On 29 November, the Georgian Ministry of Economy and the National Agency of State Property presented a list of 130 state-owned buildings that the government is offering to local and international businesses for privatization. Amongst the buildings to be privatized were the Presidential residence in Mestia, buildings in Sighnaghi, Bakhmaro and on Gotua Street in Tbilisi.
The Georgian Minister of Economics Natia Turnava said that such a case is unprecedented, with all 100 buildings going on offer for privatization at once in the form of parallel auctions. She noted that the total initial price for these buildings is 150 mill GEL ($50.4 mill/€45.8 mill). Amongst the buildings being sold, 13 are to be sold to developers, 83 industrial\storage units, 5 medical\educational institutions, 1 sports building, 28 hotels, and 5 buildings for fishing\farming purposes.
"One of the main priorities for the Ministry of Economy in 2020 is the privatization process of state property and the goal is to increase privatization income for the state budget,” she explained. “This is one of the largest investment offerings, a very broad choice for businesses, where and how they can invest and create new jobs," she said, adding that the process of privatization will help attract additional investments in the country and will stimulate economic growth,“ she added with the expectation that the privatization will open 2500 new jobs on the Georgian market.
The Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia also voiced his support for the privatization. He said that the privatisation process of state-owned buildings will help strengthen the business sector and thus increases the country’s economic growth. Gakharia also promised that the Georgian government will do everything in its power to be a decent and effective mediator for businesses to bring these projects to a final, logical conclusion and to offer citizens new jobs.
After it was noted that the National Agency of State Property of Georgia has sold twice less state property compared to 2018, Georgia’s Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Natia Turnava said the privatization process must be accelerated in order to use the property owned by the state in economic processes.
