At the beginning of June 2020, Georgia is holding its own against the coronavirus. Nothing is certain in the fight against this pandemic, but Georgia’s approaches have shown great promise in curtailing the spread of the disease, deepening the recovery rate, and minimizing fatalities. Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia observed that “we can say that the epidemiological situation in the country is fully under control,” and he listed many of the things the government had done to achieve these favorable results in his report to parliament.
Today Georgia has registered 796 infections, 634 recoveries, and, regrettably, 12 deaths.
Plans for recovery and reopening the economy are taking shape. The state of emergency in Georgia was lifted on May 22, and some normalcy has begun to return to Georgia’s cities and towns. Dental clinics opened, always a good sign. Public transport started on May 29. Shops (excluding malls) and restaurants with open seating areas were set to reopen on June 1; all other types of restaurants and inspected hotels may reopen on June 8. Many businesses have re-started operations. The government announced a new grace period for those holding bank loans who have become unemployed as a result of the crisis. A plan for the government to subsidize mortgage loans was unveiled. Most analyses forecast that full recovery of the post-COVID-19 economy in Georgia will require time and patience, as severe reductions in tourism, remittances, trade, consumption, investment, domestic production, and services are consequences of the crisis. Georgian citizens are saving less and borrowing less, both predictable results of the crisis.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s offer of €91 million for assisting recovery is indeed welcome, as is assistance from the VISA Foundation. The French Development Agency committed to two loan agreements with Georgia for a total of €190 million for recovery assistance. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced plans to allocate €90 million for a project to strengthen Georgia’s energy infrastructure and construct more extensive energy transmission lines across the country.
United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan appealed for more U.S. companies to invest in Georgia’s attractive business environment. At least one, Cerberus Frontier, has agreed to construct a hydropower plant in Guria. The presidents of Georgia and South Korea also consulted on how to deepen trade and tourism ties between their countries, while a Swedish project to bring Georgian products to that country was initiated.
Tourism gets a Boost, Georgia Set to Safely Welcome International Guests
Tourism, one of the main engines of Georgia’s economy accounting for more than 8% of in 2019, is slowly gaining momentum, though it is likely to be a prolonged re-start. According to one calculation, the number of tourists in Georgia in April declined by 94.5% from a year earlier. This mirrors the larger trend worldwide for tourism, which is forecast to decline from 60–80% from 2019. Tourism authorities are discussing plans to create “green corridors,” which means allowing in tourists from countries that have dealt effectively with the virus, and even these will be allowed to visit only parts of Georgia that are declared free of the disease. Prime Minister Gakharia signaled that Israel and the Baltic states will be among the first candidates. Negotiations are underway to resume direct flights to a number of destinations from Georgia, including to the Czech Republic and Latvia.
Moscow kept up its drumbeat of disinformation about Georgia’s acclaimed Lugar Center (see Georgia News – May 19, 2020) with the claim that the laboratory was creating “infected mosquitoes” for American drones to spread. Moreover, the Russians claimed that they did not trust an audit of the Lugar Center by a group of international experts, who had debunked such propaganda. Georgian officials invited the Russians to visit the Lugar facility to see for themselves.
To the dismay of enthusiastic supporters of Georgia’s exceptional rugby team, its first test game against world champion South Africa, scheduled for July, has been postponed. Their disappointment is mitigated by the exceptional performances of Georgia’s wounded service members, who swept 20 medals at the Marine Corps Trials, organized by that service’s Wounded Warrior Regiment, in California in late February and early March.