The Messenger #147 (1414) - Business Roundup

Friday, August 3, 2007, #147 (1414)

Business Roundup

Prepared by Christina Tashkevich

Land plot in Dighomi valued at GEL 21 million
The Tbilisi City Hall local property management service is taking proposals from companies who want to develop the plot of land at 1 Marshal Gelovani Ave. Proposals should be submitted before August 24.
The starting price of the126 560 square meter land plot is GEL 21 million.
The winner is to construct a trade center, exhibition halls, business center, car parks and other facilities on no less than 40 percent of territory. The rest of the area will be used for residential houses. Construction should take place from June 2008 to the end of 2010.

Hilton considers stepping into Georgia
The Hilton hotel chain plans to open two hotels in Tbilisi, one in Batumi and another in the resort of Sighnaghi, said Minister of Economic Development Giorgi Arveladze.
Arveladze said the government is about to choose a development company to remake the current building of the Justice Ministry into a Hilton hotel.
The government said it may sell the building for USD 8 million if a developing company agrees to also develop hotels in Batumi and Signaghi for Hilton.

Arveladze criticizes National Communications Commission
Minister of Economic Development Giorgi Arveladze urged the National Communications Commission get to work on controlling the quality of internet service in Georgia.
Speaking at a press conference on July 28, Arveladze said a long-running dispute between Caucasus Online and United Telecom persists, and the commission has not done its job in settling the squabble.
The minister lamented the poor quality of domestic internet connections, demanding that the commission improve the situation.
"I demand that the commission controls internet quality…or they'll need to explain what their salaries are for, and why we need this commission at all," he said.

TBC Bank gets USD 54 million loan
TBC Bank announced Thursday it signed an agreement with Deutsche Bank, one of the world's leading investment banks, on recieving a USD 54 million syndicated loan. According to TBC Bank, assistance from Deutsche Bank will make it possible to recieve this joint sum from the world's 14 leading banks.
TBC Bank said it is the largest syndicated loan in the history of the Georgian banking sector, and is a sign of the industry's stable development.
The bank has wrangled investments totaling USD 196 million from various financial institutions in the last seven months. These include a USD 40 million investment from Merrill Lynch in June, and USD 35 million from Credit-Suisse.

Fourth international bank conference in Batumi
The fourth international bank conference organized by People's Bank is being held in Batumi from August 2-4.
The theme of the conference is "Retail Bank Business in the Caucasus."
Representatives of leading banking institutions from the CIS and Europe will participate in the conference.

No progress in Russia WTO talks
The Georgian government reported on July 31 there is no progress in talks over Russia's WTO membership.
Georgia's Ministry of Economic Development said Georgia remained firm on its position that Russia must legalize trade on the Abkhaz and South Ossetian sections of the border.