On 17th of June, the EU and Georgia signed a visa facilitation agreement. The signing ceremony took place in Brussels. The EU was represented by current President of the Council of the European Union, Miguel ბngel Moratinos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain and Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs. Georgia was represented by Grigol Vashadze, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.

The Minister of Finance made a presentation in English to the international community comprised of members from the American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia (AmCham Georgia), EU-Georgia Business Council (EUGBC), French Business Council, German Business Council, Austrian Business Council and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) regarding the upcoming changes to the tax code.

On April 7-8, 2010 Tbilisi City Hall organized the 4th Economic Development Forum at Radisson BLU Iveria Hotel, Tbilisi. The sessions were offered under four thematic umbrellas: City Promotion – key factors for success; Local Authorities for Better Cities; Agglomeration Development and Environmental Dimension of the City development.

On April 7, 2010 Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Štefan Füle opened the "Europe House” on Freedom Square in Tbilisi.

European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle, arrived in Tbilisi on April 7 for a two day visit as part of his first trip to South Caucasus countries.

EU-Georgia Business Council is happy to announce that Gvinadze & Partners Law Firm has joined EUGBC members’ network as a Corporate A Member. Nick Gvinadze, formerly a partner with DLA Piper Gvinadze & Partners LP, has re-launched his legal practice separately as Gvinadze & Partners LLC.

A key element in Norwegian alcohol policy has been to remove the private profit motive from sales of wine, spirits and strong beer. As a result, VINMONOPOLET that was founded in 1922, is wholly owned by the state, subordinated to the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.

On October 9 a special inter-organizational AmCham-EUGBC SME committee was formed. AmCham and EU-Georgia Business Council are closely collaborating with representatives from the Center for Solidarity, UNDP, Eurasia Partnership foundation, Business and Economic Center and other members of the committee. Kakha Kokhreidze from Center for Solidarity was appointed as Executive Secretary of the committee. On December 17 the committee will hold a press briefing to communicate the formation of the SME committee to general public.

On October 19^th EUGBC Secretary General, Konstantin Zaldastanishvili met the Minister of Economic Development, Zurab Pololikashvili. The discussion referred to Georgia’s current economic state. The parties to the meeting also spoke about the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with EU and its implications on the development of Georgian economy. In addition, the role of business associations and particularly EUGBC in economic development and in supporting business community in the country was discussed.

On October 9, several international organizations and business associations gathered in the office of Amcham-Georgia to discuss the first steps towards creating an Inter-organizational Small Business Committee (SME Committee). The founders of the Committee include EU-Georgia Business Council (EUGBC), Amcham-Georgia, Civil Movement "Solidarity”, UNDP Global Compact Project, International Association of Business and Parliament, Business and Economic Center, others.

On September 30, the European Union released its statement on presentation of the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia. In the statement the EU also recalls that a peaceful and lasting solution to the conflicts in Georgia must be based on full respect for the principles of independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity as recognised by international law.

EU-Georgia Business Council has concluded its project: Publications and Seminars on EU-Georgia Trade (Tacis/2007/147285) supported by the Delegation of European Commission to Georgia. In the framework of the project, EUGBC has carried out three regional seminars on What Georgian Exporters Should Know to Access EU Market. The seminars were held in Tbilisi, Telavi and in Batumi and focused on the important topics, such as: European Economic Area; Tariff and non-tariff barriers; EU’s General Systems of Preferences (GSP+) for Georgia; Online EU help-desk for the third country exporters; etc. 

On 17th of September, European Parliament adopted a resolution, which urges the European Commission and the Council of the European Union for more decisive actions in order to prevent the future disruptions of energy security in Europe.

The Meeting of General Affairs and External Relations Council of the European Union held on September 15th in Brussels. The Foreign Ministers of EU Member States exchanged their views on how to enhance bilateral relations with Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in frames of EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative.

Insurance Company AIG Europe S.A. Georgia Branch (AIG Georgia) announced that on September  14, 2009, it changed its name and its brand. The new full firm name of the company is: sadazRvevo kompania Cartis evropa s.a., saqarTvelos filiali – in Georgian and Insurance Company Chartis Europe S.A., Georgia Branch – in English. Short version of the name is: "Cartis saqarTvelo” – in Georgian and "Chartis Georgia” – in English. According to the announcement the company’s, post address, contact details and banking account remained unchanged.

The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, has won a second fiveterm of office after a majority of MEPs voted for him on 16th of September in Strasbourg. Barroso received 382 votes in favour, 219 against and 117 abstentions in the secret ballot.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said it had agreed a text of agreements on visa facilitation and readmission issues with European Commission. The text was agreed during the talks in Brussels on August 24-25, during which the Georgian side’s "priority issues” were taken into consideration, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

Four new companies joined EU-Georgia Business Council as Corporate Members: 

 Fair Trees/Bols Forstplanteskole    www.bolsforst.dk    www.fairtrees.dk

 

Design Avenue Ltd www.designavenue.ge

 Radisson SAS Iveria Hotel www.radissonsas.com

 Rekeen Development LLC www.rakeen.ge

On 10^th of June 2009 European Commission took the Decision on the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) Regional East Action Programme for 2009 in favour of ENP countries and Russia to be financed under the general budget of the European Communities (the commission's decision is attached).

Polish centre-right Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Jerzy Buzek, was elected as president of the European Parliament on July 14.  Following the secret ballot in Strasbourg plenary chamber Jerzy Buzek was elected with 555 votes, absolute majority. The election of a deputy from a former communist country which joined the European Union just five years ago was hailed by politicians as an historic event.

Turkey, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary signed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on the Nabucco pipeline on July 13 in Ankara. Senior officials from Germany, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Qatar, as well as President of the European Commission – José Manuel Barroso and Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, US special representative to Eurasian Energy - Richard Morningstar, EBRD, AIB and Nabucco consortium representatives attended the ceremony.

Upon request of EUGBC, Timothy Chase, Independent Researcher, carried out a study (attached) on the issue of visa facilitation for citizens of Georgia to enter the Schengen Area of the European Union. A complete text of the study is attached.  

Potential areas for cooperation between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the EU-Georgia Business Council (EUGBC), were discussed in a phone conference on 8^th May between Markus Pfeffer (EIB representative) Howard Chase (Chairman of EUGBC Board) and Konstantin Zaldastanishvili (Secretary General of EUGBC).

EUGBC joins several other business organizations and signs a Cooperation Charter with the Ministry of Finance. The created forum will enable businesses to be more actively involved in policy making and contribute to a systematized dialogue with the Ministry of Finance.  Signatories will have the opportunity to regularly exchange information about important business and investment concerns.

The EU Declaration on the "Parliamentary elections" in South Ossetia, Georgia was released on May 31, 2009. The EU is aware that "parliamentary elections" took place in the South Ossetian region of Georgia on 31 May 2009. The EU does not accept the legality of the "elections”, nor its results. The holding of such elections is illegitimate and represents a setback in the search for a peaceful and lasting settlement of the situation in Georgia. The EU reiterates its firm support for sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders.

TBC Bank successfully completed negotiations with International financial institutions. on April 7, IFC, EBRD, and FMO have partnered to provide TBC Bank with a financial package of up to USD 161 million.

EUGBC has joined the business organizations in signing Memorandum of Understanding to join force in order to better serve their goals and objectives and to secure a stable business environment in the country.

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) in cooperation with AF-Process offers a Strategic Business Management Programme. The programme will take place in Stockholm during September 21 and October 9, 2009. The first stage of the programme will be followed by a regional seminar in spring 2010.

Three new companies - Georgian Public Broadcasting, Wissol and Tbilisi Academy of Economy and Law - joined the Council as Corporate A members in February 2009.

The 4th international conference entitled The European Way of Georgia - Georgia’s European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan Implementation was held in Tbilisi on February 9-10, 2009. Nika Gilauri, Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Baramidze, State Minister for Integration in Europe and European Structures, Tomხš Pojar, First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic on behalf of the current EU presidency and Per Goran Eklund, Ambassador, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Georgia opened the conference.

Chairman of the EUGBC Board, Howard Chase, Director of European Government Affairs for BP Europe, visited Tbilisi on 1-5 February. Together with the EUGBC Secretary General, Kote Zaldastanishvili Mr. Chase held meetings with the representatives of the Government of Georgia (Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Grigol Vashadze, Energy Minister, Alexander Khetaguri, State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Giorgi Baramidze, and Minister for Economic Development, Lasha Jvania), members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia, international organizations and the business community.

EUGBC has introduced a new membership category – Honorary Membership – and agreed to make a relevant amendment to the Articles of Association, which has already been approved by the Board at the Extraordinary Members’ Meeting held on 15 December.

On 15 December, the EU-Georgia Business Council has elected a new Board at the Extraordinary Members’ Meeting held at TBC Bank’s Marjanishvili branch office.

The EU-Georgia Business Council (EUGBC) in the framework of the project supported by the Delegation of the European Commission (EC) to Georgia has issued the second of 3 publications. Main goal of the project is to raise business sector’s awareness of internationally recognized trade practices, rules and conditions for access to the European Union (EU) market.

Georgian Prime Minister, Grigol Mgaloblishvili had his first official visit to Brussels on December 1-2, 2008. Mr. Mgaloblishvili held meetings with the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for Energy, Andris Piebalgs, Commissioner for Trade, Catherine Ashton, and members of European Parliament.

EUGBC Secretary General, Kote Zaldastanishvli met with the Georgian Primer Minister Mgaloblishvili during his first official visit to Brussels on November 30, 2008.

The European Commission and the World Bank co-chaired, and the French and the Czech Presidencies of the Council co-hosted a Donors’ Conference for Georgia on 22 October 2008 in Brussels.

On October 14, 2008 the Policy Briefing "Georgia on the EU’s mind” with Salomé Zourabichvili, former Georgian Foreign Minister was held in Brussels. The event was organized by the European Policy Centre (EPC) and was chaired by Antonio Missiroli, Director of Studies at the EPC.

On 14 October, 2008 President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili met with President of European Commission José Manuel Barroso in Brussels.

Press Release: Today when Georgia is in a state of war waged by Russian Federation and as UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported, up to 88,000 Georgians are displaced from South Ossetia and other areas occupied by Russian troops, Wissol Group feels commitment to meet emergency humanitarian needs created by the crisis.

BP Georgia and its staff are currently engaged in number of initiatives in support of the efforts of international and national organizations and governments aimed at providing help to refugees.

Due to the current situation in Georgia one of the primary issues is providing aid to more than 30,000 (and their number is growing) internally displaces persons. Bank of Georgia was first to come up with the initiative to establish a fund to support these people and made an initial contribution of GEL 1 million. The bank has created a special monitoring group which will oversee and coordinate the spending of the finances from the fund.

August 13, 2008 - Today, JSC TBC Bank made an announcement about the contribution of 5 million GEL for humanitarian support. This sum will be used as an aid to all refugees and children left without homes, regardless of their nationality and ethnicity, as well as for the children of soldiers who died in the war.

The EU-Georgia Business Council in cooperation with the American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia, the Young Economists Association, the Federation of Georgian Businessmen and SME Support Project BSO’s as well as other business associations is working on creating a Tax Task Force (Working Group) to present a unified list of comments and suggestions concerning tax issues faced by businesses in Georgia. This task force is in cooperation with the USAID Business Climate Reform Project.

Ambassador Konstantin Zaldastanishvili, Secretary General of EUGBC held a meeting with UBCCE representation in Tbilisi to discuss future cooperation plans.

Ambassador Konstantin Zaldastanishvili, Secretary General of EUGBC participated in the 3rd International Conference "Georgia’s European Way” on European Neighborhood Policy Action Plan (ENP AP) Implementation in Georgia, held in Batumi on July 3-5, 2008. The goal of the conference was to report on progress of the reforms carried out in the scope of ENP AP and conduct effective dialogue with respect to the AP implementation. Major themes of the conference were conflict resolution, rule of law and trade issues.

The EUGBC is happy to present the publication on Exporting to the European Union Market - Specific Issues. This is the first edition of the three series of brochures to be published under the project carried out with support of the Delegation of the European Commission to Georgia.

The Department of Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia reported on May 19 that the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.3% m-o-m in April 2008, up from a 0.1% m-o-m increase in March 2008. To read more DOWNLOAD RELEASE

Out of 15 Georgian wines presented to the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, following wines got awarded and received medals:
Gold medal - Badagoni Kakhetian Noble Dry Red: 2005
Silver medal - Tbilvino Tsinandali: 2005

Government of Georgia announced that it has successfully completed the sale of a 51% equity interest in JSC Poti Sea Port, the leading port in Georgia to RAK Investment Authority (Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates). The consideration paid for the 51% equity interest in Poti Sea Port was US$80 million...

Georgia, acting through the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, has successfully completed its first international sovereign bond offering and has become the only CIS country to date to have its Eurobonds listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The Department of Statistics of the Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia reported that the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.1% m-o-m in March 2008, down from a 0.9% increase in February 2008. DOWNLOAD RELEASE

Preliminary results of Q1 2008 demonstrate that, notwithstanding the current conditions in the global financial markets, investor confidence in Georgia remains high. Cross-border transactional activity in Q1 2008 appears to have been at the highest level in recent history, with quarterly private capital inflows exceeding US$500 million.

7^th Meeting of the EC-Georgia Sub-Committee on trade, Economic and Related Legal Issues was held in Tbilisi on March 12. The preparatory meeting for the sub-committee with the business representatives was attended by the EUGBC representative in Georgia at the EC Delegation Premises in Tbilisi.

The conference held on February 5-6 had three panels with focus respectively on conflict resolution, trade and economic cooperation and Justice, freedom and security issues. EUGBC Chairman, Hugh McDowell held a presentation at one of the panels.

EUGBC Members met with Brussels-based Expert Jean-Bernard Moreau on February 5 who is responsible for the EU-funded identification of a regional programme on investment promotion for the ENPI (European Neighborhood & Partnership Instrument) for Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Georgian delegation headed by Prime MInister Gurgenidze took an active part in the annual congress of the Euromoney Magazine, which is considered to be a highly prestigious event especially to the investors and bankers interested in the countries of Eastern Europe.

EU-Georgia Business Council and the EC Delegation to Georgia have signed an agreement regarding the project - Publications and Seminars on EU-Georgia Trade. The main objective of the project is to provide the business community in Georgia with information - in the form of brochures - on the complex EU trade legislation, rules and standards in a simple and understandable way, as well as organize seminars for target groups in specific areas.

Napareuli - wine bottled by the Georgian company Teliani Valley was included in the annual Belgian catalogue – "Wine Buyer’s Guide 2008”. This Catalogue has a history of twenty years and 2 million annual replications.

Perspectives and challenges of a potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union and Georgia were discussed on December 13, 2007 in Tbilisi at a conference specially convened by the Georgian Ministry for Economic Development and UNDP

Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze had his first official visit to Brussels on December 4-6. He held various meetings with the EU officials, NATO Secretary General, business representatives and media, as well as participated in the Public discussion on the topic Georgia after the State of Emergency - The way ahead. EUGBC Secretary General also had a chance to meet Gurgenidze and discuss with him council’s activities and future plans.

Educational seminar on EU Market Entry Strategy & EU Market Access Requirements was held at the TBC Bank (EUGBC Member) Conference Hall on November 28-30. The seminar was organized by Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) – one of EUGBC Core Members.

EU-Georgia Business Council Board of Directors approved White & Case LLP for EUGBC membership on November 23. A global law firm that is intended to enter the Georgian market already has number domestic clients and at the moment is working with them on the issues related to international arbitration

On the threshold of the MEGAVINO, sampling committee of the fare tasted over 300 different wines and selected a great collection of 15 top wines... Georgian wines among them!

Bank of Georgia bought Universal Bank of Development & Partnership (UBDP) in Ukraine on October 10 for USD 81.7 million. UBDP, a mid-sized bank in Ukraine, holds market shares of approximately...

The 7th session of  the EU-Georgia Cooperation Committee took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia,  on September  26-27 .

On 5 July 2007 the plan for the merger of Statoil and Norsk Hydro’s petroleum activities was approved by the two companies’ general meetings, and the merger will come into effect on 1 October this year.

First meeting of Ministers from the EU and the European Neighbourhood held in Brusseles on September 3 was attended by EUGBC Secretary General.

Georgian delegation headed by Mr. David Jalagania – Director of the European Integration Department (MFA) visited Brussels on July 20 and participated in the first round of the negotiations

 International conference on the implementation of European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan in Georgia held in Batumi on July 2-4, discussing the highlits of ENP AP implementation process in Georgia, as well as new challanges and difficulties to come.

On 27 June 2007 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Belgium, Federation of Enterprises in Belgium, AGORIA and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) hosted a seminar on opportunities for companies to engage in public-private partnerships in Southeast Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) that was attended by the EUGBC Secretary General Mr. Konstantin Zaldastanishvili.

Producer of the world famous Borjomi mineral water the Georgian Glass and Mineral Water Company has been awarded with ISO 22000 international standard of production security. The ceremony of certificate conferral was held in the city of Borjomi, on the territory of the Borjomi Park on June15. The event was attended...

Mr McDowell, Chairman of the EUGBC and General Manager of BP-Georgia visited Brussels and met a number of EU representatives to discuss various issues regarding the Council’s involvement in the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) Action Plan Implementation process

Lockheed Martin representatives came to Georgia to meet with Poti Port Management and Director of the Space Construction Institute

The Exhibition center ExpoGeorgia hosted the First International Wine and   Spirits   Fair WINEXPO GEORGIA 07 on 1- 3 June 2007

Georgian companies participated in the world’s largest wine competition – International Wine Challenge (DECANTER, IWSC) that took place in London in May

The European Policy Centre has organized in Brussels a Policy Briefing with Gela Bezhuashvili, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, on Monday 14 May on the topic of Georgia’s foreign policy agenda: the road to Europe.

Foreign Minister Bezhuashvili spoke about current developments in Georgia, relations with the EU and neighbors as well as the foreign policy challenges facing Georgia in the future. Peter Semneby, EU Special Representative to the South Caucasus, has responded to the Foreign Minister’s remarks.

The Concours Mondial de Bruxelles was organized by VINOPRES and took place in Maastricht (Netherlands) from 29 April to 1 May 2007.  At the end of the three days of wine tasting, 1614 of the best vintages were awarded out of 5735 wines and spirits from 47 countries.

the three following Georgian wines won silver medals:

• Telavi Wine Cellar - Mukuzani 2004
• Telavi Wine Cellar - Napareuli 2004
• Teliani Valley - Teliani 2004

DLA Piper, a global legal services organization with over 3.200 lawyers located in 63 offices in 24 countries, across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the US, is delighted to join the EU-Georgia Business Council.

Innovation in the Georgian IT world brought by UGT  
UGT  has  appointed Wouter Metz as Director of Consulting and Complex Projects 

The Board of Directors of Hydro and Statoil agreed on December 18, 2006 to recommend to their shareholders a merger of Hydro's oil and gas activities with Statoil. For more information about the merger please see www.statoil.com

EUGBC Secretary General, Kote Zaldastanishvili attended the business forum in Paris organized by MEDEF International (Mouvement des Entreprises de France) and the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

The Council of the EU decided on 19 December 2006 to grant a mandate to the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance projects in Georgia. Secretary General of the EUGBC Konstantin Zaldastanishvili met Constantin Synadino, Head of the Division for Eastern Europe, Southern Caucasus and Russia of the EIB and found out more about what this could all mean for Georgia.