Looking down from the famous cross-path of the Georgian Military Highway, you will notice a beautiful little lake that was not there six years ago. The lake is a small reservoir that supplies power to the 8 MW Aragvi HPP. On May 19, the ISET community and guests from professional circles in the energy sector heard the story behind this hydropower plant in a seminar entitled “Small Hydropower – what’s special about it and how to implement it?” delivered by Hanness Posch, a civil engineer and entrepreneur working on hydropower projects in Georgia.

Having just celebrated its 25th anniversary as an independent state, Georgia remains in a state of revolutionary flux. Just like a box of chocolate, this beautiful country is full of contrasting flavors, never losing the ability to surprise and fascinate at every twist and turn of its history.

ISET is pleased to welcome its new employee Gigla Mikautadze in the capacity of Deputy Head of the Private Sector Development Research Centre. His responsibilities include leading the centre in studying and formulating effective policy options for strengthening the private sector and promoting market competitiveness. In addition, he will work to promote the engagement of the private sector in policy discussions, as well as assist the research centre in its goal to increase the capacity of the private and the public sector in development.

Unless its glorious past during the Soviet Union, the Georgian tea sector rebounded in the late 1990s and early 2000s, yet only partially as the economic and political stability of the post-independence period left a mark on the overall productivity of the sector.

Between August 2014 and May 2015, international wheat prices declined by 18%, rice prices dropped by 14% and maize prices declined by 6% (World Bank, 2015). This decreased prices are expected to be transmitted from international to domestic consumer prices of food items (e.g., wheat flour, bread). However, there are many factors that hinder this transmission process.