Issue #1243

Issue no: 1243

• APRIL 24 - 30, 2020 • PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY

FOCUS ON REOPENING THE GEORGIAN ECONOMY Gov’t’s 6-Phase Plan

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In this week’s issue...

ADC/CENN to Introduce NASA's Environmental Education Platform GLOBE in Georgian Schools NEWS PAGE 3

PASHA Bank & Re|Bank Will Keep All their Employees NEWS PAGE 3

The Risks & Challenges of COVID-19: Opinions from Georgian & Int’l Viewpoints, Part 1 POLITICS PAGE 4

ISET Business Confidence Index Q2 2020: Businesses in the Lockdown ISET PAGE 7

Health Minister: Proper Management is a Prerequisite for Victory in the Fight against Coronavirus

Chuberi Meets the Threat of COVID-19 with a Completely Renewed Ambulatory Clinic SOCIETY PAGE 11

INTERVIEW

“Corona Days” Artworks Presented by BI Auction to Promote Young Georgian Artists

W

e have an exclusive interview with the Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, Ekaterine Tikaradze.

CULTURE PAGE 11

TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE GEORGIAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM READY TO FIGHT COVID-19, AND WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE AT FIRST? In December 2019, the first reports of a new virus, COVID-19, began to spread around the world, rapidly advancing in China. Although geographically Georgia was far from the epicenter of this disease, we were well aware that only time separated us from the moment when that invisible enemy would arrive and spread in Georgia as well.

In early January 2020, the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia took concrete steps to stop and manage the possible epidemic.

The planning of a fundamental reform of the healthcare system began in the summer of 2019, and medical facilities were gradually being studied

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by the State Agency for Regulation of Medical Activities. This resulted in a complete audit of the system. Thus, we were able to manage the processes in a more timely manner, and consistently.

The advent of the new virus COVID-19 further intensified, tightened and made the study process even more targeted. Since we have been dealing with infectious diseases, we had already started a detailed study of these specific areas in medical institutions, and therefore, when the first case was confirmed in Georgia, we already knew the prob-

lems in the system, the methods of solution-finding, and opportunities for both infrastructure and human resources.

The main challenge for the country is its small number of field specialists, infection specialists andintensivists.Oneofthemostimportantresources for us, without which even the presence of the best-equipped hospitals is impossible, is competent middle and low-rung medical personnel who have adequate knowledge and experience to fight the epidemic.

Continued on page 2

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NEWS

GEORGIA TODAY

APRIL 24 - 30, 2020

Gov’t’s 6-Phase Plan for Reopening the Georgian Economy

BY TEAM GT

O

n Friday, the Georgian government presented a 6-phase plan to reopen the country’s economy.

The plan will be activated step-by-step with two-week intervals over the next three months. Officials will be monitoring during and in between the phases to make sure that easing the restrictions doesn't cause pandemic cases to get out of hand.

The first phase starts on April 27 and from then on it will be allowed to drive private cars without special permits.

Taxis will begin running again, but not public transportation. Travel in and out of Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, and Rustavi will still be limited. On April 27 and 28, as an exception, people will be allowed

to drive from or to these four cities, “if and when they are returning to their places of domicile”. E-commerce will be allowed- online shopping having been restricted since April 1, as will delivery services. Open-air agricultural markets will be able to function following health and safety guidelines.

The second phase, May 11 – May 24, will see construction works kicking off again, as well as the manufacturing of construction materials. You’ll be able to get your car washed and fixed as autoservice facilities will be reopened, as will computer and home appliance repair shops. Recreation areas will also reopen.

The third phase, May 25 – June 7, will have retail and wholesale stores, but not malls, opening their doors to customers. Publishing facilities can reopen and restrictions will be lifted on all types of open market and production activities.

The fourth phase, June 8 – June 21, will permit malls, restaurants, financial services, beauty salons and aesthetic medicine facilities to reopen.

At the fifth phase, June 22 – July 5, all markets, and on-site restaurants/catering facilities can start to function again.

The sixth phase, July 6 – July 20, will allow hotels to welcome guests, and entertainment, gambling, sports, recreation, creative activities, and public gatherings to be held.

Educational institutions and all other activities will start functioning nonremotely, though schools are to keep to their online regime for the rest of the school year and reopen from September.

Employees of all facilities and businesses, regardless of category, will have to abide by hygiene standards set by the Ministry of Health, including social distancing and wearing masks in closed

commercial and other spaces.

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia emphasized that the government reserves the right to re-implement restrictions if the pandemic worsens at any phase.

The government has also started rolling out support measures for citizens worst-hit by the pandemic.

The Georgian government will assist those citizens who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic, and who were officially employed in certain facilities, with GEL 1,200, spread out over six months, meaning they will receive GEL 200 in financial assistance per month. The PM noted that this assistance will apply to 350,000 citizens.

Self-employed citizens, after being identified, will receive GEL 300 as a one-time assistance from the state.

"It is extremely difficult for us to identify those citizens who were informally

employed or considered self-employed because they are not registered on any of the official databases. However, the state undertakes to provide one-time assistance to these people to the amount of 300 GEL from an approximate budget of GEL 75,000.000 GEL,” PM Gakharia said.

People with severe disabilities and children with disabilities will receive GEL 600 assistance from the state over 6 months. The PM noted there are 40,000 such citizens in Georgia, and the budget for this support will be GEL 25 million.

In 2021, pensions will be increased to all pensioners by 20 GEL and to those over 70 years of age by 25 GEL, PM Gakharia noted that the increase will be based on the inflation rate.

"We have decided to increase all pensions by no less than the inflation rate.

This is critically important for the social stability of the country," he emphasized.

Health Minister: Proper Management Rekan Group is a Prerequisite for Victory in the Fight Georgia Brings Georgian Citizens against Coronavirus Continued from page 1 Given the prevalence of the disease, at present, the number of beds and respirators in the country is sufficient. There was a shift to a unified system of managing medical facilities and, according to the requirements, specific hospitals were converted into and equipped as infectious disease hospitals, which was successfully implemented in Zugdidi in the Rukhi Clinic. I have personally visited the medical institutions in different regions of Georgia several times to get acquainted with the situation on the ground.

YOU TALKED ABOUT THE READINESS OF THE HEALTH SYSTEM. WHAT OTHER STEPS WERE IMPORTANT AND NECESSARY DURING THAT PERIOD? We took the first steps in the fight against COVID-19 on January 24 with the launch of an information campaign at airports and land borders. We placed information banners for travelers reflecting the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization on the new coronavirus. Passengers were also provided with information flyers about the recommendations. On January 25, doctor clinicians at the border began conducting thermal screening of passengers. In addition, passengers coming from high-risk countries were taken directly to quarantine zones for observation.

Also, on January 25, the scheduled flight from China to Tbilisi was canceled and flights from Georgia to this destination were suspended.

In this process, the support of our strategic partner states is very important.

Meetings with ambassadors of various countries and representatives of international organizations were regularly held at the Ministry of Health. I have been in constant coordination with colleagues from Germany as well as other countries to share our views on new guidelines and algorithms. I have also been in direct talks with the Austrian side, after which the Georgian population got access to a special application, STOP COVID, which is one of the most effective methods of combating the virus.

Similar applications have been actively used to control the epidemic in Japan, South Korea and other countries. The results and success achieved in these states are already visible.

A special platform was set up to fight COVID-19, within which the #StopCoV Foundation was established, where every company, as well as citizen, can contribute to the fight against the virus. The Cartu Foundation has already transferred 100 million GEL to the fund.

I would also like to note that a Georgian company has started producing medical face masks. In order to supply the country's healthcare system, the first 4 million medical face masks of local production were purchased by the Cartu Foundation

and donated to the state completely free of charge.

WHAT DO YOU THINK COULD BE THE MAIN TOOL IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE PANDEMIC? The Coordination Council of the Government of Georgia, headed by the Prime Minister, is working on a daily basis on methods of combating COVID-19. Proposals and complete information developed by the Ministry of Health on the management of the situation in the country are provided to the Council on a daily basis.

I would like to clarify that in this situation, the effectiveness of the fight against pandemics is assessed by several criteria.

These include the rate of infection, recovered cases, and death cases. However, the most important thing is to evaluate the dynamics of the process and the rate of virus reproduction in real time - Rt, that is, to put it simply, at a given time, on average, the number of people who will catch the disease from a single infected person. This indicator is of paramount importance when determining the basics of pandemic suppression and neutralization strategy.

THE MAIN QUESTION FROM SOCIETY: DOES THIS INDICATOR DETERMINE WHEN THE RESTRICTIONS WILL BE REMOVED AND WHEN WILL WE RETURN TO NORMAL LIFE? The answer to these questions depends on the civic responsibility of each individual. This is what determines Rt and other indicators that interest the public, and each of us.

We all know very well that the most effective way to fight the virus today is non-pharmaceutical measures, which means social distancing, adherence to standard hygiene rules that are directly related to the Rt rate. Only this way can we manage the processes in dynamics and not break the critical threshold that our healthcare system has today. To get back to your question, yes, a lot depends on that indicator. If the Rt level is 1, of course, the restrictions will be removed step by step, but if this rate increases, we will have to tighten the measures immediately.

Today, as a result of the above-mentioned actions of the Ministry of Health, the selfless work of our doctors, representatives of law enforcement agencies and military personnel, we are able to effectively deal with this pandemic.

I believe that full compliance with infectious norms, taking into account the existing international guidelines of the World Health Organization, sharing the research conducted in different international scientific centers, proper use of all tools by strict and timely management is a guarantee of victory in this difficult battle.

Again, it’s time for joint precise steps.

Our strength today is in unity - to defeat the invisible enemy, COVID-19.

Home from Iraq

R

ekan Group Georgia, with the coordination of the Government of Adjara, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Georgia to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, fully funded a planned charter flight which returned to their homeland Georgian citizens who were stuck in the Kurdistan region of the Republic of Iraq. 70 Georgian citizens were returned home on April 22.

Ukraine Invites Ex-Georgian President to be Deputy PM for Reforms

BY TEAM GT

U

krainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week offered former Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili the seat of Deputy Prime Minister in charge of reforms.

Saakashvili has since started unofficial gatherings with members of the ruling Sluga Naroda political party, with the aim of convincing them to support his nomination to the inner circles of the Ukrainian government.

Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia commented on the move, noting that such a step would be followed by an appropriate reaction from Georgia.

"The Ukrainian people are brothers to us, the Ukrainian state is our strategic partner. Nothing can change this in the long run, but our partner’s appoint-

ing a person convicted and wanted in Georgia as vice-premier is categorically unacceptable to us…Of course, this will be followed by a relevant reaction from Georgia and we are considering summoning the ambassador for consultations," Gakharia stated.

"I had a very informative conversation with Prime Minister Shmyhal, during which we discussed all the issues related to my possible work in the government,” Saakashvili wrote in a Facebook post, after stating his honor at being offered the position.

"Together with the President’s team, I am ready to work with all patriotic forces in the Ukrainian Parliament, and other political forces, to enable Ukraine to overcome today’s global economic crisis with the least loss, and to deal with all challenges. I hope to be a reliable member of the team and help the Ukrainian people by doing something useful for them. I will use my interna-

tional experience to communicate with international financial organizations to strengthen Ukraine's prestige and its integration into the international community, in order to primarily protect the Ukrainian national interests and contribute to the progress in the country," he wrote.

Saakashvili acquired Ukrainian citizenship in 2015. He was appointed the Chairman of the Odessa Regional State Administration. He tendered his resignation in the autumn of 2016, and on July 26, 2017, President Petro Poroshenko stripped him of Ukrainian citizenship.

The law enforcement bodies charged him for receiving half a million dollars from Serhiy Kurchenko (a runaway Ukrainian businessman now based in Russia) in exchange for organizing protests.

In May 2019, Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelensky restored Saakashvili's Ukrainian citizenship.

PM Gakharia: EU-Georgian Relations are Stronger than Ever

G

eorgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has expressed gratitude to the EU Commission for providing additional financial support to Georgia during the coronavirus crisis.

“Grateful to the EU Commission for the additional financial support of €150 million during this crisis. Georgia-EU relations are stronger than ever. Special thanks to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell Fontelles and the European Union Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi,” the PM tweeted.

The first ‘Team Europe’ package, presented on 30 March, provided for urgent healthcare supplies and technical expertise, assistance to vulnerable groups, and wide liquidity support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including in local currency. The second package was unveiled on 8 April and included over €183 million for Georgia in support to socio-economic measures, including a contribution to bridging the financing gap. These packages brought the total COVID-related support to Georgia to €250 million in non-reimbursable grants. It was made possible thanks to an acceleration of available resources and redirection of existing programs to address the immediate needs stemming from the pandemic and its fallout.

"I am proud to convey that the European Commission has proposed a third package, in the form of €150 million of loans on highly favorable terms to further help Georgia cover its immediate financing needs. Together with IMF support, our funds aim to enhance macroeconomic stability and create space to allow resources to be channeled towards protecting the Georgian citizens and mitigating the pandemic's negative socioeconomic consequences. This support represents an important demonstration of the EU’s and the whole Team Europe’s solidarity with a key partner and friend at a time of unprecedented crisis," EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell said in a letter sent to the Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia Wednesday.

NEWS

GEORGIA TODAY APRIL 24 - 30, 2020

3

ADC/CENN to Introduce NASA's Environmental Education Platform GLOBE in Georgian Schools

W

orldwide science and education program, the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, is to be implemented in Georgia. To officially open the program, a Memorandum of Coop-

eration was signed online on April 22, ‘Earth Day’ between the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, represented by Minister, Mikheil Chkhenkeli, and CENN, represented by Executive Director Nana Janashia.

The participants of the online confer-

ence were welcomed by Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Austria in Georgia, Arad Benko, who discussed the importance of the implementation of the GLOBE Program in Georgia.

The GLOBE Program will be implemented with the financial support of Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) within the scope of the project - Promoting Sustainable Forest Management For Climate Resilient Rural Development In Georgia. By the end of academic year 2020-2021, 10 schools will have been retrained to participate in the program, and any teacher willing to do so will be able to use the instructional modules and educational materials, for GLOBE offers numerous significant online learning tools.

“It is rather emblematic that the foundation was laid for the initiation of an extremely important program in Georgia on International Earth Day,” said Minister Chkhenkeli. “For this, I would like to extend special thanks to ADC, NASA and CENN. The GLOBE Program covers very interesting topics, the knowledge of which, I believe, is essential for every educated person. GLOBE’s online tools will eventually enable us to cover all schools in Georgia. Online education is a highly relevant issue in the time of global pandemic. I am confident that program implementation will be a great success.”

The GLOBE Program is globally administered by NASA and incorporates school students of various grades, teachers and scientists in order to study the global environment. The program includes learning, environmental studies, observation, and sharing information with one another and with international scientific society.

Implementation of such a successful international informal environmental education platform in Georgia will support: creating broad opportunities for science and educational practice at public and private schools; connecting successful schools and people with international programs; creating new

PASHA Bank & Re|Bank Will Keep All their Employees

T

he beginning of 2020 was sadly marked by the outbreak of a global pandemic of COVID-19, which is having a very negative impact on the world’s economy. Consequently, many companies have had to make hard decisions regarding their employees.

PASHA Bank and Re|Bank shared their position on this topic with PASHA Holding, the large Azerbaijani investment group they are part of. During their recent online call, the CEO of the company, Mr. Arda Arkun, addressed the employees of PASHA Bank and Re|Bank to assure everyone that in 2020 the Bank will not make any redundancies due to COVID-19 alone. He also underlined that the company plans to be a long-

term successful player in the Georgian market and thus will need to gain and retain competent personnel.

Mr. Arkun thanked the employees who work at the branches, as well as those working distantly to ensure flawless processes and provide clients with all the required services.

“It is very important at this time to ensure full service for the corporate and SME clients of PASHA Bank, as well as the retail clientele of Re|Bank.

Quality has always been one of our core brand values and I am happy to see our team handling this crisis in such a professional way. Once again, we saw the importance of having the right people and processes in place,” Mr. Arkun said.

The employees of PASHA Bank and Re|Bank were also addressed by the

CEO of PASHA Holding, Mr Jalal Gasimov: “In these difficult times for our countries, I call on each of you to stick to our responsibilities, adhere to the governments’ recommendations, follow self-isolation and social distancing, and support our countries in saving as many lives as possible.

Please remember that we shall, hopefully, be able to bring back our economies to their normal pace once we are out of this dire crisis, but bringing lost lives will not be possible. As the PASHA Holding family, we will do our best in order to preserve economic stability both for our countries and for our employees. We have pledged not to allow any job cuts in 2020 in PASHA Holding and its subsidiaries and have continued to pay full salaries to all our employees”.

academic knowledge and preparation of information resources; and raising public awareness on global and local environmental challenges and ways of addressing them.

“The ADC has been supporting environmental awareness raising for youth for five years,” Ambassador Benko told GEORGIA TODAY. “The data and information management system, as well as the informal education modules (of which many are online) of the GLOBE program will greatly contribute to building the

capacities of beneficiary schools. The GLOBE Program is an international science and education program that provides students and the public worldwide with the opportunity to participate in data collection and the scientific process. We believe that students will improve their understanding of the Earth's system and the global environment. Environmental awareness concerns all areas of the economy and the society. The youth are Georgia´s future and the future of Georgia depends on them!”

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POLITICS

GEORGIA TODAY

APRIL 24 - 30, 2020

The Risks & Challenges of COVID-19: Opinions from Georgian & Int’l Viewpoints, Part 1 OP-ED BY VICTOR KIPIANI, CHAIR OF GEOCASE

T

he raging COVID-19 pandemic has become the number one topic around the world, and I believe that it will remain so for many years to come, even after the outbreak will ultimately have been defeated.

Yet, besides its medical dimension, this problem obviously also raises many no less important issues that together augur a fundamental review and transformation of the world’s political and socialeconomic order.

From this point of view, it makes sense to consider and discuss pandemics as both virological disasters and at the same time as drivers of necessary global change.

Any event of this scale shatters outdated systems of relations, changes the rules, demands different responses and reactions. The ways in which people perceive each other and the world around them have been fundamentally impacted.

Man’s understanding of human essence and of society as a whole is being reevaluated, and the meaning and role of certain objects and events are being reassessed.

In short, this pandemic has many ramifications that both our country and the wider world need to address with as much care and competence as they can muster, including through the use of invisible skills or ones that have never been put into practice before.

For the purpose of general notice, I believe that the main axis of the process of transformation that this pandemic has accelerated follows this vital question: will human society become more egalitarian, or will it continue to be ruled by an elite? Or, even worse, will it become more authoritarian?

IN SEARCH OF THE RIGHT BALANCE Journalists and researchers around the world are critical of how unprepared we were to face this pandemic, and political elites and methods are being sharply reassessed. Many versatile and diverse recommendations have been made in terms of how to tackle this issue, ranging from simply modernizing existing structures and methods all the way to their outright rejection. This is why the following question has become so urgent: What ‘golden middle’ could help us find the right balance and stop us from falling from one extreme into another?

At times such as these, it is important not to let emotions rush us towards hasty

Image source: IMF.org

decisions. Acting upon the basis of unfounded conclusions would inevitably worsen the current overall situation, and would make it impossible to carry out a positive agenda; but the need for prudence, on the other hand, must not limit vitally important discussions and analyses. The sooner problems and their solutions are openly considered and found, the better.

Yet the potential of existing methods of management has been exhausted.

Most are no longer capable of adequately tackling current risks and responding to tomorrow’s threats.

Perhaps the most unforgivable failing that the current crisis has revealed is the degree to which the modern state has drifted away from its citizens, and the vital bond which links citizens to their government has been lost.

More precisely, the past few decades have seen a sharp rise in economic protectionism, an overwhelmingly unequal distribution of resources, the increasing inaccessibility of elites, and more generally the strengthening of exclusive politics through inclusive developments.

These trends are dangerous not only because they lead to the fragmentation and disintegration of social unity, but also because they pose a threat to the stability and viability of national and supranational political systems. A proper diagnosis of this problem is especially important in the developed world, as this is largely where the following structural anomalies have emerged.

In economic terms, perhaps the most important of these anomalies is the stagnating purchasing power of middle and lower-segment salaries, a problem compounded by the replacement of employees with modern technology, as well as by the increasingly sharp inequality that exists between the incomes and savings of different social classes.

Unequal political processes also make this toxic economic and social background worse, as the financial support of influential ‘status’ groups has become vital to achieving tangible results.

In a chain reaction, one of the consequences of this growing distrust of established institutions is the further weakening and undermining of the capacity of management systems. To remedy this problem, we could suggest that the state’s role be reassessed and revised towards a greater and more active involvement in economic and social processes.

Naturally, approving during such a revision the so-called ‘big government’ recipe and ignoring the basic principles of a market economy would be unacceptable. It would therefore be best to improve the positioning of state institutions and find a new balance capable of supporting society by offering truly equal opportunities and ensuring a truly inclusive development.

The need for such an approach was widely discussed during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, when the immediate and large-scale intervention of states in their banking and financial sectors played a fundamental role in preventing the collapse of global credit and accounting systems.

This awareness of the need for fundamental changes to our system, however, died out shortly after the crisis was overcome, and the status quo was largely restored. But now it is time for another attempt, and failure this time could, I believe, cost us dear in the long run.

Concerning this agenda, we would add that achieving significant and regular development through the use of means that continue to be considered as incompatible in terms of ‘classic’ market economics will require a very thorough analysis.

A full list of the means at our disposal would be too long for the scope of this article, but I shall mention some of them for purposes of illustration, e.g. active and not merely illusory state regulation to achieve long-term economic development, especially the implementation of transparent principles for the management of natural resources, for the improved alignment of logistical and supply systems with national economic

needs, and for the effective control of fiscal and monetary policies.

Regarding the latter, given the circumstances and limited time frames, it would no doubt be desirable to permit more flexibility in terms of inflation and state debt and to revise the rights and obligations of both employees and their employers in order to adapt them to the reality of the current crisis.

I would also consider it essential to formulate and adopt a special policy to shift the country towards the adoption of a so-called ‘wartime economy’ in case of crisis.

In a word, I believe that one of the characteristics of our looming postpandemic world, i.e. greater social solidarity and more complementary societal actors, rests upon improved market economies and more ‘human’ structures— a combination which can still be found in a couple of countries whose economic policies ensure a degree of ‘universal welfare’.

Of course, at this precise moment in time it is difficult to assert anything with confidence, and the ways in which societies and states might develop internally given in this article are purely based upon preliminary observations.

Also, in terms of global and regional politics, expectations are much higher that the rules of the game will be rationalized and that post-coronavirus systems of international relations will be essentially different from their predecessors.

We can already freely discuss this matter.

BUT ARE THE ELITES READY FOR CHANGE? Calls for the fundamental transformation (if not downright replacement) of familiar, recognized political and socioeconomic models are becoming increasingly common nowadays, but at times such as these it is equally relevant to find answers to the following difficult questions: Are we ready to carry out such large-scale projects? How likely is it that established political elites will openly oppose or even sabotage such change?

It is a fact that bringing about major change requires a commensurate political will. To the question ‘to what extent does such political will exist?’, I would answer with a counter question: Is there an alternative to fast, mobile, rational and result-oriented action?

This is even more likely given the fact that, under current crisis conditions as well as in a post-crisis world, the cost of any delay in making and fulfilling correct decisions will be greater in future.

This is, if you like, a general stimulating factor for existing political establishments.

But there is another factor which should push elites towards real change: with its lack of specific form or content, this is the populism (and sometimes even political extremism) that has emerged in many countries, including the EU. We all remember the lessons from the past, when the inertness of the ‘leadership’ or its disregard of acute problems allowed radical parties and unions to win vitally important electoral dividends and gain power thanks to the naïve or superficial choices of the electorate. Does such a threat exist now, during the pandemic crisis? I believe that it does, and that it is real.

Given the absence of sensible plans of action to eliminate this threat, the only chance to neutralize its remains is theoretical. More precisely, the fact is that populist forces feel much more convincing in the presence of foreign aggression or when state interests are threatened from outside, as they are then able to manipulate national feelings more easily and channel them towards their populist aims.

Although the current coronavirus pandemic is of course not comparable to foreign aggression, its consequences could be compared to those of being at war, and this could grant a significant advantage to political radicalism and open up a path towards managing positions.

I believe that the longer the political and economic crisis caused by the pandemic will last, the more ruthless the confrontation will be between established political elites and populist forces seeking short-term results.

Moreover, this confrontation is not limited to only these two sides and it is easily expected, I would say even applausable, for the emergence of groups belonging to political realism and technocratic rationalism.

This is what the modern world is lacking, and that which is so vitally important for national and state development and improved competitiveness.

Part 2 in next week’s GT.

Isolation Diaries #3 – When the Bikes Took Over BLOG BY AMY JONES

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never imagined that I would ever ride my bike down Rustaveli Avenue, with no cars in sight. Last weekend, the government enforced a ban on vehicles in an attempt to slow the coronavirus spread over Easter, making the streets a cyclist’s realm.

I pushed hard into my pedals, flying down Chavchavadze Avenue, the wind tugging at my jacket and my hair. I love to cycle, so this was pure freedom and joy. I exchanged sideways, knowing, glances with other cyclists as we crossed paths. The roads belonged to cyclists now. If only Tbilisi could be traffic-free more often.

The fall in pollution levels across the city is tangible. From the top of Mtatsminda, the haze has lifted from the mountains. I can see new details on Tbilisi’s rooftops, extending into the far edges of the city. Across the hillside, the Monument of Georgia is easy to pick out from the bright layered slopes.

I smile every time I see runners in the streets, and cyclists balancing bags of puri from their handlebars. It’s one small glimmer of positive change amongst all the gray.

Whilst this new sense of peace is also the harrowing silence of a crippled economy, it brings with it a fresh air. A sense that things don’t have to go back to how they were; they could be better.

On Wednesday, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze discussed the possibility of continuing traffic-free days even after the ban is lifted. I would love to see roads pedestrianized for a few hours on a Sunday.

Although some people have criticized this idea as an attack on their personal freedom, I think it increases the freedom of the average, meaning those without cars can enjoy the streets, free from toxic fume-spewing vehicles.

Officials in Milan have announced a plan to improve cycling infrastructure post-lockdown by adding temporary cycling lanes. Tbilisi could consider following their example; Rustaveli Avenue and the main road by the river are ample

big enough to add a bike lane. Although whether the crazy drivers would adhere to the markings or not is doubtful.

Many Georgians, the government included, breathed a sigh of relief once the Orthodox Easter weekend passed.

The ban on cars was probably only introduced in an attempt to discourage people from travelling to churches and family to celebrate. The government couldn’t stand up to the Church to ban services, churches insisted they would remain open, so the last thing left was to make it harder for people to get there.

Monday morning, I watched a video of Georgians singing from their windows in Batumi, with candles in hand or on their windowsills. It was a beautiful example of how life and human spirit can go on, even when everything is locked down.

I find myself wondering more and more: what next? When will things return to normality, if we can return at all? Will things be better? Is this a chance to change things for the good? Or will we face a long period of economic downturn and struggle? Who knows.

For now, though, this new reality continues. I’ll ride my bike, I’ll cook, I’ll walk my dog, I’ll write. I’ll continue this new

strange routine. President Zurabishvili has extended the state of emergency until 22 May. Hold on tight, people.

BUSINESS

GEORGIA TODAY APRIL 24 - 30, 2020

5

Reflections of COVID-19 Impact on One of Georgia’s Largest Employers – Evolution Georgia INTERVIEW

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he outbreak of the COVID19 virus is challenging economies and businesses throughout the world. And it is probably fair to assume that we will be talking about a before and an after the corona pandemic. “The world will never be the same again” is not an unusual statement in public debate these days. How are large businesses coping with their new reality? What are their crisis management plans? And how do they see their future in Georgia ‘after Corona’?

GEORGIA TODAY interviewed the local business head of one of the largest companies in the Georgian market - Jacob Claesson, Head of Operations, Evolution Georgia, about his view of the situation.

EVOLUTION OPERATES IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES, INCLUDING GEORGIA. IT ENTERED THE GEORGIAN MARKET IN 2018. TELL US ABOUT THE JOURNEY SO FAR AND THE COMPANY’S PLANS IN GEORGIA. Evolution Georgia is part of Evolution Gaming Group AB, founded in 2006 and stock-listed on Nasdaq Nordic. Our core is to develop and deliver product software for online gaming and run our broadcast studios, which are like giant TV-studios, where our people lead the game in front of cameras 24/7/365. We operate business-2-business only. Across our 14 sites, we have about 6500 people working in the fields of Game Presenters, Game Development, Software Engineering, Property Management, Technical Development as well as people and administrative support services. We have won multiple international industry awards, including the most prominent award of our industry, ‘Live Casino Supplier of the Year’ for 10 consecutive years at the EGR Awards.

We opened our state-of-the-art broadcasting studio in Tbilisi in March, 2018.

It was set for rapid growth in size from the start to meet the growing demand of our services worldwide. The choice of Tbilisi, Georgia, for our third large studio was based on the understanding that the country can offer a stable environment for companies and that there is access to ambitious and English-speaking youth, who are eager to start their career in an international, intercultural environment.

Before the Georgian authorities ordered a halt to our operations in our Tbilisi broadcasting studio at the end of March of 2020, Evolution Georgia employed more than 3300 people. Our intention was to keep growing our Tbilisi site, providing jobs and career opportunities as one of the major employers in Georgia. Unfortunately, with the limits imposed on our scale of operations by the local authorities, we have been forced to adapt to the current local context and limit our growth plans for our Tbilisi studio for 2020.

THE DRAMATIC SPREAD OF COVID-19 HAS DISRUPTED LIVES, LIVELIHOODS, COMMUNITIES AND BUSINESSES WORLDWIDE. HOW IS IT AFFECTING EVOLUTION GEORGIA? The effects from COVID-19 are of course felt by everyone, including us. It is an unpredictable and sad situation which brings huge stress both on societies and on individuals.

From our perspective, we have kept

focusing on two things. The safety of our people always comes first. We have changed many routines in how we operate to comply with the recommendations from global health organizations and the local authorities in the countries where we operate, and this is particularly true for Georgia where the local restrictions have been very strict. All of our people who do not have to be in the workplace to do their job are working from home and our studio is segmented to assure that it can operate as smaller units to comply with limitations to the number of people allowed in one place at one time. Furthermore, we have multiple new processes for those required to be at work, as well as a lot of additional cleaning and hygiene procedures.

This is an unprecedented scenario, and it is hard to predict the full outcome of it for the world. No-one can know exactly how this situation will impact Georgia long-term, but everyone can see that the impact on the Georgian society will be large. The measures taken by the Georgian government to almost completely shut down the local economy are bound to have a very negative impact on the unemployment rate in Georgia, as well as on the perception of Georgia as a business-friendly country.

This leads us to our second priority.

We believe that aside from creating a safe workplace for our people, it is also our responsibility to keep our studio in operation so that we are able to offer jobs to those who want to earn an income.

We are pleased to now be back in operation since early April, but the limitation to our allowed operational scale means that we have had to revise our plan for Georgia for this year. Our other studios have been covering the bulk of our customer needs since our operations were limited in Georgia and we now no longer have the same ambitious growth plans here.

At this point we continue our dialogue with the Georgian government, and we hope that soon will be permitted to increase our operations and allow additional Georgian team members the opportunity to earn an income. We believe that the care for those who are sick with coronavirus in Georgia will require that all members of society do their part. The way that we want to support Georgia is

by offering a workplace with a lot of safety measures in place, and, through this, offering jobs to the Georgian youth in a controlled environment.

YOU HAD BIG PLANS TO CREATE JOB OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH IN GEORGIA, BUT NOW IT HAS CHANGED. WHAT IS THE MAIN REASON BEHIND THAT AND WHAT ARE THE NEW PLANS OF THE COMPANY IN GEORGIA? We have broadcasting studios in 8 countries. In 7 of these, the restrictions from the respective local authorities allow us to keep running in a way that both attempts to hinder further spread of COVID-19, but that also preserves work opportunities. Georgia is the only country where we have been forced to this level of limited capacity in comparison to normal. While we respect that each country deals with a different local context for their decisionmaking, it is not clear for us why the Georgian government does not do more to preserve job opportunities for its citizens. By moving to more targeted restrictions, the Georgian economy might not be hit as hard and the country will stand better prepared when it goes to recover from the consequences of COVID-19.

We continue to see a strong demand for our services, so the only thing holding us back for opening up for more people to come work in the controlled environment that we have created in our Tbilisi studio, is the limitations to our scale of operations put in place by the local authorities. At this stage, it is clear that our planned growth for 2020 will not happen as we thought in Georgia and unfortunately for Georgia and our operations here, we might have to consider other options for expansion in countries where we are permitted to operate if the existing limitations to our operations continues. It is still our hope that the Government of Georgia will adjust its approach to be more targeted in terms of the restrictions to move towards a realization that healthy businesses and fighting the COVID-19 virus can and must go hand in hand for any country that wishes to be prosperous.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES AT THIS POINT? Evolution Georgia falls under the exempt business sectors set out by the Government of Georgia, which are allowed to operate at a limited capacity. What we would have liked to see is a better dialogue between the government and the business sector in the country on how we can keep companies operating, while at the same time fight the further spread of the virus. Several of the measures that are implemented in Georgia are very general and broad, which means that their direct impact on the virus spread is unclear, but their impact on business and the economy is very noticeable and negative. Key for both the short and the long term perspective would be to find the balance between keeping the economy going and fighting the virus at the same time. We are standing by 24/7 to work with the government on this. I would expect any other larger companies here to be ready to do the same.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF YOUR EMPLOYEES AND WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR ROLE WITHIN THIS PROCESS? Since the first reports of the spread of the COVID-19 virus and as the World Health Organization started issuing recommendations for how companies could help in the fight, we have implemented multiple preventive efforts to keep our people safe. These include travel bans and mandatory travel quarantine, remote work for all roles possible, thermo screening before entering our buildings, additional cleaning and hygiene efforts, as well as changes to several work processes to ensure limitations to gatherings of people, and social distancing.

On March 23, the floor operations within Evolution Georgia were shut down by the Georgian authorities. As a result, we could not offer our team members any shifts, and about 3000 Game Presenters (who are leading the games) and Shufflers (who are preparing the cards) were suspended.

Since the shutdown, Evolution has added additional preventive measures, including separation of our buildings into smaller zones where staff cannot interact with each other during their

shift, and offering paid transportation to and from work.

On April 4, we were allowed to reopen our studio, but despite our efforts, we are still only allowed to operate at limited capacity, leaving almost all of our team members without the opportunity for work and income. We have been very clear that we are ready to do more if it will allow us to increase our level of operations. We are convinced that if the government came to inspect our premises, we could agree on a way to bring more of our people back to work in our controlled environment. As a large company in Georgia, we believe that we have a great role to play in leading the way on how businesses can adapt to the current situation. We strongly believe that with the right decisions, we can both fight the virus now, but also help the Georgian economy more in the long term.

HOW WOULD YOU EVALUATE THE DISRUPTIONS TO THE ECONOMY AS A CHALLENGE OF THE PREVENTIVE MEASURES TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT? The impact of the coronavirus is rippling through Georgian economy, but it might take a few months to see the full picture and its full impact on the Georgian society. The situation is still developing.

However, there are some things which are evident already: many businesses are going bankrupt or closing, and people are losing their jobs. That said, I still think that if the Georgian government urgently look at increasing the precision in their decisions, the road to financial recovery for Georgian can be shortened.

DO YOU THINK THAT EVOLUTION MIGHT LEAVE THE GEORGIAN MARKET? We have until now only had positive things to say about the business climate in Georgia. We have great people in our Georgian teams and we have invested a lot in our premises here, and we do not want to change our plans for Georgia.

Unfortunately, there is room for improvement from the government side in terms of the current precision of targeted effects for decisions. If we are kept at limited capacity in terms of operations over time, we will have to consider other locations for growth.

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BUSINESS

GEORGIA TODAY

APRIL 24 - 30, 2020

Monthly Tourism Update – March 2020: Effects of COVID-19 on the Accommodation Industry in Georgia

Graph 1: Average prices of hotels in March 2019 and March 2020; Year over Year(YoY) growth rate of average prices. Source: PMC Research Center

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he novel coronavirus COVID-19, and the subsequent crisis labeled as The Great Lockdown by the IMF, affected many sectors of the economy, especially tourism and accommodation. According to Georgia's Balance of Payments, the receipts from travel accounted for 18.4% of the GDP in 2019, which makes the Georgian economy more vulnerable to the crisis. In order to stop the virus from spreading, the Georgian government closed the borders to all foreign visitors on March 18, which already translated into halving the number of international travelers in March 2020 compared to February 2020, a fall from 466k travelers to 233k, while the number of tourists declined from 328k in March 2019 to 144k in March 2020 (-56.1%).

In order to mitigate the economic impact of the crisis, some specific packages were implemented by the government. Firstly, according to Revenue Service of Georgia, all entities operating in tourism related industries were provided an income deferral opportunity for four months until November 1 and, additionally, an annual property tax deferral was offered to Ltds. A nationwide three-month loan deferral is also expected to ease the burden. More importantly, as part of its anti-crisis plan, the Ministry of Economy

and Sustainable Development of Georgia introduced a subsidy program, which implies co-funding interest payments on loans for 6 months for registered tourism accommodation facilities that have 4-50 rooms at their disposal and have taken a loan in order to build/renovate said facilities. While these measures are likely to have a positive impact overall, they are still not targeted well enough: For instance, a sizable number of guesthouses may not have been registered as an individual entrepreneur, which makes them ineligible for tax deferrals. According to the Georgian National Tourist Administration (GNTA), there are 2575 entities that provide accommodation services registered in Georgia, while there are 14,852 such properties listed on Booking.com. Hence, a more inclusive policy such as payment of hotels’ communal expenses could prove to be more effective.

In March 2020, the Hotel Price Index increased by 5.1% compared to February 2019, which may seem bizarre given the circumstances. The increase can be explained by a market failure due to the abrupt shock - hotel prices do not reflect the fact that there is currently no market for hospitality industry, meaning that they have temporarily lost their signaling ability. Additionally, during the data collection process, almost all types of

Graph 2: In the graph, average prices for standard double rooms in 3 and 4-star hotels and guesthouses are given by region. 5-star hotel prices are provided above

Table 1 : Percentage change of prices in March 2020 over February 2020 and over March 2019

properties on booking.com had a message which stated that there was "Limited supply in the region for selected dates", which may imply that many properties were removed temporarily due to the coronavirus shock. When the property is temporarily removed, the website indicates that the property is not available for the selected dates. In fact, 171 hotels from our sample (22.4%) were not available for the selected dates, while in February, our sample included only 69 such hotels (9%). Also, it may be the case that some hosts were reluctant to update the prices, knowing that they would have no customers either way.

By looking at the dynamics of average prices in March 2020 and March 2019 (graph 1), it can be observed that the prices of 5-star hotels suffered the biggest, 43.5% year over year (YoY), decrease, followed by 4-star hotel prices, which fell

by 18.1%, while prices of 3-star hotels and guesthouses did not change significantly (-5.8% and -3.3% respectively). Thus, the major decline in 4 and 5 star hotel prices compared to the same period in 2019 could be explained as a reaction to falling demand by more luxurious hotels (as their customer base includes not only foreign visitors but also domestic travelers), which would be pointless for guesthouses and 3-star hotels, as currently there is practically no market for them.

HOTEL PRICE INDEX In March 2020, in Georgia the hotel price index1 increased by 5.1% compared to February 2020. The 3-star, 4-star and 5-star hotel price index increased by 1.8%, while for guesthouses, the price index increased by 14%.

In March 2020, compared to March 2019, hotel prices in Georgia decreased

by 12.9%. The prices of 3*, 4*, 5* hotels decreased by 14.8%, while the prices of guesthouses decreased by 10.4%. In terms of regions, the prices decreased the most in Guria (-31.6%), followed by SamtskheJavakheti (-29.9%) and Adjara (-26.5%).

AVERAGE HOTEL PRICES In Georgia, the average cost of a room2 in a 3-star hotel was 118 GEL per night in February 2020. While the average cost of a room in a 4-star hotel in Georgia was 186 GEL per night and the average cost of a room in a guesthouse3 was 71 GEL per night.

The average cost of a room in a 5-star hotel in Georgia in March 2020 was 274 GEL per night. In Mtskheta-Mtianeti, the average price was 779 GEL (only one 5-star hotel), followed by Tbilisi - 396 GEL, Samtskhe-Javakheti – 339 GEL and Guria - 331 GEL.

1 The calculation of the hotel price index is based on the recommendations given by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The elementary aggregate price index is calculated by Jevons index (Consumer Price Index Manual-Theory and Practice (2004), Practical Guide to Producing Consumer Price Indices (2009)).

2 The results are based on the surveying of standard double hotel room prices of 3, 4, 5-star hotels and guesthouses in 10 regions of Georgia. Hotels were chosen arbitrarily according to random sampling principle. The study contains 71% (312) of all 3, 4 and 5-star hotels and 25% (456 guesthouses) of all guesthouses registered on www.booking.com The 3, 4 and 5-star hotel price data was collected by contacting hotels individually, while the prices of guesthouses were taken from booking.com. The average prices are arithmetic mean of standard double hotel room prices.

3 Guesthouse: a type of accommodation that is characterized by having a small number of rooms and services are usually offered by the resident family.

BUSINESS

GEORGIA TODAY APRIL 24 - 30, 2020

7

ISET Business Confidence Index Q2 2020: Businesses in the Lockdown

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fter a recovery in the previous quarter, the BCI has decreased drastically, by 53.0 points, compared to Q1 2020 and reached an all-time low at -27.2. Expectations in the Georgian private sector declined by 84.1 index points, dropping to -41.4. Moreover, business performance over the past three months has also decreased, reaching -26.1 points, indicating a significant downturn in production, turnover, and sales. Compared to the previous quarter, the Sales Price Expectation Index has decreased as well, showing growth in the market share of business owners

Business confidence in the second quarter of 2020 has decreased significantly both for SMEs (-47.2), and large firms (-54.0).

significant obstacles for both large companies and SMEs. In Q2 2020, "other" factors also became a further hindrance for both large companies and SMEs. As “other” factors have been significantly less important in the past (mentioned by 16% of large companies and 14% of SMEs on average in the last four quarters), the sudden increase could indicate a link to the government’s state of emer-

PAST PERFORMANCE Businesses’ Past Performance Index, which shows the development of businesses' production, turnover, and sales in the past 3 months, decreased significantly by 55.5 points compared to Q1 of 2020 and reached its historic low of -26.31 in Q2 2020.

A significant deterioration in performance was observed in the service sector (-75.2), followed by the agriculture (-62.8), retail trade (-55.2) and financial (-49.6) sectors. The smallest decrease in past performance is observed in the manufacturing (-16.9) sector. The substantial decline in these sectors highlights that the weighted balance between positive and negative responses decreased compared to the previous quarter.

employment over the next three months, however, 41% of firms stated that they would hire fewer employees in the future and only 7% think that they would hire more.

69% of the firms surveyed expect the economic condition of their businesses to worsen over the next three months.

19% do not predict any changes in the future, leaving a small proportion (12%) of businesses that believe their business conditions will improve.

for both SMEs and large companies.

Around 41% of all firms surveyed do not intend to change their prices over the next three months. 24% of firms expect to decrease their prices, and the remaining 35% will consider increasing their prices in the future.

A lack of demand and limited access to financing continue to be the most

EXPECTATIONS who expect lower sales prices.

The BCI decreased in every economic sector, with the highest decline in retail trade (-69.8), followed by service (-64.7), financial (-39.7), construction (-30.9) and agriculture (-30.8). The lowest decrease is seen in the manufacturing sector (-11.0)

The Expectations Index deteriorated drastically by -84.1 index points in Q2 2020 and stopped at -41.4.

Prospects for the next three months have worsened for every sector. The most significant decrease is observed in retail trade (-134), followed by the financial (-96.7), service (-80.8), agriculture (-78.3) and construction (-55.7) sectors. The smallest decline is observed in manufacturing sector (-8.4). Business expectations have, on the whole, decreased for both large firms (-87.5) and SMEs (-80.3).

52% of the surveyed businesses do not expect any changes in

SALES PRICE EXPECTATIONS The Sales Price Expectations Index decreased from 18.6 points (Q1 2020) to -5.3 points in Q2 2020. This decline is driven by the construction, retail trade, and service sectors. The overall Sales Price Expectations Index has decreased

gency constraints due to COVID-19.

It should be noted that the present BCI results may be overestimated, as the survey only covers businesses currently operating and not those that have already exited the market. Firms, which exited the market are, to some extent, more likely to demonstrate a negative outlook.

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SOCIETY

GEORGIA TODAY

APRIL 24 - 30, 2020

Let’s #GREENovate! New EU4Youth / CENN Program to Foster Youth Employment & Sustainable Development through Social Entrepreneurship for Green Growth

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ENN is looking for future #GREENovaters!

The project we’re going to tell you about aims to find future green entrepreneurs and discover and promote their innovative potential. It encourages the generation of green, innovative ideas that have a significant social impact, and supports their implementation.

Rural youth in Georgia and Armenia today are challenged by a lack of inclusive educational opportunities, limited job opportunities, and an inability to meet the demands of the labor market due to mismatched skills and competencies.

To confront this challenge, a program called ‘Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development (SEED) for Green Growth in Borderline Communities’ is being implemented by CENN and its partner organizations, Green Lane NGO (Armenia) and the Kakheti Regional Development Fund (KRDF), with financial support from the EU, within the EU4Youth project. Its main goal is to develop the entrepreneurial potential of young people from the EaP region in the field of social entrepreneurship, with the aim of contributing to social cohesion, employment, inclusion and a reduction of inequalities. By doing so, it will facilitate the employability of youth in Georgia and Armenia through capacity building; promoting sub-national, national and cross-border cooperation activities; and supporting the establishment of favorable ecosystems for social entrepreneurship and green innovation as tools for social transformation.

EU4Youth initiatives in Georgia and the Eastern Partnership countries mostly aim to increase the employability of young people, develop their skills and promote their active participation in society and the economy by developing their skills and supporting them in becoming future leaders and entrepreneurs.

Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. Social entrepreneurship represents an important part of the economy. Green entrepreneurship, or sustainable entrepreneurship that contributes to green growth, centers around entrepreneurship in a wider context in which the envi-

EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell

“Youth is the key to the future of all countries, but they need opportunities to develop and reach their potential, especially in disadvantaged communities. The EU is helping to address this challenge through our EU4Youth programme, which supports youth in attaining social entrepreneurship and green innovation skills, to enhance their employment opportunities and to make a positive contribution to their local communities,” said EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell.

ronment is the focal point. Green entrepreneurship, the realization of entrepreneurial ideas which have a positive effect on the natural environment, is fortunately becoming increasingly popular nowadays, helping entrepreneurs implement their ideas without harming the environment.

Green entrepreneurs strive to have a positive impact on the environment and try to mitigate environmental and social crises by creating business models addressing specific social and environmental issues. These entrepreneurs value both directions in their business models, creating innovative green products or services to boost demand for environmentally friendly production as well as increasing employability.

With this in mind, the organizers of the SEED project will work with local youth and vulnerable groups in borderline communities of Georgia (Gori, Akhmeta, Ninotsminda) and Armenia (Lori, Tavush and Shirak marzes), actively cooperating with innovative centers, educational institutions, enterprises, etc., to inform the younger generation and increase their motivation to become future green innovators.

Many pilot projects will be implemented, among them thematic competitions addressing different environmental issues, and a GREENcubator program, which will provide mentorship for young entrepreneurs and give them essential knowledge and skills. SEED will also provide grants for young innovators so they can develop and implement projects supporting sustainable development.

There will also be study tours and exchange visits for the Georgian and Armenian beneficiaries to learn more about best social entrepreneurship practices and to raise awareness on social entrepreneurship as a tool for their economic and cultural integration. This will not only impact youth in the neighboring countries of Georgia and Armenia, but will also contribute to the global objective of the EU to foster youth employment and societal change through social entrepreneurship.

Are you a potential future green entrepreneur?

Do you know someone that is? If you want to get involved, contact the organizers via their Facebook page: @GreenInnovators. SEED will also be running a thematic blog as well as educational vlogs on social entrepreneurship and green innovation.

You can visit the blogs anytime on CENN’s environmental portal at www.environment.cenn.org.

CENN Executive Director Nana Janashia

“CENN has many years of experience working with youth and encouraging them to become future leaders in the field,” said Nana Janashia, CENN Executive Director.

“We strongly believe that young people have the potential to become green ambassadors and environmental stewards of sustainable development. Developing entrepreneurial and leadership skills is essential for youth to become successful and determined leaders of the future, and social entrepreneurship that contributes to green growth plays a crucial role to defeat youth unemployment.

CENN, with the support of the European Union, will actively contribute to developing the entrepreneurial potential of youth and support effective systems for social entrepreneurship and green innovation over the next few years.”

SOCIETY

GEORGIA TODAY APRIL 24 - 30, 2020

9

The Role of Trade Routes in Georgian History

BY EMIL AVDALIANI

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rade routes played an integral part in Georgia’s history: from ancient times to modern, various routes enabled the country to position itself as an important regional power.

Control over the trade routes on Georgian territory was a major reason for the century-long wars between Byzantium and Sasanian Iran in late antiquity. Projection of power to Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, South Caucasus and Asia Minor also led to attempts by Sasanian rulers to reach the Mediterranean and Black seas.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that at the time of Khosrow I Anushirvan, the Sasanian Empire was trying to reach the shores of the Black Sea – what is nowadays western Georgia. Iran clearly wanted to control regional trade routes and reach transcontinental highways linking the Mediterranean in the south with India, and to the north via the Eurasian steppes with Central Asia.

Then came the 7th-10th centuries, when two major foreign policy developments played an important role in Georgian history. First was the emergence of the Arabs and the spread of Islam and, second, the formation of a powerful seminomadic state by the Khazars to the north of the Caucasus in the lower reaches of the Volga River.

The wars between the Arabs and the Byzantines, as well as the competition between the Arabs and the Khazars, severely undermined the economic potential of the South Caucasus. Famous for various trade routes in late antiquity, those corridors almost ceased to oper-

Image source: worldview.stratfor.com

ate in the 7th century. However, it was at this time that new trade routes (corridors) slowly began to form. From the turn of the 7th-8th centuries, economic activity began to shift from Armenian cities to the Georgian territory, which led to the expansion of Tbilisi and various cities in the surrounding territory.

Another important factor contributing to the economic growth of the eastern part of the South Caucasus were close economic contacts, which from the end of the 8th century were formed between the Islamic world and the Khazars. The South Caucasus in the late 8th and 9th centuries was at the epicenter of economic activity between the Arab world and the modern Russian territory.

In the 9th-10th cc., Georgian cities experienced a significant development due to a general economic growth taking place in the South Caucasus and the Middle East. It is notable that the long

and difficult process of unifying Georgia coincided with the above-mentioned distinct economic growth of Georgian cities and villages. Another important process was the slow dissolution of the Arab (Abbasid) State, especially from the beginning of the 10th century.

These economic and political events led to the development of a whole network of regional trade routes along Georgia's borders, which in turn were linked to much larger, transcontinental trade routes running through Mesopotamia, northern Iran and Byzantium.

The appearance of the Seljuks in the late 11th century only slightly slowed the functioning of trade routes near the Georgian borders. From the 11th-12th centuries, we again see the economic growth of the cities of Arran, Shirvan (modern-day Azerbaijan), and Armenia, well evident in the Georgian, PersianArabic and Armenian written sources.

Like the large transcontinental routes, roads of regional importance too were located outside the Georgian territory, but near the borders of the Kingdom of Georgia. This meant that at the time of the unification of Georgia (late 10th c.), the country (except for Tbilisi and Dmanisi, which were outside of Georgian control) was more or less at the periphery of major economic activity in the region.

Since the establishment of the tradeeconomic routes running through Arran, Shirvan and Armenia took place simultaneously with the formation of a united Georgian monarchy, the Bagrationis (the ruling Georgian dynasty) tried to correct the peripheral trade and economic position of their newly-created kingdom.

This could explain the 11th-13th centuries Georgian territorial expansion towards Arran, Shirvan, and Armenia. The desire to master the regional trade routes which criss-crossed Dvin, Barda, Ganja, Tbilisi,

Ani, Trebizond, Ahlat, Tabriz and many other major cities, would have been reason enough for the territorial expansion of the Georgian monarchy.

The invasion of the Mongols upturned the entire fabric of the 13th century trade routes crisscrossing the Caucasus, which kicked off the gradual loss of control by the Georgians over regional trade. There were periods when Italians and other Europeans traded with the western Georgian ports in 14-17th cc., or when the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti in the 18th c. tried to revitalize its north Caucasus commerce, but overall the country lost the trade transit role it once possessed.

This effectively lasted until the late 20th century when, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a number of roads, pipelines, railroads and other infrastructure projects began to run from the Caspian to the Black Sea through the Georgian territory.

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SOCIETY

GEORGIA TODAY

APRIL 24 - 30, 2020

Take a Number: Zugdidi

BLOG BY TONY HANMER

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e had our last shopping run to Zugdidi for a while, having slipped through just before Orthodox Easter. New rules: max three people in a car, no one next to the driver. Masks and gloves. But this time, contrary to last, the checkpoint police before the big city waved us through: things had gotten more lax, not more strict, which was not a good sign. We hurried on to drop off some potatoes and cheese which friends had requested, and then on to the main stop: Jibe (pronounce that last e: it means pocket in Georgian). The big cash & carry had decided to push its opening hour back to 8 am instead of 9, however,

and there was already a crowd outside, masked and gloved, monitored by police.

Lali got number 52 while I looked for a place to park the 4x4 in the filling lot.

She pled our case of a 230 km round trip to make, and was given the right to enter early, with me soon behind to help.

Thank goodness for the necessary pushiness, or we would have had a many hours’ wait ahead of us just to get in the door! One out, one in, slow going.

We stocked up, filling four shopping carts as usual; had the whole lot checked against our long printed roll of purchases; and began refilling the car. Must keep some space in the back for the heavy goods: sacks of flour, stock feed, sugar.

Then away to the bazaar area.

This has been going through an upheaval lately. They’re replacing its underground plumbing, so, digging huge holes; cranes, pipes, chaos. The bazaar itself had been

closed for a few days because people were unable to conform to the social distancing rule, but was now open again; essential shops only, though. The way in I had been allowed to use last time was denied to me now, but the police told me that the old way from above was open. Lies: there was no other way to drive in. We parked as close as possible, but too far away for cart guys to push our heavy loads to, and entered anyway to actually pay and have goods assembled.

Eventually, I went back to the only vehicle opening, saw that another private vehicle had been allowed in, and firmly requested the same, again because of our long distance and hundreds of kg of buys already now awaiting us. They relented and I felt the victory of having tried and succeeded at what was really vital. Sometimes you just gotta push.

Lali saw people in the bazaar being fined 3000 GEL a pop for failing at social distancing, which was disheartening but necessary. We HAVE to get this right or we might die. Meanwhile, I gathered up the various goods from their locations, including first the heavy sacks, then cat and puppy food, fresh fruit/veg, and more miscellania. Off to a pharmacy, from where I called Lali to read her list to the cashier, then back into the chaos.

She had just enough room to be cocooned into her seat, surrounded by produce.

There were sacks of the lighter variety roped to the roof: no wasted space, as always!

A quick fill-up with petrol, near the base of Svaneti, then off for the 2.5 hours’ drive home before dark. Again, the checkpoint police waved us through instead of taking our temperatures, which made me feel that they were really letting

Medical Disasters

Professor Paata Kervalishvili. Source: everybodywiki.com

OP-ED BY NUGZAR B. RUHADZE

I

had no idea that some unassumingly and discreetly laboring professionals in Georgia were so assiduously working on methods of investigating the vibrational properties of viruses – an issue which has acquired an overwhelmingly vital significance in our stressed-out days of globally recognized and thoroughly documented contagion.

I’ve read in the annals of medicinal

content a doctoral quote which adds to my already ample knowledge of viral complications: ‘You can become an infectious carrier only four hours after coming into contact with the viruses’. How do we know this, and how believable can this statement be? To answer this question, I opted to follow the train of thought of Professor Paata Kervalishvili, the incumbent president of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Georgia, working in company with the powerful team of scientists of the Georgian Technical University, University of West Attica, and University of Paris-Sud.

Professor Kervalishvili says that the prediction, management and control of medical disasters constitute a solid part of medical planning and preparation.

The term ‘disaster medicine’ first appeared in the medical lexicon in the post-WW2 era. It grew out of a necessitated care for military casualties, nuclear holocaust victims, survivors of natural disasters and recurring pandemics. The term became ubiquitous at the moment of creation of the medical response corps for disasters, which was in these days also set up in Georgia to glean and utilize first-hand information about the

coronavirus hitting the world. The disaster and emergency medicine study group was created by medical enterprises and professionals of various countries, Georgia being a dedicated follower of this course of action.

Throughout this period, some tentative but incomplete medical responses to disasters and control of different epidemics made it increasingly apparent that emergency management organizations were in need of qualified physicians and certain relevant means when faced with a global surge of medical disasters. Unbelievably, Georgia demonstrated totally unexpected professional acumen and readiness to fight the current virus, briefly and popularly called Corona. The development of new treatments is greatly facilitated by an improved understanding of pathophysiology (disordered physiological process) of epidemic diseases. There is therefore a need to address the current knowledge gaps in disease aetiology (causation of disease) in order to support innovation in the development of evidence-based treatments.

As Kervalishvili points out, special attention must be focused on the integration of pre-clinical and clinical studies to identify the mechanisms that are common to a particular infectious disease. In this direction, the multidisciplinary development of the ability to detect individual virus particles has the potential to significantly impact healthcare since it could enable diagnosis at the earliest stages of replication. Simultaneous acquisition of the vibrational and electronic fingerprints of molecular systems of biological interest is

things slide when it was much too important to do so.

Home, unpack the car, collapse in a heap that evening. Such is an all-day shop-stock run in The Age of The Virus.

A fellow will walk 10 km one way to come and shop today. Now, nervously waiting for fallout from Orthodox churches refusing to close for Easter and facing an extended ban of light vehicles until April 27, we are Staying At Home.

Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with nearly 2000 members, at www.facebook.com/ groups/SvanetiRenaissance/ He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti

very difficult to achieve with conventional optical means due to their rather poor sensitivity. Laser light can interact with molecular vibrations in the viral host system. Viruses assemble in the infected cells of humans, animals or plants. There are viruses which breed in the cell of the bacteria. Viruses spread in many different ways and each species of virus relies on a particular method of propagation.

I have tried to make the subject matter as simple as possible to understand but the medical specificity of the issue is not what I am trying to put forward in particular. The main conclusion I am trying to make here is that it was no accident that Georgia reacted to the likelihood of the disease proliferation with such elevated professionalism and extremely civilized grip. The presence of relevant medical personnel and gear in this country is guaranteed only by our national penchant to stay at the vanguard of human development by educating ourselves and engaging in world-level research into the most topical medical issues. One of the greatest prerequisites for this is the fact that the joint scientific venture, practiced by Professor Kervalishvili and his outstanding team of scientists, together with their colleagues of various nationalities around the world, has had an outstanding effect on the general qualification of Georgia’s medics and their readiness to momentarily react to a medical disaster of any magnitude, thus performing an indispensable job to the benefit of our people at the hardest moments of distress, at the same time serving the goals at a purely international level.

SOCIETY

GEORGIA TODAY APRIL 24 - 30, 2020

11

Chuberi Meets the Threat of COVID-19 with a Completely Renewed Ambulatory Clinic

I

n the times of the coronavirus pandemic, the work of local ambulatory clinics in the regions has become even more vital, which is still a problem in many villages.

In this regard, after August last year, the situation improved in the village of Chuberi, Mestia Municipality, where the ambulatory clinic was fully rehabilitated with the funding of JSC Nenskra Hydro and Korean Water Resources Corporation K-water.

As part of the rehabilitation, the second floor of the building was completely renovated, the day and the so-called luxury rooms with bathrooms were arranged, as well as a family doctor's reception, patient examination rooms, and conference hall.

Family doctor Tea Tsindeliani, who has been working at the Chuberi Ambulatory Clinic for 5 years, says that after the rehabilitation, the working conditions of the doctors have significantly improved and, consequently, their work has become more efficient.

"The building where the ambulatory clinic operates today was an ordinary residential house 7 years ago. The village bought it and turned it into an ambulatory clinic, but due to lack of finances, only the first floor was set up, and the second floor was completely unusable, as no-one had funds to repair it. But after

the donation [from JSC Nenskra Hydro and K-water], the second floor was fully repaired. Full-scale hospital rooms with bathrooms, a reception for the family doctors, and separate examination rooms were arranged, which makes it easier to work and manage the flow of patients effectively," said Tsindeliani.

Considering the background of the new global challenge, ambulatory doctors serve patients in a remote way to prevent the spread of coronavirus, treating them at the hospital only in cases of emergency. It also became necessary to take care of the safety of the medical staff.

According to Tsindeliani, the ambulatory clinic is regularly disinfected with the help of Nenskra Hydro.

"Because of the spread of the virus in the country, we mostly serve patients remotely, providing telephone consultations, and only treat patients on site in case of emergency. Disinfection at the ambulatory clinic has already been done with the help of Nenskra Hydro. But we have a request: if there are resources to do so, give us disinfectants," said the family doctor.

Mariam Kopelashvili, an ambulance doctor who was directly involved in the rehabilitation of the Chuberi Ambulatory Clinic, said that appropriate equip-

ment at the center is an important aid for both patients and doctors.

"Apart from providing patients with much better medical care and treatment in modern rooms, rehabilitation has certainly made work easier for doctors. The process of working with patients has become easier and more comfortable," she said.

Kopelashvili says that as yet, no calls related to symptoms of coronavirus have been recorded in Chuberi, and referrals are mostly related to cases of arterial hypertension and trauma during spring works.

"Currently, there is no ambulance car on the balance of Chuberi Ambulatory Clinic, however, it is quite a long way to some villages in the valley to get to a patient operatively. In this case, Nenskra Hydro often helps doctors with their ambulance car," she said.

Chuberi Ambulatory Clinic was opened on August 23 last year after full rehabilitation funded by Nenskra Hydro and K-water. Today, the medical center provides assistance to local residents with improved conditions and renewed infrastructure.

From 2015 to date, Nenksra Hydro has implemented social projects worth GEL

2 million in Chuberi and Nakra. Within the scope of Access to Mechanization Project, the company provided about 200 families with free heavy machinery service, assisted them in the improvement of lands and the arrangement of internal village roads. In addition, Nenskra Hydro funded the Nakra riverbed cleaning and bank reinforcement works.

Recently, the full rehabilitation of the Chuberi Culture House and Sports Complex was completed.

In addition to infrastructure projects, the company is working to develop small and medium-sized businesses, as well as supporting vocational education.

JSC Nenskra Hydro is a project-based company established in 2015 as a result of cooperation between a state-owned Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) and JSC Partnership Fund.

The company is developing the Nenskra Hydropower Plant Project in the Nenskra and Nakra River Valleys in the Mestia Municipality of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region. The 280 MW Nenskra Hydropower Plant will generate approximately 1,200.00 GWh of electricity annually, which will be fully consumed by the Georgian market.

CULTURE

“Corona Days” Artworks Presented by BI Auction to Promote Young Georgian Artists

BY KATIE RUTH DAVIES

P

icasso once said, “Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.” We are currently in such a time: a time of isolation, in which we can fill our lives with new exploration, creativity and discovery, or simply wait, in stasis, for “normality” to return. Some, such as BI Auction, see the need to direct these days and feelings towards art, literature, music and new designs for life.

As such, the organizers have set to promoting those artists creating works throughout the pandemic, uniting them in the online exhibition ‘Artists Artworks @Corona Days’.

GEORGIA TODAY asked Bengü Akçardak Küçük, Founder-Partner of BI Auction, to tell us the motivation behind their latest innovative project.

“BI Auction organized the first competition, and then auction, for young artists under 30 in January this year.

When we entered these days of quarantine and self-isolation, I really worried about our artists, wondering what their

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George Sharashidze COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT

Commercial Director: Iva Merabishvili Marketing Manager: Natalia Chikvaidze

GEORGIA TODAY

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT:

Editor-In-Chief: Katie Ruth Davies

health and mood might be, shut away from external inspiration. And yet I had the great belief that during this period, the artists, gifted persons that they are, would perhaps be able to use their time to create their best pieces, and to at the very minimum, to express their feelings with their artworks,” Bengü told us.

“Art unites us. Art helps us to heal and to overcome hardships such as this pandemic, making the days pass a little more easily,” she added. “As such, every day on the BI Auction facebook page, I will be posting one or two paintings from one of the young artists who participated in our first BI Auction Young Artists Competition- new works which they have created during these ‘corona days’.

Some of these we will be sharing with GEORGIA TODAY’s readers.”

SURVIVING IN A SPEECHLESS WORLD Mariam Dolidze is a student at the Tbilisi State Academy of Art. She participated in two exhibitions in Tbilisi before BI Auction’s 'Competition and Auction for Young Artists’ in January. She is very talented, not only at expressing her feelings through art, but also in the way she uses light in her paintings.

Journalists: Ana Dumbadze, Vazha Tavberidze, Nini Dakhundaridze, Tony Hanmer, Emil Avdaliani, Nugzar B. Ruhadze, Beka Alexishvili, Elene Dzebizashvili, Photographer: Aleksei Serov

when you want to scream, but can't.

When a person has a mind that is fogged, art can heal: creating can put the sun and moon back in their rightful places in the world, returning beauty and peace.

But this can only come after pain, pain of the soul. And facing this feeling, you are speechless. Right now, the world is speechless.”

“While creating these artworks, I felt very stressed by the coronavirus because it was as if everything had turned into a mist which I could not see through,” Dolidze says. “The only way for me to survive was to create, as the process of creating goes some way to putting things in order. The pose of the figures on these canvases expresses a strong sense of hopelessness: that feeling you get

Website Manager/Editor: Katie Ruth Davies Layout: Misha Mchedlishvili Webmaster: Sergey Gevenov Circulation Managers: David Kerdikashvili, David Djandjgava

BI Auction is the first Art Auction Company of Georgia, established in 2016 with the aim to promote Georgian Art and artists and enlarge the market. In four years, BI Auction ‘for ART’ has organized seven auctions and presented more than 400 paintings from 120 Georgian painters. In every auction, the collection is selected from among thousands of paintings from well-known legendary artists of Georgia and also from promising young artists. For more information contact biauction1@gmail.com.

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