Supported by the German development organization, GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit), ISET-PI conducted a training program for participants from Georgian government organizations, the national bank, and think tanks.

The question of the title seems to be a rhetorical one. With the 2008 global financial crisis fresh in our minds, the logic of the vicious cycle between the economic slowdown, troubles in the banking sector, credit crunch, and the subsequent industrial decline reinforcing the credit conundrums seems quite apparent.

After the great success in preparing and delivering the Young Bankers training program for ProCredit Bank Georgia, a new training program for senior bank staff was developed and conducted in Tbilisi and Batumi in 2012.

Since November 2011, ISET Policy Institute has been implementing a project with ProCredit Bank, Georgia the aim of which is to introduce the Bank's employees to the basic principles of economics.

According to Ivanishvili, who made his $5.5 billion fortune in the Russian banking and metals industries, such headline-grabbing purchases were part of a calculated business strategy -- opening a world-class art museum in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, that can do battle with New York City’s Solomon R. Guggenheim museum and other prominent modern art centers.