Congestion in electricity transmission systems is a common problem all around the world, Georgia included. Two types of congestion are observed in the power sector; physical and economic. Physical congestion occurs when a transmission system is not adequate to supply an increasing amount of electricity. Economic congestion appears when prices in one region are different from those in another region, while cheaper electricity cannot be sold to the region at high prices.

On Tuesday, May 24, Dr. David Ubilava from the University of Sidney gave a presentation entitled "The El Niño Southern Oscillation and Economic Growth”. Dr. Ubilava started the presentation with the definitions of such phenomena such as climate anomalies and weather and emphasized the importance of weather as a factor in agricultural production.

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.

On Wednesday, May 18 Hans Timmer, Chief Economist of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) at the World Bank, paid a visit to ISET. He delivered a presentation entitled “Economic Outlook for the South Caucasus”, transmitting the idea that the countries of Europe and Central Asia (ECA), including Georgia, are transitioning to a situation – against the backdrop of a weakening global economy and volatility in international financial markets – which is called 'New Normal' and is characterized by the slow trend growth of global trade, low commodity prices, and less abundant availability of international liquidity.

On May 13, 2016, ISET hosted the head of the IMF in Georgia, Azim Sadikov, who delivered a lecture for participants of ISET’s Finance Course for Professionals. The subject of his lecture was “Macro-economic challenges in Georgia and the strengths and weaknesses of its emerging capital markets”.