On January 20th, the ISET Policy Institute presented the final results of its regulatory impact assessment (RIA) regarding the draft methodology of irrigation/drainage tariffs. The goal of the workshop was to present and receive feedback from major stakeholders on the final results of the RIA. The effort of different research centers of the ISET Policy Institute has also contributed to the study since mid-November 2015.

The Russian ban on Turkish goods turns out to be a boon for Georgian consumers. As Turkey is shifting its surpluses to the Georgian market, the prices of fruits and veggies are plummeting.

Retail food prices, as measured by ISET-PI’s FPI, show 3.4% increase y-o-y (that is compared to the January 2015) and 2.6% increase from the previous month (that is when January 2016 is compared to December 2015). Compared to the previous month the biggest rise in price happened for eggplant (33.3%), tomatoes (20.8%) and tangerines (14.3%).

On December 29, 2015, APRC representatives attended a presentation of the strategy on Food Security (FS) prepared by the working group on food security chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) with the support of OXFAM.

Georgia is one of the northernmost tea producing countries in the world. The humid and subtropical Black Sea climate creates ideal conditions for growing tea in five regions of Western Georgia: Adjara, Guria, Samegrelo, Imereti and Abkhazia.