Press Digest 20.02.2015
What Georgia expects from Riga Summit
Why is Competition Agency not reporting on fuel prices?
People lost trust in GEL
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What Georgia expects from Riga Summit
Free trade, EU-Georgia relations, Russia’s flagrant steps on the international level, recent developments in Ukraine, terrorism, European prospects of the Eastern European countries – this is the list of issues which are supposedly to be discussed at the Riga Summit.
The Eastern Partnership Summit, which is to be held on May, 2015, will open up new vistas of opportunities for Georgia, including visa-free travel with Europe,”- reports the Rezonansi newspaper.
According to specialists, our future is in our hands and much depends on our determination to successfully follow through with the visa-liberalization action plan.
We would like to remind our readers that only tourist visas holders will enjoy visa-free travel in European countries. The regulations will be left unchanged for those with work visas.
Further details regarding this issue will be released later.
According to Euro-integration manager of "Open Society Georgia" Fund, Vano Chkikvadze, European perspectives of the Eastern European states is yet another issue that could be raised at the summit.
“I think they will focus on these two key issues. However, it’s not out of the question that the issue of Ukraine will overshadow other matters at the summit and most of it will be fully oriented towards finding ways to lead the longsuffering nation out of crises,”- maintains Chkikvadze.
To a journalist’s question about whether the present developments inside the country as well as outside its borders will undercut our chances of establishing visa-free travel with Europe, the respondent answered that nothing on Earth can hinder us in achieving our goal if we successfully follow through with the visa liberalization action plan.
In his opinion, if the plan is seen through successfully, even the present developments in Ukraine will not in any way influence their decision to grant visa-free travel to Georgia,”- concludes the author of the article.
According to former Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili, different aspects of Georgia-EU relations as well as the western leaders’ position regarding Georgia’s territorial integrity and Russia’s eagerness to upend international order are also expected to be discussed at the Riga Summit.
“However, visa policy is the most acute issue for us today; and I do hope that we will make progress in this direction as well. All signs for this have already emerged,”- declares the former Minister.
Why is Competition Agency not reporting on fuel prices?
“Jondi Bagaturia, leader of “Kartuli Dasi”, will resume rallies this week. The protesters will reportedly crusade against high fuel prices in Georgia.
As you know, the price of oil is steadily dropping globally, while in our country cartel agreements are still being made,” – reports the Alia newspaper.
“On January 20, we plan to convene a political council session to discuss different issues, including flagrantly boosted fuel prices. We will put our heads together on this matter to come up with new ideas and decide what we can do to combat some axe-grinding politicians trying to make money by plundering their own people,” – states Jondi Baghaturia.
“I cannot say anything for certain in advance; however, we will presumably be actuated in a week. We also have certain complaints for Irakli Gharibashvili, who is the head of our government and is obliged to explain to us how this issue was handled without him. Monopolies are on the rise in the country. However, are we really supposed to believe that Gharibashvili does not know anything? If he really is kept in information vacuum, this is even worse for him and his people,”- contends the respondent.
“We want fuel prices to be lowered; fuel in Georgia cannot cost more than 1.5 GEL. As a matter of fact, even this price is over the top but we can accept it for now. All over the world, the price of fuel has decreased substantially, while in Georgia it remains static. A 15-20 tetri price cut is a blip in comparison with what is going on around the world,”- claims Mr. Baghaturia.
People lost trust in GEL
Repeatedly our depreciating national currency has baffled the Georgian people. Trust in GEL is fading away.
A survey by Rezonansi shows that our people either don’t trust the lari or have never trusted it to begin with. Only 1/3 of Georgians still hopes that the GEL will not drop again,”- reports the Rezonansi publication.
Devaluation of GEL and the people’s mistrust towards it obviously damages our economy. “As a rule, volatility cannot be defined as something unusual for any currency. However, the value of GEL has dropped for a second consecutive year, quite understandably triggering negative dispositions among our people. This year, the GEL has fallen quite significantly against USD,” - says Emzar Jgerenaia.
According to banking expert Mikheil Tokmazishvili, the Georgian currency has been devaluing for years. Before November, 2014, the GEL allegedly depreciated at a snail’s pace; however, from November to January, this process was rather rapid, and this resulted in our shattered economy. In January this process was slowed again, but the people’s confidence in the GEL has disappeared.
“When the value of the GEL was stable, our economic development was stable as well. The people trusted the lari; however, with its devaluation, their trust was naturally broken,”- states Mr. Tokmazishvili.
As the opinion polls have it, 1/3 percent of our people still hopes that the value of the GEL will become stable again. However, those whose assets have depreciated along with the currency itself are more pessimistic about the future and nothing is surprising about this.
It goes without saying that the people’s trust in the GEL can be rebuilt only with time, and we will need a rather long time to do this,”- concludes the expert.
