ISET

How Georgia's political crisis is shaking its business landscape

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Recent targeted sanctions: immediate economic impacts and long-term economic risks for Georgia

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OpEd: Institutions matter – risks Georgia’s independent institutions face

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2024 end of year economic update: blurring lines between economy, democracy and governance…

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Visualization of CEC’s published election results

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WHO WE ARE

ISET Policy Institute provides independent policy research, analysis, and training, and it reaches out to the broader academic, policy and business community, as well as the general public. Our key areas of expertise are in Agricultural Policy, Macroeconomic Policy, Energy & Environment, Private Sector Development, and Inclusive growth. Within these sectors, ISET maintains a portfolio of regular indices and analytical publications, and implements externally financed projects.

Media & democracy

Energy & Environment

Governance

Inclusive growth

Macroeconomic stability

Agriculture & Rural

Competitiveness

ReforMeter

RIAcademy

MediaTOR

Gender

Climate & Green Dev

Covid 19

Indexes

Media Depolarization Index

Explores and measures the dynamics of media polarization in Georgia; looks at media polarization as a proxy for political polarization.

Agri Review

Summarizes the major developments in the agricultural sector and provides brief analysis of the related economic indicators.

Business Confidence Index

Comprises seven sector-specific sub-indices covering services, retail trade, agriculture, manufacturing, financial services, construction and other sectors.

Consumer Confidence Index

Measures the degree of optimism that consumers feel about the overall state of the economy and their personal financial situation.

Electricity Market Review

Analyses the main trends and key events in Georgia’s electricity market.

Energy Market Review: Discontinued

Analyses the main trends and key events in Georgia’s energy sector, including electricity, oil, and gas.

GDP Forecast

Provides current-quarter and one-quarter-ahead GDP forecasts for those who need to make business and policy decisions and cannot wait until the official statistics are announced several months later.

Gender Equality Index

Following an EU methodology and taking into account regional context, the Index measures progress towards gender equality among 12 former soviet countries.

Khachapuri Index

Inspired by the Big Mac Index of the Economist magazine, it tracks inflation by using the most popular Georgian Food, the Khachapuri.

Macroeconomic Review

Offers a comprehensive review and an economic interpretation of the existing data trends, which are based on monthly statistics from GeoStat, NBG, and other sources.

REMLab: Discontinued

According to the best global practices, residential and commercial real estate price indices are calculated using several measures

Publications

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Date

17 January 2025

Is Georgia's foreign official reserves adequate to withstand political uncertainties?

This note provides an overview of recent developments regarding Georgia’s foreign exchange Gross International Reserves (GIR), offers insights into some aspects of reserve adequacy, and central bank’s safeguards principles in the context of heightened political uncertainties. It appears that the GIR are likely inadequate to withstand prolonged political uncertainties. Furthermore, the National Bank of Georgia's (NBG) governance and regulatory frameworks are not presently equipped to counter these challenges.

Date

14 January 2025

How Georgia's political crisis is shaking its business landscape

The political and social turmoil surrounding the 26 October parliamentary elections and their aftermath have significant implications for Georgia's business environment. The prolonged polarization, government-led violence against protesters, and the suspension of EU accession talks create uncertainty that can negatively influence the economic climate in multiple ways.

Date

09 January 2025

Recent targeted sanctions: immediate economic impacts and long-term economic risks for Georgia

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently imposed sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire widely regarded as Georgia's de facto ruler and the honorary chair of the Georgian Dream party. These measures, which include asset freezes and travel bans, aim to address democratic backsliding in Georgia and Ivanishvili's personal role in the country's perceived drift toward Russian influence.

Projects

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Europe and our future well-being

The project aims to raise awareness and boost participation in the democratic process, fostering a strong and inclusive understanding of the benefits of EU integration for all age and ethnic groups in Georgia. Our goal is to communicate the tangible advantages of democracy and the EU path to Georgian youth and regional populations. Utilizing social media, we share compelling evidence highlighting the benefits of a European future for Georgia. The campaign is inclusive, with content available in Armenian and Azeri to reach minority groups.

03.06.2024

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Conduct in-depth ex-ante regulatory impact assessment and gender impact assessment for climate law of Georgia

Georgia is committed to various international agreements on climate change, notably the Paris Agreement and the Association Agreement with the European Union. Recently, in 2021, Georgia announced a new Nationally Determined Contribution, pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35% compared to 1990 levels.

12.02.2024

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News and Events

ISET Director discusses Georgia's EU Path at Stockholm conference

ISET Policy Institute hosts joint seminar with French-Georgian University

ISET Economist Blog

08 January 2025

OpEd: Institutions matter – risks Georgia’s independent institutions face

In the globally very turbulent 2024, Georgia was under the spotlight in the global arena, but not for a good reason and with nothing to celebrate. On the contrary, this spotlight was earned by its government’s risky shift away from the EU trajectory and, post the 26 October Parliamentary election, the powerful, non-stop peaceful street protests of the pro-European population in the capital Tbilisi and other cities, those demanding free and fair new elections.

Sopha Gujabidze, Tamar Sulukhia

Policy panel: current economic challenges and opportunities in Georgia

The Policy Panel: Current Economic Challenges and Opportunities in Georgia was sponsored and organized by ISET Policy Institute as part of the 1st International Conference of the Georgian Economic Association on July 2, 2024, at Stamba.

Giorgi Papava, Davit Keshelava, Tornike Surguladze

ECONOMIC POLICY ALERT: Amendments to the Law of Georgia on Funded Pensions

The ISET Policy Institute has been closely monitoring and assessing the progress of pension reform for years. Respectively, we have reviewed the proposed changes and identified substantial risks for the effective organizational structure of the pension fund and the welfare of over 1.5 million participating citizens.