The cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri in November 2018 averaged at 3.62 GEL, which is around 0.8% higher compared to October 2018 (month-on-month), and 2.2% lower in comparison to the previous year (November 2017).

It all started with a simple exercise for my Master’s project in which I tried to understand the underlying causes of the observed wage gap between ethnic Georgians and ethnic minorities in the country. After more than a decade, a reputable international journal has published a paper reporting on the experimental evidence my colleagues and I collected and analyzed on labor market outcomes for ethnic minority and female citizens of Georgia.

In November 2018, Georgian power plants generated 900 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 7% decrease in total generati on, compared to the previous year (in 2017, total generation in November was 968 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from decrease in hydropower (-15%), more than offsetting the increase in thermal power generation (9%) and in WPP generation (+33%).

After the generation deficit of September, the decreasing trend in generation continues, while the gap between consumption and generation keeps widening. Chiefly, compared to September, total electricity generation has decreased by 8% in October 2018, while in contrast with the previous October 2017, electricity generation has decreased by 5%. This reduction in generation on a yearly basis is specifically due to the decrease in hydropower (-1%) and thermal power generation (-17%), which more than offsets the increase in WPP generation (+4%).

After a generation deficit of August, Georgia continues to exhibit a decreasing trend in power generation; compared to August, total electricity generation has decreased by 14% in September 2018. Georgian power plants generated 849 mln. kWh of electricity, while consumption of electricity on the local market was 955 mln. kWh.