For the second quarter of 2021, BCI decreased by 1.7 index points and reached 1.7 after a significant increase in the previous quarter. The highest decline in business confidence is observed in retail trade, followed by the agriculture and construction sectors. The negative change in BCI for Q2 2021 is driven by pessimistic future expectations.

On 23 April 2021 Salome Gelashvili conducted a presentation on the “Cost-Benefit Analysis of Climate Change Adaptation Measures in Agriculture”, within the framework of a sector-specific workshop in agriculture organized under the 2021 CRED Coaching program.

Between April 19-21, ISET PI’s Agricultural and Rural Policy Research Center (APRC) conducted training with representatives from the parliament’s Agrarian Issues Committee. These meetings were supported by the UNDP as part of their EU project – Consolidation of Parliamentary Democracy in Georgia.

On 29 December 2020, the parliament of Georgia approved the state budget for 2021, which includes allocations of around 18.3 billion GEL. From which the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture (MEPA) will receive 451.6 million (2.5% of the total budget allocation). MEPA will direct 10 mln. GEL towards the Environmental Protection and Agriculture Development Program (2.2% of MEPA’s total budget), with around 389.6 mln. (86.3% of MEPA’s total budget) to be allocated to agricultural development, and approximately 51.9 mln. GEL (11.5%) to be spent on environmental protection.

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.