’s
breakaway region Abkhazia.
The construction company of the
hotel, Black Sea Rivera, held a meeting with local
government officials at which the representatives
of the company introduced the project and discussed technical details, including water supply,
electricity and gas communications resources.
Georgian real estate developer Black Sea Rivera
won an electronic auction held by Georgia’s Economy and Sustainable Development Ministry on
March 30th, for 33,951 square meters of non-agricultural land and buildings with a market value
of GEL 2,263,500.
The company plans to build a 120-room hotel
complex which will also comprise indoor and
outdoor swimming pools, football pitches, playgrounds and tennis courts. Parking space for at
least 35 vehicles and a landscaped yard will also
be included.
The project will be developed over a period of
five years, with total investments amounting to
10 million GEL.
The project is expected to create hundreds of
jobs in the region, develop tourism and attract
more investments to Georgia’s north-western
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region.
Locals will be trained before completion of construction for employment in the hotel.
The company plans to present the full project
of the hotel and its surrounding infrastructure in
the near future.
Contact: www.edelbrand.ge
Phone: 599 461908
11
12
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
PASHA Bank – US Congressman Wants
Special Partner State Dept., Banks to
of Golden Brand Freeze Ivanishvili’s Assets
2015 Awards
BY TAMAR SVANIDZE
C
T
heGoldenBrand2015annual
awards ceremony was held
in Radisson Blu Iveria with
PASHA Bank as the special
partner of the ceremony
for the second consecutive year.
Golden Brand is considered to be the
most prestigious and influential annual
business award in Georgia and since
2006 it has been awarding locally operating companies for various achievements.
As per tradition, the ceremony was
attended by representatives of leading
companies. Among the special guests
were governmental and diplomatic corps
representatives.
Shahin Mammadov, CEO at PASHA
Bank, addressed the guests and once
again underlined the Bank’s readiness
to contribute to the development and
growth of local business.
Mr. Mammadov awarded a Golden
Brand prize to winning companies:
- Elit Electronics
- Ipkli
- Georgian coffee producer Cherry
- Laboratory My Home
- Aspria
- Gas stations network Formula Gas
“We are glad to have the opportunity
to be partners of the Golden Brand
Awards for the second time. We believe
that this annual event serves all the winners and nominees as additional motivation to develop their business and achieve
more. PASHA Bank gladly supports such
initiatives,” said Shahin Mammadov.
ongressman Steve Russell,
on the floor of the US House
of Representatives Thursday, warned that Georgia’s
upcoming October elections are under a fundamental threat
from the corrupt influence of Russia.
In his short speech, the Republican
congressman said Russia remained
Georgia’s greatest security threat and
demanded that the United States Treasury Department and the West’s largest
banks freeze Georgia’s former Prime
Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s vast financial assets for having carried out Moscow’s plan to destabilize the country.
“Since Georgia reasserted her independence from Russia in 1991, the country’s
struggles have not been easy,” Russell said.
Bidzina Ivanishvili
is the main player
in the Kremlin’s
infiltration strategy
Congressman Steve
Russell demands that
the US Treasury
Department and the
West’s largest banks
freeze Georgia’s
former PM’s vast
financial assets for
having carried out
Moscow’s plan to
destabilize the country
Russell said Russia attempts to maintain influence over the post-Soviet space
by undermining the sovereignty of
Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and the three
Baltic countries through economic and
military pressure as well as via proMoscow governments that are keen to
advance Russian President Vladimir
Putin’s campaign to strengthen Moscow’s grip over territories it once controlled.
Russell was quick to single out Ivanishvili as one of Putin’s most trusted
allies in the region.
In echoes of the fraudulent 2003 elections that led to Georgia’s Rose Revolution and the ouster of pro-Russian
President Eduard Shevardnadze, Russell
accused the Kremlin of using Ivanishvili
as an agent charged with guaranteeing
that the October parliamentary elections go Moscow’s way.
Ivanishvili - the country’s richest man,
worth an estimated USD 5 billion - has
been dogged by accusations that he is
a pro-Russian politician. Though born
into poverty in western Georgia’s Imereti
Region, Ivanishvili spent most of his
adult life in Moscow where he made
his vast fortune in the chaotic privatization period immediately following
the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Despite having returned to Georgia
nearly a decade ago, Ivanishvili retains
close ties to his former associates in
Moscow’s private and government sector.
“Russia has tried to infiltrate Georgia’s
political process by establishing proMoscow proxies in the government.
They expect them to hand over everything to the Kremlin on a silver platter.
Bidzina Ivanishvili is the main player
in the Kremlin’s infiltration strategy. He
is a close ally of Vladimir Putin and has
been charged with finding a way to rig
the election like in 2003. They’ll try to
buy votes and marginalize Georgia’s
political opposition to achieve their
goals,” Russell said.
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
13
Post What You Say: Topishare
Overcoming Hurdles of Other
Social Networks
Topishare is the first social network globally to
offer users the innovative audio-posting. The
newly launched social network combines the
power of social networks and the idea of forums,
and was launched March 3rd. It currently has over
200 kingdoms, and a daily growing user base.
Join Topishare now at https://topishare.com or
contact Inge at [email protected]
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H
ave you ever struggled to write
down exactly what you want to say
and noticed it comes more natural
when you just ‘say’ it? It is obvious
that social networks are great for
people who can write well, but not so much for
those who are less confident in their writing.
The new social network Topishare, headquartered in Tbilisi, is the first social network to give
you the possibility to record and post what you
say instantly, next to regular text, picture, and
video posting.
The idea for audio posting came from Topishare’s
founder Rotem Peled (COO), who all her life had
felt frustrated that she was unable to express herself well in writing due to her dyslexia.
“The only way you can express yourself on social
media is by writing, and when I really had some-
thing to say about something, I couldn’t. Or it
would take me forever. I got mad at myself, but it
isn’t really my fault,” Rotem says. She realized that
persons with disabilities have a major disadvantage in today’s most powerful way to connect,
express yourself, and even find jobs.
So, how does audio-posting work?
It’s very simple. You can click on the record button (like you would on a picture icon if you want
to share photos), record what you say, play it back
–if you want, and press the publish button. Your
audio post appears in the group as a regular post,
and people can comment on it.
Besides audio-posting, the Topishare team is
working hard to develop new features so everyone
can share on Topishare.
“It’s not fair that a large part of the world’s population can’t use social networks because of the
hurdles. But they have great things to say and we
want to give all people a voice, and we will continue to work hard to make this possible,” Rotem
says.
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14
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
Smart Supermarket
Introduces German
Techniques in Local
Bread Baking
Australian Company Plans to
Export Georgian Oil to China
BY ANA AKHALAIA
Soso Pkhakadze, Wissol Business Group President, with Smart bakers
G
eorgian supermarket chain
Smart has invited German
bakery product developer
expert Ulrich Lenarz to
hold master classes in German baking styles and technique with
local bakers.
According to Smart’s press office, customers will soon see a more diverse and
sophisticated line of in-house baked
products.
Smart already offers more than 20 varieties of breads, flavored with sunflower,
white and black sesame seeds, oat flakes,
wheat or buckwheat oats.
“The classes will give local bakers the
opportunity to learn European baking
standards and develop their own techniques and adopt them to modern trends.
This will give them the chance to offer
customers more diverse products. I hope
our loyal customers will be excited by
this news,” Wissol Business Group President Soso Pkhakadze said.
Wissol Group launched the Smart
Supermarket chain in 2010. The company
currently has 16 outlets across the country.
A
ustralian company Skyland
Petroleum plans to export
oil and gas from Georgia,
Tajikistan and Russia to
China in 2016.
According to the company’s Management Board Chairman, David Robinson,
Skyland plans to buy the stocks of several mines in Russia and eastern Siberia
that transfer energy resources through
the ‘Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean’ and
‘Siberian Power’ pipelines to China's
provinces.
In addition to Russia, Skyland Petroleum owns mine licenses in Tajikistan
and Georgia. In particular, the company
has acquired a 20 percent stake in Georgia’s Block XIG.
Skyland will work in collaboration
with a local partner, Georgia Oil and
Gas Limited (GOG), who are the majority owners and operators with 60 percent interest in the field.
Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation, a
state entity, also have a financed conversion of just over 20 percent of the
project.
Block XIG covers an area of 289 km2
and is located on the outskirts of the
Georgian capital Tbilisi, close to the oil
producing oil fields of Samgori, Teleti
and west Rustavi.
Negotiations are underway and an
agreement with the project’s investors
is to be signed within a month, after
which the exploration process in the
area of operations will begin.
“Preliminary research suggests that
it is a promising area, however, it is
necessary to determine the reserves
of energy sources and how its extraction is commercially substantiated with
the existing technologies,” said Mikheil
Dalakishvili, representative of GOG
Ltd. “Several sample wells have already
been drilled, but we need to drill a few
more. It’s impossible to make a 100
percent prediction on the reserve
capacity. We were able to reach a 90
percent agreement with the partners
and are likely to begin explorations in
the summer if we have good results.
That would make it possible to begin
exporting next year.”
Georgia Oil & Gas Limited has a net
acreage position of 6,500 km2 with
working interests in 9 Production Sharing Contracts (‘PSCs’) in Georgia.
Skyland Petroleum is an oil and gas
exploration and production company
established in January 2015 by British
company Vazon Energy. It is actively
seeking suitable projects in line with
the company's mission of supplying the
growing economies of East Asia, where
the company's financial partners are
based.
Source: Europe for Georgia
BUSINESS
GEORGIA TODAY
APRIL 26 - 28, 2016
15
Working Women: The Kings,
or Queens, of the Kitchen
Tekuna Gachechiladze, celebrity chef and
owner of the Culinarium restaurant and
Culinary Academy
BY TIM OGDEN
T
he difficulties women
encounter in equal employment opportunities afflict
even the world's most developed countries; women are
almost universally paid lower wages than
men. Many industries are also dominated
by men, making it difficult for many
women to gain a foothold.
Despite the global male-espoused stereotype of women belonging in the
kitchen, few professional chefs are female,
and women frequently encounter obstacles when trying to break into the culinary industry. This is equally true in
Georgia, a country which already suffers
from chronic sexism issues in society.
Tekuna Gachechiladze, a celebrity chef
and owner of the Culinarium restaurant
and Culinary Academy, recalls her early
difficulties in breaking into the business
in New York. “Being a chef is a far more
physically demanding job than people
realise. When things get tough, you can't
complain; they'll just deride you for being
a woman and won't take you seriously.
They've seen a lot of women try and do
their job and quit, so you have a lot to
prove. But New York was the perfect
place to start my career – I originally
trained as a psychologist – even though
American chefs were very aggressive in
their work, far more aggressive than
Georgian chefs I've worked with. But if
you don't complain, get on with it and
do a good job, you'll be accepted eventually.”
Gachechiladze believes that it is the
physical strain of the job that dissuades
many women from attempting to embark
on a career in the food industry, and the
doubt that many male chefs have that
women can handle it. “It's a very stressful job, and to be honest men seem to
be able to cope with it better. Physically
at least, women are weaker, and when
things get difficult many also don't have
the mental strength to keep going.”
Yet she thinks that women – especially
Georgian women – have the potential to
replicate her success and work as pro-
fessional chefs in their homeland and
abroad. “On the whole I think that Georgian women are more independent than
Georgian men, so I think the ability to
be individually successful comes more
naturally to Georgian females. We adapt
more easily; I really can't imagine a
Georgian man putting up with the difficulties I had in New York.”
It is this adaptability that has led to her
becoming a successful entrepreneur,
owning a renowned cooking school and
restaurant, as well as starring in a cookery programme which bears her name.
Innovation and doing things in a unique
fashion are also keys to her success, she
claims; anyone familiar with Georgian
restaurants visiting Culinarium (Lermontov Str. 1, Tel: 32 2 43 01 03) will find
it difficult to disagree with her. Designed
to resemble a homely kitchen, the central communal table and charming décor
make a stark contrast to the uniform
appearance of most Tbilisi eateries.
Yet despite its originality, Culinarium
was not initially a hit with Georgian
people. Reluctance to try an experimental cooking school only operating as a
restaurant twice a week and owned by
a woman was a significant challenge facing Gachechiladze at first, but this has
been gradually overcome, mostly thanks
to the quality of her gourmet dishes.
“Originally, I didn't have many Georgian guests, but now Georgians are
enjoying my restaurant too, which is an
encouraging sign. It makes me feel good
because it's part of my own private war
against social fundamentalism, which I
think is a big problem in this country.
The spirit to try something new isn't
found too often here; Georgians are usually afraid of new things, but I'm happy
that this slowly seems to be changing.”
Keti Bakradze, another celebrity chef
and owner of The Dining Room restaurant (Paliashvili Str. 38, Tel: 0322 25 09
00), attributes her own success to her
strength of character and her hands-on
approach to business. “I put it down to
my personality and mentality. I think
you have to be a bit rough and ready to
succeed as a woman in this business,”
she says. “You also have to keep control.
I don't appoint a chef in my restaurant,
I do everything myself. It's hard work,
but I don't trust anyone else to run my
kitchen.”
For her, a thorough understanding of
the culinary business is also essential.
“Oftentimes they just don't understand
the industry well enough to get the best
produce to sell in their restaurants. To
be honest, that's true for both men and
women. There's lots of problems with
both wine and food quality in some restaurants, mostly because people try to
run things far too cheaply and aren't
prepared to pay for quality.”
Residents of Tbilisi have long become
accustomed to the sight of restaurants
and bars opening and closing every
month, the names and logos changing,
the poor service and predictable menus
remaining the same. Bakradze attributes
this to a simple lack of understanding of
the industry.
“They just have no ability to plan for
the future, and this is where it all falls
down,” she says. “Nobody has any longterm plans; everyone wants to make
money quickly and in the easiest way.
I've been meticulous in doing exactly
the opposite, and I think that has been
one of the keys to my success.”
The Dining Room has been open since
2008, a long time for a Tbilisi restaurant
to remain open and successful, and a
testament to Bakradze's business philosophy; so, too, are her soon-to-be open
bistro and delicatessen on Tapidze Street.
For women to succeed in the culinary
industry, it seems that perseverance in
the face of challenges is the key, whether
it be in the form of Gachechiladze's liquid adaptability and original ideas or
Bakradze's inexorable efficiency and
business brain. As Gachechiladze herself
says, “I'm a strong feminist, and I think
that Georgian women have a lot of potential to succeed in this business. I would
love to see more Georgian women in
our kitchens. They just shouldn't give
up.”
The success of Culinarium and The
Dining Room are gourmet restaurants
are testaments to the heights that Georgian women can reach in the culinary
industry, as well as proof that the sex of
the chef in the kitchen truly does not
matter; quality is king.
Keti Bakradze,
celebrity chef and
owner of The Dining
Room restaurant
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