This in-depth study seeks to quantify the costs and benefits associated with introducing a local tourism fee to support public services and touristic infrastructure in Georgian municipalities. Locally generated and retained fee revenues are one of the best methods for boosting local economies and maintaining tourist infrastructure. A tourism local tax and/or fee is an internationally accepted practice and is paid by non-residents when staying in local tourist accommodations and when receiving specialized services.

On February 15th 2021, export quotas on wheat, rye, maize, and barley entered into force in Russia. Russia also imposed customs tariffs and prohibitive duties amounting to 50% of customs value on these products.

In January 2021, Georgian power plants generated 808 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents an 22% decrease in total generation, compared to the previous year (January 2020, the total generation was 1,031 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from the decrease of 2%, 38% and 36% in hydro, thermal and wind power generation, respectively.

Geostat has published its rapid estimate of real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2020, and their estimated growth stands at -6.5%, which is 1.3 percentage points below the ISET-PI’s most recent forecast. The annual real GDP growth in 2020 amounted to -6.1%, which is 0.6 percentage point lower than our recent prediction. Economic activity fell sharply due to global pandemic, although the decline was mitigated by the relatively strong fiscal stimulus and lending.

In the first and second quarters of 2020, Georgian power plants generated 2,893 mln. and 2,797 mln. kWh of electricity, respectively (Figure 1). This represents a 1.5% and 9.7% decrease in total generation compared to the corresponding periods of the previous year (in 2019, the total generation in Q1 was 2,936 mln. kWh and 3,097 mln. kWh in Q2).