Corporate Social Responsibility_2014

The FINANCIAL

BP BP and its co-venturers’ and its co-venturers’ support under the support under the Community Develop-Community Develop-ment Initiative (CDI) ment Initiative (CDI) has resulted in over has resulted in over

550 small business projects and up to 700 550 small business projects and up to 700 people being employed. Since 2003 BP and people being employed. Since 2003 BP and its co-venturers have already spent USD 17 its co-venturers have already spent USD 17 million under the Community Development million under the Community Development Initiative, one of the components of which Initiative, one of the components of which envisages providing support for small busi-envisages providing support for small busi-ness development.ness development.

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Read on p. 5

Companies Practicing CSR are Good Corporate

Citizens

Large Companies Dominating CSR Activities in GeorgiaRead on p. 4

See on p. 4

See on p. 8

Continued on p. 19

Continued on p. 3

Continued on p. 17

VTB Bank Georgia to Open 10 New Branches in 2015

The FINANCIAL

VTB Bank Georgia has grown its as-sets by 25% in 2014. The Bank has already an-

nounced 100 job vacancies and plans to open 10 new branches in 2015. Well-known for its active support of Georgian sport, the Bank is involved in culture and educa-tion as part of its CSR activi-ties. The Bank chooses to sup-

port long-term social projects, focused on investing in the better future of the nation.

“The whole year has been very successful for VTB Bank Georgia. We have maintained a growing trend. Assets grew by GEL 20 million. That is 25% more compared to the previous year. In most cases VTB Bank Georgia during 2014 was growing faster than the market.

Continued on p. 6

Do NotDrive Drunk!

The FINANCIAL

Top boutique win-op boutique win-ery Schuchmann ery Schuchmann Wines is starting a Wines is starting a new campaign un-new campaign un-der the name “Do der the name “Do

Not Drive Drunk” within the Not Drive Drunk” within the framework of Corporate So-framework of Corporate So-cial Responsibility (CSR). At cial Responsibility (CSR). At the same time the company is the same time the company is planning to continue in 2015 planning to continue in 2015 with all the CSR campaigns with all the CSR campaigns that it started in previous that it started in previous years. Schuchmann Wines years. Schuchmann Wines spends about GEL 10,000 on spends about GEL 10,000 on CSR activities annually.CSR activities annually.

“Having a glass of Schuch-

mann wine with one’s din-ner is always a perfect idea but not before driving,” said Nutsa Abramishvili, Gen-eral Director of Schuchmann Wines Georgia. “As a wine company we feel a sense of responsibility for our soci-ety in terms of encourag-ing them not to drink drive. We are disturbed by the in-creased numbers of car acci-dents in the country and so started thinking about how to contribute to preventing car accidents in Georgia.

Continued on p. 8

AGH: “CSR is about Action, Not Talk”

The FINANCIAL

Corporate Social R e s p o n s i b i l -ity does not mean one-handed char-ity campaigns

for Alliance Group Holding (AGH). AGH considers CSR to be an integral part of its management. Its internal

policy is based on respect for human rights, gender equality, environmental pro-tection, transparency and responsibility. Restoration works on Jegeta Mountain in Western Georgia are the latest project which the com-pany has been carrying out.

Continued on p. 10

BP Spent USD 17 Million on Small Business Development in Georgia

IRAO - Strengthening its Positions on Georgian Insurance Market

Geocell and the National Library Initiate Digital Photo Narrative

The FINANCIAL

“Together let’s create a digital photo narrative” - with this message the National Library of Parliament of Georgia and Geocell launched a project with the aim of collecting pho-tographic material scattered across the different regions of Georgia, and digitalizing it all for archiving purposes.

Did the Patriarch cause a baby boom in Georgia?

By LASHA LANCHAVAISET

In October 2007, re-sponding to the prob-lem of very low birth-rates in the country, Ilia II. of Georgia, the

Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, announced that he would personally baptize any third and subsequent child born to Orthodox families from that time onwards.

Continued on p. 2

ICC Expanding its CSR Programme for 2015

The FINANCIAL

ICC Georgia (International Chamber CC Georgia (International Chamber of Commerce) is expanding its Cor-of Commerce) is expanding its Cor-porate Social Responsibility (CSR) porate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme for 2015. ICC will develop programme for 2015. ICC will develop employee programmes that its mem-employee programmes that its mem-

bers, with a focus on small and medium size bers, with a focus on small and medium size businesses, will be able to implement within businesses, will be able to implement within their CSR activities.their CSR activities.

“More specifi cally for 2015 in terms of projects for ICC Georgia, we will continue cooperating with our members to develop their community day programmes (such as Dechert Georgia’s Service Day for the Envi-ronment), as well as developing a healthcare programme for our member companies for their employees and continue our training programmes and work with our members to implement a CSR Charter within their companies,” Nicola Mariani, Co-Head of the CSR Commission of ICC Georgia and Inter-national Resident Partner of Dechert Geor-gia LLC, told The FINANCIAL.

IRAO Insurance Company, a member of VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP (VIG), will be focused on strengthen-ing its positions on market as far as increasing its market share, moreover

enlarging corporate and retail segments of the Company, based on the strategy for the year 2015. Besides, the Company uses maximum efforts for development and renovation of its services and business per-formance, including CSR activities - for per-manent satisfaction of customers and whole society.

Corporate Governance To Help Georgian Companies Attract Foreign Investors

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CSR Reputation Ranking 2014

2 HEADLINE NEWS & ANALYSIS FINANCIALC M Y K

22 DECEMBER, 2014 | FINCHANNEL.COM

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corporate corporate social responsibilitysocial responsibility

WHILE EXPENSIVE, TBILISI YIELDS SAVING OPPORTUNITIES

By LASHA LANCHAVAISET

In October 2007, responding to the problem of very low birthrates in the country, Ilia II. of Georgia, the Catholi-cos-Patriarch of All Georgia,

announced that he would person-ally baptize any third and sub-sequent child born to Orthodox families from that time onwards. This promise seems to have had a considerable impact on the re-production behavior of Georgians. According to the National Statis-tics Offi ce of Georgia (NSOG), the number of births increased from about 49,000 in 2007 to about 57,000 in 2008 and 63,000 in 2009. This is a remarkable 28% increase in two years’ time, while the number of births from 2000 to 2007 had been fl uctuating betew-en 46000 and 49000. At the end of 2008, the Patriarch for the fi rst time baptized thousands of babies at the Sameba Cathedral, and the tradition continues until today.

In March 2009, the BBC brought the enthusiastic headline: “Church leader sparks Georgian baby boom”. The article states that “two years after having one of the lowest birth rates in the world, Georgia is enjoying something of a baby boom, following an interven-tion from the country’s most se-nior cleric”. The results are, in the words of the Georgian Orthodox Church, “a miracle”. A report with a similar message was published by CNN on April 2010 in which the Patriarch himself claims credit for the surge in births: “I have al-ready baptized about 5,000 chil-dren. […] Parents decided to give birth to these children because they had a chance to be the Patri-

arch’s godchildren.”The BBC also interviewed the

head of Georgia’s civil registry, Giorgi Vashadze. More profanely, he attributed the increased birth rates to accelerated economic growth and increased employ-ment in the years after the Rose Revolution: “Who is now creating families? People who fi ve years ago were out of work,” he said. “Previously, they had no income. They could not get married. To-day they are working. They have salaries… So I think this is a major factor.” According to the NSOG,

Georgia did indeed experience a remarkable growth in real GDP by about 10 % in 2006 and 2007, go-ing down in 2008 due to war with Russia but still remaining signifi -cantly higher than in the previous years.

According to the Caucasus Re-search Resource Center (CRRC), 94% of the Georgians consider the Patriarch to be the most trust-worthy man in the society, and likewise, the church is the most trusted institution in Georgia. Therefore, the opinion of Geor-gian public can be easily swayed

in favor of the church. But is the Patriarch really responsible for the stunning increase of the birth rate in Georgia? Using the toolbox of quantitative economic analysis, I wanted to fi nd out…

A NATURAL EXPERIMENT

Religion as an important driver of socio-economic developments

In November 2014, the av-erage cost of cooking one standard Imeretian Khacha-puri varied across Georgian cities from 3.23 GEL, the

minimum observed in Telavi, to 3.51 GEL, the maximum observed in Tbilisi. The average price was 3.34 GEL, 0.2% lower compared to the previous month (October 2014) and 2.4% lower compared to November of last year.

While most expensive on aver-age, Tbilisi offers the greatest sav-ings for those “frugal housewives” who care to look for the cheapest ingredients. With the opening of different chains of supermarkets, somebody going for the cheapest price would pay only 2.95 GEL for one Khachapuri in Tbilisi, saving a solid 15.9% of the average price. Telavi and Batumi are less friend-ly for frugal housewives, offering savings of only 14.4 % and 10.2%,

respectively. In the second largest Georgia city, Kutaisi, prices unex-pectedly vary even less, and con-

sumers should not expect their search efforts to be rewarded by great bargains. Frugal housewives

could save about 6% of the aver-age, paying about 3.14GEL for one portion of Khachapuri.

Continued on p. 9

Did the Patriarch cause a baby boom in Georgia?

3HEADLINE NEWS & ANALYSISFINANCIALC M Y K

FINCHANNEL.COM | 22 DECEMBER, 2014 corporate corporate social responsibilitysocial responsibility

Q. How long-term should the CSR projects be and in which spheres should Georgian compa-nies make the main in-vestments (environment, education, sport)?

A. In my view, Georgian companies should invest in projects that focus on the employees, the environment, education and healthcare in Georgia.

A good example of a success story that has enabled a num-ber of Georgian companies to recycle is a recycling company that has recently been estab-lished in Georgia. Coop.ge is a market leader in the fi eld of recycling and has been visit-ing schools around Georgia to educate students on the im-portance of recycling and the effect of recycling on the envi-ronment as well as the materi-als that can be recycled. Coop.ge has also been working with restaurants and hotels around Tbilisi to reduce the amount of waste produced through a re-cycling collection programme.

Q. What kind of CSR activities can be the most stable and long-term in Georgia? And also, what kind of CSR activation could be benefi cial for Georgia?

A. The concept of serving the community is relatively new in Georgia. The projects that focus on the long-term health and wellness of the community, such as health-care, environment and edu-cation, will likely be the most stable and benefi cial in the long term. Companies should develop long-term pro-grammes for their employees (healthcare, childcare, etc).

Q. How can companies in Georgia benefi t from Social Responsibility projects?

A. When a company puts energy and effort into its em-ployee programmes and into its community, this tends to create a strong relationship and sense of loyalty between the company, its employees and the community (includ-ing its customer base). One way that a company in Geor-gia can benefi t from Social Responsibility projects is through increased awareness of the company in the com-munity and an increased cli-ent base. Not only do social responsibility projects help the community, they can also add to the overall wellbeing

of a company’s employees as well. This can lead to in-creased productivity for its workforce.

CSR programmes should not be viewed as “expenses” by companies. In fact, a num-ber of studies have shown that a good CSR programme can translate into a solid invest-ment and contribute to the growth of the company nota-bly by improving the employ-ees’ productivity.

Q. How should compa-nies develop employees and the future workforce to build successful work-ing lives?

A. Talented individuals are key to the success of any or-ganization. While employee compensation is a key factor, it is not always a factor that will ensure loyalty towards an employer. In fact a number of recent studies have shown that employee loyalty is built on a strong connection be-tween the employee and the employer’s values and be-liefs. It offers them a strong reason to stay engaged. More and more employees want for their employer to behave responsibly towards society. A recent survey showed that businesses that invested in CSR would likely have a high-er level of employee engage-ment and that the staff would consistently say positive things about their employer and tend to be more loyal to their employer.

This is key for Georgia in a context of growth and search for talent; CSR programmes will infl uence the best em-ployees in their job search efforts and in their loyalty to-wards their employer.

Q. Do you think the CSR message is only be-ing heard and acted upon by large companies?

A. Yes, the leading compa-nies in Georgia are develop-ing a number of programmes with the Georgian fi nancial institutions being market leaders.

ICC Expanding its CSR Programme

for 2015The FINANCIAL

By MARIAM PAPIDZE

ICC Georgia (International CC Georgia (International Chamber of Commerce) is Chamber of Commerce) is expanding its Corporate expanding its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Social Responsibility (CSR) programme for 2015. ICC will programme for 2015. ICC will

develop employee programmes that develop employee programmes that its members, with a focus on small its members, with a focus on small and medium size businesses, will be and medium size businesses, will be able to implement within their CSR able to implement within their CSR activities. ICC will also continue to activities. ICC will also continue to raise awareness on environmental raise awareness on environmental best practices in the corporate sector best practices in the corporate sector as well as focus on sustainable as well as focus on sustainable development programmes.development programmes.“More specifi cally for 2015 in “More specifi cally for 2015 in terms of projects for ICC Georgia, terms of projects for ICC Georgia, we will continue cooperating with we will continue cooperating with our members to develop their our members to develop their community day programmes (such community day programmes (such as Dechert Georgia’s Service Day as Dechert Georgia’s Service Day for the Environment), as well as for the Environment), as well as developing a healthcare programme developing a healthcare programme for our member companies for for our member companies for their employees and continue our their employees and continue our training programmes and work with training programmes and work with our members to implement a CSR our members to implement a CSR Charter within their companies,” Charter within their companies,” Nicola Mariani, Co-Head of the Nicola Mariani, Co-Head of the CSR Commission of ICC Georgia CSR Commission of ICC Georgia and International Resident Partner and International Resident Partner of Dechert Georgia LLC, told The of Dechert Georgia LLC, told The FINANCIAL.FINANCIAL.“In the past three years Georgian “In the past three years Georgian companies’ CSR programmes companies’ CSR programmes have grown steadily. As more have grown steadily. As more companies participate, we expect that companies participate, we expect that participation will continue to grow. participation will continue to grow. However, while Georgian companies However, while Georgian companies are opening up to CSR, a number of are opening up to CSR, a number of challenges remain,” he added.challenges remain,” he added.ICC Georgia members had a ICC Georgia members had a successful 2014 and in addition to successful 2014 and in addition to developing specifi c CSR programmes, developing specifi c CSR programmes, a number of events were held a number of events were held throughout Georgia by our members, throughout Georgia by our members, these notably included:these notably included:Collective Cleanup Campaign June Collective Cleanup Campaign June 2014 (ICC Members and Partners 2014 (ICC Members and Partners along with Youth cleaned up an area along with Youth cleaned up an area in Mtskheta)in Mtskheta)Tree Planting with British American Tree Planting with British American Tobacco (November, 2014)Tobacco (November, 2014)ICC Georgia and GiZ Fair ICC Georgia and GiZ Fair Competition, Compliance, Ethics, Competition, Compliance, Ethics, and CSR Conference December 2014 and CSR Conference December 2014 (Raising awareness and education in (Raising awareness and education in these fi elds)these fi elds)ICC Georgia Youth Charity Run ICC Georgia Youth Charity Run October 2014 (Raised funds for October 2014 (Raised funds for WeHelp to provide fi nances to those WeHelp to provide fi nances to those lacking the ability to pay for serious lacking the ability to pay for serious medical assistance)medical assistance)ICC Georgia Career Fair October ICC Georgia Career Fair October 2014 (Career Fair Targeting 2014 (Career Fair Targeting Youth Unemployment by bringing Youth Unemployment by bringing companies offering entry level jobs companies offering entry level jobs and training before the event in CV and training before the event in CV and Moto Letter Writing to prepare)and Moto Letter Writing to prepare)Dechert Georgia Day of Service - Dechert Georgia Day of Service - Community Clean-up.Community Clean-up.

NICOLA MARIANI, Co-Head of the CSR Commission of ICC Georgia and International Resident Partner of

Dechert Georgia LLC

HUMAN RIGHTSPrinciple 1: Businesses should sup-port and respect the protection of inter-nationally proclaimed human rights; andPrinciple 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

LABOURPrinciple 3: Businesses should up-hold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory la-bour;Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; andPrinciple 6: the elimination of dis-crimination in respect of employment and occupation.

ENVIRONMENTPrinciple 7: Businesses should sup-port a precautionary approach to envi-ronmental challenges;Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental re-sponsibility; andPrinciple 9: encourage the develop-ment and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

ANTI-CORRUPTIONPrinciple 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, in-cluding extortion and bribery.

GLOBAL COMPACT CSR PRINCIPLES


22 DECEMBER, 2014 | FINCHANNEL.COMcorporate corporate social responsibilitysocial responsibility

Q. Which is the most socially responsible com-pany in Georgia?

A. I will refrain from naming a specifi c company. However, I will say that unfortunately CSR is not on the agendas of small and medium-sized businesses. So, the role of most socially responsible companies is relegated to big companies. CSR is especially active among companies in-corporated in international networks. This comes from the strategy of the central of-fi ce. Maybe the scales of the project are smaller in Geor-gian branches though com-pared with their headquar-ters. This might be due to a lack of demand from the local

market. However, the general strategy of CSR in these com-panies is sturdier. Meanwhile, the charity campaigns of such large companies are more eye-catching than corporate social investment campaigns. In its turn, CSI projects need more strategic approach and resources. In this regard hu-man resources have a key role. That’s why CSI projects are more neglected by compa-nies. Charity is more related to being a component of PR. Big companies are well aware of what benefi ts they can get from CSR activities. Though, currently, internal CSR, which refers to HR strategy, is more developed.

Even the international

studies show that all compa-nies, including small and me-dium-sized companies that have implemented CSR prac-tice are more successful in do-ing business. Such companies turned out to be stronger even during the recession.

Q. What are the main benefi ts that CSR brings to all the players in-volved in it?

A. CSR brings a lot of ben-efi ts to each player. Actually this is the main challenge. Let’s consider internal CSR. Employees that are satisfi ed due to their working stan-dards, directly impact on the company’s effi ciency. Exter-nal CSR is a positive example for employees to do a good

job. At the same time it is an image of the company - an image of a positive and kind company. CSR indicates qual-ity, taking care of customers and desire to develop. The fi nal result is refl ected in its sales. We are in direct con-nection with the benefi ts for customers, as they receive quality and competition. The companies’ revenue growth will cause a greater sum of budget which is one of the main benefi ts for the Govern-ment from CSR, together with satisfi ed citizens.

The Government gets an opportunity to delegate its work to businesses. The Gov-ernment should provide so-cial services, social require-ments, employ specifi c social groups. All of this is too much pressure. Therefore, CSR delegates these functions to some extent. In some cases it unloads the state. As a re-sult, the Government should create an environment that will ensure the satisfaction of all rings. Meeting everyone’s interests is diffi cult, but pos-sible.

Q. What is the role of the Government in creat-ing a socially responsible society?

A. In the current law there are just several articles which may encourage companies to carry out CSR activities. How-

Large Companies Dominating CSR Activities in Georgia

The FINANCIALBy MARIAM PAPIDZE

Implementing good corporate governance practices can help Geor-gian companies attract foreign investors and

partners, gain competitive advantage, increase fi nancial returns, and provide share-holders with greater security on their investments, believes Oliver Orton, Regional Man-ager of IFC’s Corporate Gover-nance Program in Europe and Central Asia.

“The governance challenges we see faced by many compa-nies in Georgia are, in general, similar to those faced by com-panies in other countries in the wider region, even if the underlying economies ulti-mately differ,” Orton told The FINANCIAL. “A key consider-ation, for example, is whether there’s a body within the com-pany that is effectively steering the direction of business – this body usually being a board of directors…One particular chal-lenge to attracting investment into Georgian companies is a reluctance by those companies to demonstrate higher levels

of openness and transparency. There’s a perception that mak-ing publically available any in-formation about the company leaves it vulnerable – to com-petitors for example; of course we’re not suggesting disclosure of sensitive or confi dential in-formation – but transparency as to certain fi nancial as well as non-fi nancial information will be a key factor that interna-tional investors and partners want to see when establish-ing relationships with local

partners. Georgia’s companies should take this into account,” he added.

Corporate governance, which focuses on improving the struc-tures and processes by which companies are directed and controlled, is an emerging, and highly relevant, business dis-cipline in the markets of East-ern Europe and Central Asia. Studies have shown that more than 84 percent of global insti-tutional investors are willing to pay a premium for the shares of

a well-governed company over one considered poorly gov-erned but with a comparable fi nancial record.

In order to raise awareness of corporate governance and to assist its incorporation into the daily life of Georgian com-panies, International Financial Corporation (IFC), a mem-ber of the World Bank Group, is implementing a corporate governance program funded by Switzerland’s State Sec-retariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The program provides in-depth advice to companies and fi nancial institutions on implementing good corporate governance practices, while also strengthening the capac-ity of local partners to provide corporate governance advice and services in their markets.

IFC’s Corporate Governance Program in Europe and Cen-tral Asia, together with its local partner institutions in Georgia - the law fi rm Eristavi & Part-ners, the Georgian Institute of Directors, the Georgian Bank-ing Training Centre, and PMO Business Consulting - hosted more than 25 representatives from partners from 10 coun-tries in Tbilisi in December. The purpose of the four-day

workshop was to share knowl-edge and, importantly, to con-tinue to further build capaci-ties in corporate governance.

“We meet many companies and banks during the course of our work around the world. The challenge for us is to communi-cate that corporate governance is not a compliance or box-ticking exercise, relevant only to large or regulated businesses - it’s relevant to all companies, and ultimately, is about bring-ing very real value and benefi t to the business. When effec-tively implemented and inte-grated into the business, corpo-rate governance helps enhance competitiveness, effectiveness, effi ciency and profi tability, and enables companies to expand sustainably, while also helping to attract much-needed invest-ment. We work with compa-nies and fi nancial institutions on a consultancy basis to help them identify, and then imple-ment, improved corporate gov-ernance practices. In addition, we consider it highly important for us to work with sustainable local partners who can also deliver top-quality advice on corporate governance to local companies. That is real suc-cess,” said Orton.

“We all see that Georgia ranks highly in the World Bank Group’s latest Doing Business Report. The country does well in terms of, for example, regis-tering a business or property, or the speed and ease of set-ting up a business. But when it comes to the corporate gover-nance-related indices, Georgia could be doing better by com-parison with these other indi-cators,” he said.

Q. What is good corpo-rate governance? What are the challenges in Georgia in this direction and what are your recom-mendations?

A. There are many academic defi nitions of good corporate governance. I prefer to explain it in a different way. If cor-porate governance is ‘work-ing’ as it should, it means that the shareholders or owners, the board and management are working smoothly and ef-fi ciently in a manner so as to allow the company not only to survive, but to develop in a sus-tainable manner.

We look at the corporate culture and mindset that exists

Corporate Governance To Help Georgian Companies Attract Foreign Investors

The FINANCIALBy MADONA GASANOVA

The practice of Corporate Social Responsibility he practice of Corporate Social Responsibility is characterized by a positive trend in Georgia. is characterized by a positive trend in Georgia. Georgian businesses have started separating CSR Georgian businesses have started separating CSR from charity and philanthropy. The integration from charity and philanthropy. The integration of Georgian companies with global markets and of Georgian companies with global markets and

the Association Agreement promises to bring about greater the Association Agreement promises to bring about greater development of CSR. Large companies remain more socially development of CSR. Large companies remain more socially responsible businesses in Georgia, contrary to SMEs. responsible businesses in Georgia, contrary to SMEs. Meanwhile, internal CSR remains more developed in the Meanwhile, internal CSR remains more developed in the country, so accordingly Georgian businesses need to focus country, so accordingly Georgian businesses need to focus more on the corporate social investments.more on the corporate social investments.“We have been actively arranging meetings with managers “We have been actively arranging meetings with managers and CEOs. Various types of trainings have been held by and CEOs. Various types of trainings have been held by Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF). The main message Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF). The main message we tried to clarify was what kinds of benefi ts CSR can bring we tried to clarify was what kinds of benefi ts CSR can bring for them. There is no clear demand for CSR among society. for them. There is no clear demand for CSR among society. Accordingly, companies are less motivated to implement it. Accordingly, companies are less motivated to implement it. The fact that CSR is linked to extra expenditures hampers The fact that CSR is linked to extra expenditures hampers its development. So, clarifying the benefi ts is the mechanism its development. So, clarifying the benefi ts is the mechanism which actually works. The concept of CSR means its which actually works. The concept of CSR means its voluntary implementation. It cannot be compulsory. Besides voluntary implementation. It cannot be compulsory. Besides companies’ goodwill the Government should provide extra companies’ goodwill the Government should provide extra motivation for businesses to be socially responsible. CSR motivation for businesses to be socially responsible. CSR should include more strategic actions, which will then bring should include more strategic actions, which will then bring much more results for everyone, including the companies,” much more results for everyone, including the companies,” Viktor Baramia, Senior Program Manager at Eurasia Viktor Baramia, Senior Program Manager at Eurasia Partnership Foundation, told The FINANCIAL.Partnership Foundation, told The FINANCIAL.Baramia believes that knowledge of the issue is very Baramia believes that knowledge of the issue is very important. “The CEOs and top managers of large-scale important. “The CEOs and top managers of large-scale companies are mostly educated abroad. Accordingly, they companies are mostly educated abroad. Accordingly, they are familiar with CSR and all its principles. Therefore this are familiar with CSR and all its principles. Therefore this practice should subsequently be distributed across lower practice should subsequently be distributed across lower levels. However, here we face a rupture in the chain. CSR levels. However, here we face a rupture in the chain. CSR is not taught as a separate course at business schools. It is not taught as a separate course at business schools. It is considered a component of business ethics. Caucasus is considered a component of business ethics. Caucasus University is the exception. It is very important for students University is the exception. It is very important for students that are potential employees of large companies, where CSR that are potential employees of large companies, where CSR is on the agenda. This might be one of the reasons why the is on the agenda. This might be one of the reasons why the situation in terms of corporate responsibility is improving.”situation in terms of corporate responsibility is improving.” Continued on p. 22

Continued on p. 22

OLIVER ORTON, Regional Manager of IFC’s Corporate Governance Program in Europe and Central Asia


FINCHANNEL.COM | 22 DECEMBER, 2014

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Companies with the Best CSR Reputations Named

Google has the best corporate so-cial responsibility reputation, beating out Microsoft who held the top spot in 2012 and 2013, ac-cording to Reputation Institute’s

annual CSR RepTrak.Google has the best corporate social re-

sponsibility reputation, beating out Microsoft who held the top spot in 2012 and 2013, ac-cording to Reputation Institute’s annual CSR RepTrak.

Microsoft, Walt Disney and BMW are the no. 2, 3 and 4 companies, respectively, with the best CSR reputations globally. Apple, Lego, Volkswagen, Intel and Rolex (tie), and Daimler round out the top 10.

The 2014 CSR RepTrak Study, which ranks the world’s 100 most reputable companies based on citizenship, governance and work-place, provides a business case for embedding CSR and sustainability principles into corpo-rate strategy and operations. The study shows that fi rms with better CSR reputations have a much higher ability to foster desired support-ive behaviors among consumers, including buying their products, recommending their company, or trusting the company to do the right thing when faced with diffi culties or dis-ruptions.

The results from the study also show that many companies still struggle to effectively communicate their good corporate citizen-ship with the general public. More than half of the respondents from the US and the UK, for example, were neutral or uncertain when asked if a company was a good corporate citi-zen.

Georgia, Ukraine May Get Visa-Free Regime With EU At Riga SummitBRUSSELS -- Latvian Foreign Minister Ed-gars Rinkevics has said that the EU might grant both Georgians and Ukrainians visa-free access to the EU’s Schengen zone next year.

Rinkevics, whose country takes over the EU’s rotating presidency in January 2015, told RFE/RL on December 16 that both Ukraine and Georgia had a chance to get visa liberalization at the Eastern Partnership sum-mit in Riga in May next year.

He noted, “in my ideal world there is at least one or maybe even more than one East-ern partner where the visa-liberalization pro-gram is enhanced and introduced,” noting that Ukraine is lagging a bit behind for purely technical reasons.

The countries have to undertake several re-forms, such as increased judicial cooperation with the EU, before being granted visa-free travel.

Moldovans in April were granted visa-free travel to the Schengen zone, which consists of 22 of the 28 EU member states and non-EU Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzer-land.

The European Parliament on December 18 endorsed a political and trade agreement with Georgia.

The ratifi cation of Georgia’s EU association agreement is the third such deal endorsed with an eastern neighbor of the European Union within three months.

The deals have frustrated the Kremlin, which has said they could hurt Russia’s economy and are incompatible with a sep-arate free trade zone Moscow has estab-lished.

Speaking in Strasbourg ahead of the vote, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelshvili called the event “an exceptional and very im-portant day” for his country.



Being a good corpo-rate citizen - this is how AmCham Georgia defi nes CSR. The majority

of Georgian companies try to be good corporate citizens. However there is still much room for improvement. Am-Cham Georgia has outlined three strategies that it aims to follow in line with CSR in the nearest future.

The AmCham Corporate Social Responsibility Com-mittee was offi cially launched in February 2012. The CSR Committee provides insight into how CSR programs can be implemented, such as how to effectively monitor and track such efforts and gauge whether they contribute in a meaningful way to awareness and creating a positive im-pact. Paul Clark and Rusudan Kbilashvili, AmCham Geor-gia CSR Committee Chairs, provided their viewpoints re-garding the responsibilities of corporations in Georgia.

There are many Georgian companies that are good corporate citizens, said Kbi-lashvili, adding that some of them do not realize the exact meaning of CSR. “AmCham’s CSR Committee has been

trying through the years to raise awareness of what CSR means. We invite internation-al experts and arrange pres-entations in order to share international experience. CSR is a new term not only in Georgia, but abroad too. So we carry the responsibility to enhance awareness of it and give out some recommenda-tions. The promotion of CSR activities was started by in-ternational organizations and NGOs in Georgia.”

“Today we are fi nding that more companies are involved in CSR promotion in Georgia and this is a really positive step. The rising awareness of CSR makes us optimistic that we will see further develop-ment of this campaign in the future. The fact that The FI-NANCIAL devotes a special edition to CSR in itself means that we have achieved a cer-tain goal. There is a percep-tion that companies should not talk much about their CSR

activities. However, we know that CSR is not only charity. So, promoting CSR activities by companies will raise com-petitiveness between compa-nies to become better corpo-rate citizens. The promotion of CSR activities by compa-nies is important at this stage when the level of awareness is low. Considering the big competition on the market it is important for companies to attach additional value to

their products. It is a very sustainable and long-term vision of a company - to be a good corporate citizen,” said Kbilashvili.

CSR is a very abstract term, said Clark. In his words, even people in the West do not know what it means in concrete terms. Accordingly, after starting work together with AmCham, the very fi rst thing the CSR Committee Co-Chairs did was to establish

for themselves how to defi ne CSR.

“CSR is nothing more and nothing less than being a good corporate citizen. If we think about physical citizens, we will see that all of us try to be good physical citizens. We all do some things well, some things poorly. All of us have an opportunity to improve being a good physical citizen. Most people want to improve, not everyone. The same thing applies to corporate citizens. Every business is a corporate citizen. Most businesses are good corporate citizens in the sense that -just as physi-cal citizens - they try to do the right thing. However, perhaps on the corporate citizenship’s side there are more opportu-nities for improvement. The similarity between physical and corporate citizenship is striking. For instance, as a physical citizen you should not litter, not throw rubbish in the street, while as a good corporate citizen, you should not pollute. As a physical citi-zen, if you see someone who needs help, you help. As a cor-porate citizen you do the same thing. An important message is that CSR is merely being a good corporate citizen. Every-one, every company is a good

Companies Practicing CSR are Good Corporate Citizens

PAUL CLARK, AmCham Georgia CSR Committee Chair

Continued on p. 20

RUSUDAN KBILASHVILI, AmCham Georgia CSR Committee Chair



Q. What are your plans for 2015?

A. We plan to continue with further increasing growth next year. VTB Bank Georgia will enlarge its market share of re-tail banking. During the com-ing three years we plan to dou-ble the number of our branch network. Branches will be opened in every Georgian city where VTB Bank is not present at the moment. We are not yet established in Zugdidi, Zesta-foni and Akaltsikhe. Accord-ingly its residents will soon get the opportunity to access the full services and products that we offer. In addition, we will add new branches in cities where we are already present. Ten large branches and new sales points are scheduled to be opened in 2015. At that point the number of our branches will total 37.

Q. Please can you tell us of the CSR activities that you have been implement-ing?

A. Our CSR activities are quite diversifi ed. We try to support various fi elds. We are proud to be the partners of the national teams and federations of various sports. VTB Bank Georgia is a general sponsor of the Rugby National Team, as well as the National Wa-ter Polo Team. We are glad to bear witness to their great success. During the summer our national water polo team participated in the European Championship. We support the Sport Federation of Geor-gia, Gymnastic Federation of Georgia and Equestrian Sport Federation. The Football club Saburtalo, basketball, as well as the kid’s rugby team Chok-hosnebi are also in the list of those which we have been en-dorsing for years and will con-tinue to endorse in the future. VTB Bank Georgia recently be-came a general sponsor of the

business champion’s league in football. We wish all athletes success and we hope that the material support of VTB Bank will play an important role in the development of Georgian sport, will promote its ad-vancement and achievements.

Culture is a fi eld in which VTB Bank Georgia tries to provide signifi cant assistance. Among the projects funded by the Bank are: Rustaveli Theatre, Griboe-dov Theatre, Lado Meskhishvili Kutaisi Theatre and the ensem-ble Georgian Voices.

VTB Bank is a permanent partner of the Charity fund Ia-vnana.

The number of projects fi -nanced by VTB Bank deter-mines the high corporate and social responsibility of the Bank. We are pleased that with the fi nancial support of VTB Bank many interesting proj-ects have been implemented and this relationship has been largely successful.

We are very closely involved in education. We signed a stra-tegic partnership with Cauca-sus University this year. The Bank compensated the tuition fees of three freshmen at CU that successfully passed their entrance exams and gained high scores. We offer intern-ships for students at our banks. After successfully accomplish-ing the internship the students are then given the opportunity to be employed in various de-partments and branches of the Bank.

We are doing our best to be active in Georgian society.

Q. What are the princi-ples by which you decide what kind of activity to support?

A. Our desire is to be a part of the victory, success, pas-sion and emotions which sport brings to everyone and for me personally as a Georgian who is living in this country I feel

that spirit. That is one of the main motivators for us to sup-port national sport and culture. Education has always been the best direction for investments. Educated people are the core of our country. Today we still fi nd people who cannot afford education due to their fi nancial situations. So given such an unequal environment we try to contribute our small share and encourage students and moti-vate them to receive appropri-ate education. Actually there are many different experiences that involvement in a socially responsible project presents to us. These are really unforgetta-ble moments for us as a socially responsible company.

Q. Which CSR activities could be viewed as the most sustainable in Geor-gia?

A. In general, CSR activities are very important in Georgia. We see that more and more businesses are getting in-volved in it. And we are really happy to be seeing this. There are lots of companies that are implementing different types of social projects. The poten-tial scale of CSR is unlimited. There is no obligation for cor-porations to run any one spe-cifi c project. So, businesses taking on responsibilities in any area are a welcome fact. VTB Bank is involved in vari-ous projects. We are happy to support these. However, we cannot be everywhere. We are actively encouraging our part-ner companies to participate in different social projects. While talking about CSR it is impor-tant to implement long-term projects, due to the real and lasting benefi ts. We are proud that all the projects in which we are involved are not one-handed.

Q. How long-term are your CSR activities?

A. We have been supporting

the Iavnana Foundation for ten years. Our cooperation with the Rugby Team goes back more than three years. VTB Bank has also been support-ing Kutaisi Drama Theatre for three years. So our long-term vision is devoted to the future of our country, of our children and the growing generation. We will continue to invest a lot in junior sports teams for the healthier and better future of our nation.

Q. What are your activi-ties in terms of internal CSR?

A. In the last two weeks we announced 100 new jobs. It was really great news. Cur-rently we employ 1,100 work-ers. And this number will be growing. From January we launched the second stage of our new banker’s programme - VTB Generation. This is a good opportunity for gifted youngsters that are interested in the banking sector to get qualifi ed trainings and to later start working. The programme is already quite popular. Last year we trained 25 applicants and out of them 23 are now counted among our staff mem-bers. We are doing our best to stimulate our employees with various trainings to increase literacy and growth skills. The average salary at VTB Bank Georgia is GEL 1,600. This is a good fi gure and quite competi-tive for the market.

VTB Bank Georgia to Open 10 New

Branches in 2015The FINANCIAL

By MADONA GASANOVA

VTB VTB Bank Georgia has Bank Georgia has grown its assets by grown its assets by 25% in 2014. The Bank 25% in 2014. The Bank

has already announced 100 job vacancies has already announced 100 job vacancies and plans to open 10 new branches in and plans to open 10 new branches in 2015. Well-known for its active support 2015. Well-known for its active support of Georgian sport, the Bank is involved in of Georgian sport, the Bank is involved in culture and education as part of its CSR culture and education as part of its CSR activities. The Bank chooses to support activities. The Bank chooses to support long-term social projects, focused on long-term social projects, focused on investing in the better future of the nation.investing in the better future of the nation.

“The whole year has been very “The whole year has been very successful for VTB Bank Georgia. We have successful for VTB Bank Georgia. We have maintained a growing trend. Assets grew maintained a growing trend. Assets grew by GEL 20 million. That is 25% more by GEL 20 million. That is 25% more compared to the previous year. In most compared to the previous year. In most cases VTB Bank Georgia during 2014 was cases VTB Bank Georgia during 2014 was growing faster than the market. Our loan growing faster than the market. Our loan portfolio grew by 21.6% compared to the portfolio grew by 21.6% compared to the 17% market growth. Corporate business 17% market growth. Corporate business loans grew by 20.9% compared to the loans grew by 20.9% compared to the 12.8% market growth. At the same time 12.8% market growth. At the same time corporate business deposits grew by 54.5% corporate business deposits grew by 54.5% compared to the 13.9% market growth. We compared to the 13.9% market growth. We increased our market share on this side increased our market share on this side from 8.72% to 9.93%,” George Barkalaya, from 8.72% to 9.93%,” George Barkalaya, Vice-President at VTB Bank Georgia, told Vice-President at VTB Bank Georgia, told The FINANCIAL.The FINANCIAL.

According to Barkalaya, the Return According to Barkalaya, the Return on Investment (ROI) has increased by on Investment (ROI) has increased by 21.3% according to the results of the 21.3% according to the results of the fi rst eleven months of the current year. fi rst eleven months of the current year. “There has been a growing trend in the “There has been a growing trend in the deposit portfolio as well. We successfully deposit portfolio as well. We successfully positioned ourselves in the corporate positioned ourselves in the corporate business direction, as well as in regard to business direction, as well as in regard to SME business. So, VTB Bank Georgia has SME business. So, VTB Bank Georgia has been growing in every direction: retail, been growing in every direction: retail, small business and corporate. We plan to small business and corporate. We plan to continue our growth and our success in continue our growth and our success in the upcoming years.”the upcoming years.”

GEORGE BARKALAYA, Vice-President at VTB Bank Georgia



Advertiser: VTB Bank. Contact FINANCIAL Ad Dep at marketing@fi nchannel.com




Top boutique win-op boutique win-ery Schuchmann ery Schuchmann Wines is starting a Wines is starting a new campaign un-new campaign un-der the name “Do der the name “Do

Not Drive Drunk” within the Not Drive Drunk” within the framework of Corporate So-framework of Corporate So-cial Responsibility (CSR). At cial Responsibility (CSR). At the same time the company is the same time the company is planning to continue in 2015 planning to continue in 2015 with all the CSR campaigns with all the CSR campaigns that it started in previous that it started in previous years. Schuchmann Wines years. Schuchmann Wines spends about GEL 10,000 on spends about GEL 10,000 on CSR activities annually.CSR activities annually.

“Having a glass of Schuch-mann wine with one’s dinner is always a perfect idea but not before driving,” said Nut-sa Abramishvili, General Di-rector of Schuchmann Wines Georgia. “As a wine company we feel a sense of responsibil-ity for our society in terms of encouraging them not to drink drive. We are disturbed by the increased numbers of car accidents in the coun-try and so started thinking about how to contribute to preventing car accidents in Georgia. The campaign Do Not Drive Drunk will unite several projects which will be implemented throughout the year 2015. I believe that this campaign will be long-term and will continue well into the future as well. The main goal of this campaign is to decrease the number of car accidents and to remind the Georgian population of the rules of responsible drink-ing in order to ensure their safety,” she added.

To improve education, save Georgian traditions and in-troduce Georgian wine-mak-ing to the world are the main goals covered by Schuchmann Wines’ CSR activities. Out of them, raising education is the top priority for the company, says Abramishvili, as educat-ed and qualifi ed people are the greatest benefi t for both the company and the coun-try’s economy as well.

“We are cooperating with universities not only in Geor-gia but abroad too. Groups of students from different universities often visit Ki-siskhevi, in the region of Kakheti, for an internship programme. On the one hand it is very useful for raising awareness of Georgian wine and on the other hand we are offering very valuable experience to these foreign students. Our aim is for the foreign students to take the information about Georgian wine and its traditions away with them back to their own countries. After discovering the wine-making tradition of Kvevri, they tend to be very surprised and in admiration of it. Many of them write about this specifi c tradition and in such a way introduce Georgian wine-making tradi-tions to their countries. This is a very important factor for us,” Abramishvili said.

Every year 10-20 success-ful students come to Schuch-mann Wines Chateau for an internship. This year Schuch-mann Wines provided a three month course for successful students from France, Ger-many and Australia. In ad-

dition, Schuchmann Wines cooperates with the Agricul-tural University of Georgia and offers the same intern-ship programme to Georgian students. About 40 percent of them stay at Schuchmann Wines to continue their ca-reers here. Schuchmann Wines presents certifi cates to all the students that have undertaken the internship and provides them with ref-erences as well.

“The traditional Georgian wine-making process is so interesting, different and at-tractive for them that many of them wish to stay on in Georgia and continue their careers here. As well as the wine-making process the stu-dents are involved in labora-tory work and wine tourism during the internship period. Within the framework of wine tourism we let tourists visit and see our winery, introduce them to a traditional way of wine-making and then fi nal-ly, allow them to take part in wine-tasting. The students are introduced to all the manag-ing rules of wine tourism. Our goal is to train them in accor-dance with the Shuchmann family rules, after which it is not diffi cult anymore for them to work in our company and adapt to our principles,” said Abramishvili.

The number of Schuch-mann Wines’ employees is increasing every year. The company employs 65 people plus 200 seasonal employ-ees; these are over 60 year old farmer women who work in the vineyards. There are 8 people employed in gastrono-my - at the newly opened wine bar in the historical building of Karvasla, in old Tbilisi. Shuchmann Wines employs local people, those who live in Kisiskhevi or the nearby vil-lages.

“The wine business is very complicated in general and a qualifi ed labour force is cru-cially important. First of all there is the technological di-rection in the wine-making process which constantly needs to be controlled. As a top boutique winery Shuch-mann Wines is always fo-cused on high quality in ev-ery direction - whether it is the quality of the wine or the service which we offer to our customers - everything in our company must be of very high quality. The second reason that makes the wine business complicated is that we have to compete with already very ex-perienced wine companies on international markets. Intro-ducing your product to inter-national markets and taking your deserved place on the

market is a very diffi cult mis-sion,” Abramishvili said.

“We employ local people, from the village Kisiskhevi and from the nearby villages. Caring about our employees is very important for us as we understand what it means to have happy employees. We train them and improve their qualifi cations. Besides that, we have a tradition whereby we have a Christmas party together which helps us to get to know each other better and spend an enjoyable time with one another. We have a very friendly structure, a ‘one fam-ily’ principle in terms of our attitude towards our employ-ees,” she said.

“One of the most important directions of our CSR activi-ties is promoting Kvevri wine. We are the biggest producers of Kvevri wine in Georgia. De-spite the fact that Kvevri wine is a core product of Georgia and is a competitive advan-tage for wine companies, it costs a great deal to produce Kvevri wine, therefore com-panies avoid getting involved in Kvevri wine-making. But quality and Georgian tra-ditions are very important for us. That is why we have built three big Marani (loca-tions for storing wine in spe-cial pitchers) for producing Kvevri wine. There are only

two families in Georgia who are producing Kvevri. In fact, we are losing this tradition and forgetting the process of Kvevri wine-making. Nowa-days we have 100 Kvevris in our Marani and export the largest proportion of Kvevri wine abroad. Kvevri wine makes up 30 percent of our total production. Ensuring the survival of the technology of producing Kvevri wine is our social responsibility,” said Abramishvili.

Q. How does Schuch-mann Wines care for the environment?

A. In terms of caring about the environment we cultivate vineyards every year. As a re-sult we are developing Geor-gian vine-growing. Nowadays we have more than 100 vine-yards, which have been grow-ing by 5 percent every year. Our goal is to expand our vineyards by 40 percent with-in the next 5-10 year period.

Q. What kind of CSR ac-tivities can be considered the most stable and long-term in Georgia?

A. I would pick out educa-tion as the most important one. The more educated a generation is growing up the more benefi cial it is for the economy. This is why at our company we have specifi cally chosen the educational CSR direction.

I am always against char-ity activities, even if they are happening on a regular basis, as by such actions you are just making the recipients of the charity lazy. I always think that instead of charity activi-ties it is better to give people actual opportunities. Again, in my opinion, trainings, in-ternship programmes and providing job places are more vital and long-term for the people who need our help. I would encourage the compa-nies in Georgia to be more fo-cused on long-term activities.

The concept of establishing our company was to merge two traditions of Georgia - to have wine-producing plus the tradition of drinking wine. This was the fi rst project that brought wine tourism to Georgia. Within the frame-work of CSR we have brought a Western standard of service to Georgia and have adjusted it to the local culture, more specifi cally to Georgian wine-making. Many tourists, for-eigners as well as Georgians, often express their desire to take part in the process of wine-making.

It was precisely the fac-tors of the history and tradi-tion and the desire to bring together everything about winemaking and the Georgian story that encouraged us to open a wine bar in Karvasla. A wine bar with an extraor-dinary handmade interior design befi tting of Georgia’s rich history and culture is a new concept for the Tbilisi touristic and gastronomic sector. It was our dream to combine wining and dining. We have successfully made our Chateau in Kakheti and Schuchmann Wines Chateau with its hotel and restaurant the most popular destina-tion in the Kakheti region. We are proud that the brand “Schuchmann” has been suc-

cessfully launched in wine production, agriculture and tourism. In the long term, we plan to franchise the concept abroad and achieve the pri-mary goal of this project - to market and export Georgian heritage, Georgian wine and gastronomic tourism.

Q. The UN clarifi es that Corporate Social Re-sponsibility means busi-ness transparency, as well as participation in activities against money laundering and corrup-tion. How do Georgian companies understand this meaning of CSR and how do they meet the CSR requirements?

A. Georgian business is very young. The business attitude or principles that are adopt-ed in Western countries are still not implemented here. Transparency and a sense of accountability are still not perceived as obligatory for Georgian companies. Now it is a period of transition for the companies and we have a chance to be closer to Western standards.

Q. What have been the most important activi-ties of 2014?

A. The year 2014 was a very challenging year for Shuch-mann Wines. However, we have tripled the capacity of Schuchmann Wines produc-tion. We opened a wine bar in Karvasla and added gas-tronomy to our directions. We started the building of a new hotel which will be opened in 2015. In addition we entered new markets such as Japan, France, Cyprus and Mongo-lia. In this way we managed to reduce Russia’s share of our export volume and started diversifi cation of our export markets. Booking.com, Holi-dayCheck and TripAdvisor state that we are the number one destination in Kakheti. Our guests have rated Schuch-mann Wines Georgia as the number one destination.

Because of the drought in Kakheti the harvest capacity has been reduced by about 30 percent which caused in-creased wine prices as a re-sult. The price increase was also caused by the high de-mand from Russia. This year the prices of grapes have dou-bled compared to last year. But our costs were balanced as 70 percent of Schuchmann Wines is our own production. We are planning to sell a mil-lion and a half bottles of wine in 2015.

The year 2014 was kind of a year of panic because of the increased demand from Rus-sia. Now the Russian market is more or less stable though. They are facing a fi nancial cri-sis and suffer from infl ation and for this reason sales of wine there have decreased.

Do Not Drive Drunk!

NUTSA ABRAMISHVILI, General Director of Schuchmann Wines Georgia

Top Boutique Winery Schuchmann Wines Starts New CSR Campaign to Reduce Road Accidents



Advertiser: Schuchmann Wines Georgia. Contact FINANCIAL Ad Dep at marketing@fi nchannel.com



Q. A company’s at-titude towards its em-ployees determines the responsibility of the busi-ness towards its commu-nity. How often do you recruit and then train your workers after hir-ing them?

A. Initially, we rate our social responsibility by how we treat our employees. For

this purpose, maintaining fair treatment of employees is the main mission of our HR strategy, as well as social responsibility and internal policy. To respect the dignity of our workers, their well-be-ing and diversity is the main policy of the company. We are following international standards while hiring, pro-moting and creating work-

ing conditions. The company is focused on creating equal conditions for career growth and the development of em-ployees.

As with every rapidly grow-ing company we often need new staff. We are publish-ing our job applications on leading job search websites, as well as on the company’s website. Promoting interns is

quite a common practice in our company. We are cooper-ating with leading universities and always hire interns in our different departments or sub-sidiaries.

Staff training and their pro-fessional development is one of the most signifi cant aspects of our HR policy. The compa-ny contributes to the profes-sional development of staff.

We encourage their initiative of professional growth by fi -nancing their education.

Celebrating important events in our employees’ pri-vate lives is an integral part of our corporate culture. We support families with new-born children so as to improve the demographic condition in the country. Every employee that creates a family, or gives birth to a new child, receives fi nancial incentives from the company, as well as a fl exible work schedule.

Q. How do you encour-age your workers?

A. We have introduced an internal promotion system. Each employee is rated ac-cording to their performance. The diversifi ed structure of the company enables them to try themselves in various departments and subsidiar-ies. They can work in different companies with one special-ization, or in different direc-tions. We have implemented the Idea Box. Through it employees can express their viewpoints regarding the im-provement and development of the company. Each month, we award the ‘employee of the month’. The best employee of the year is revealed at the end of the year. They receive various prizes and certifi -cates. We have introduced the Employee Stock Owner-ship Plan (ESOP). As poten-tial shareholders they are encouraged to care about the development of the company. Such an approach would fi rst of all improve the company’s service. It is a prerequisite for improving customer-oriented service and the implementa-tion of competing and inno-vative products.

Q. What is the compa-ny’s approach towards human resource man-agement?

A. The company takes care of the welfare of its employ-ees. We have a fl exible work schedule. They can also work from home. AGH fully com-pensates employees during maternity leave. We also en-courage paternity leave. The company is trying to encour-age the promotion of female employees and their profes-sional education. However, the promotion of any women remains in line with their professional achievements. Staff promotion and a bonus system are implemented in accordance with their corre-spondingly successful work and qualifi cations.

The staff recruitment policy is based on candidates’ pro-fessional experience, knowl-edge and personal qualities. The company also offers equal pay for the equal work of both sexes.

We are devoted to hiring women to decision-making positions. AGH has gender balance at all levels and ac-tively supports women in balancing their careers and personal lives. As a result of this policy, we are proud that UNDP Georgia has awarded AGH with Grand Award for Gender Equality due to its best gender sensitive policies, actively promoting women on decision-making positions and having a gender balance at all levels, empowering

women for career progression and promoting work-life bal-ance.

Q. What is the compa-ny’s corporate manage-ment strategy? In your estimation, how do the corporate governance systems impact on the economy?

The company’s vision is to promote sustainable eco-nomic development in the country by providing fi nancial resources (capital) and fi nan-cial education and guidance to various groups. In this re-gard the company tries to bal-ance its social and fi nancial objectives. AGH invests only in those sectors and projects that are feasible for the long-term sustainable develop-ment of the country.

Therefore, it aims to create value not only for consum-ers, but also for the whole of society. To date, the projects implemented by the company have made a signifi cant con-tribution to the development of the national economy and especially the fi nancial sector. Since its inception, we have introduced pioneering and innovative services. We are always supporting the devel-opment of the Georgian econ-omy, which has signifi cantly contributed to the growth of business information, micro-fi nance, leasing, hydropower, investment, and banking and real estate sectors.

A special social commit-tee operates in the company. It determined the social di-rection of the company and oversees the implemented projects. The committee de-cided which project should be implemented.

A strategy focused on long-term and sustainable results should prioritize more than just one-time promotions. For this purpose, investment in the education of the young generation, promotion of ethi-cal business standards among them and environment pro-tection, are directions that will bring more benefi ts for the country’s economic devel-opment.

Q. The UN clarifi es that corporate social re-sponsibility means busi-ness transparency, and participation in activi-ties against money laun-dering and corruption. What is your approach in terms of safety and protection issues?

A. For this purpose, AGH has maintained a good gov-ernance principle since its inception. This includes car-rying out all activities in line with national legislation and best international practice. The procedures are in ac-cordance with the standards of international quality and approved by the supervisory board of the company. We aim to align our own interests with those of our clients. It is a guarantee of establishing re-liable and long-term relations with customers. Integrity, responsibility, professional-ism, transparency and team-work are essential principles on which the company relies while dealing with various in-terested sides.

AGH: “CSR is about Action, Not Talk”

Continued on p. 20

AIETI KUKAVA, Executive Director at AGH


Corporate Social Responsibility does not mean one-handed charity

campaigns for Alliance Group Holding (AGH). AGH considers CSR to be an integral part of its management. Its internal policy is based on respect for human rights, gender equality, environmental protection, transparency and responsibility. Restoration works on Jegeta Mountain in Western Georgia are the latest project which the company has been carrying out.“The country’s economic and social development is not only the duty of the Government. The country’s progress and advancement is impossible without the support of the private sector. The CSR activities of companies does not only mean up-front, and in many cases disposable, charity campaigns. A more far-reaching and comprehensive approach is required. Conducting ethical business is a main factor of this responsibility. Fair consideration for customers, employees and partners; transparent relations with public authorities; returning share of our profi t back to society and environment protection - these are the main responsibilities that every businessman should realize, regardless of their company’s size or experience,” Aieti Kukava, Executive Director at AGH, told The FINANCIAL.Kukava did not reveal the sum that the company spends on its CSR activities. In his words, AGH does not belong to the same category of companies that consider charity and social responsibility to be simply a part of PR.



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TRUE

Veriko SUKHIASHVILIFactCheck

A plenary session of the Parlia-ment of Geor-gia was held on 14 November

2014 where the Minister of Finance of Georgia, Nodar Khaduri, presented the 2014 State Budget project. Whilst speaking about the planned projects in the fi eld of agri-culture, the Minister stated: “The Agro Insurance project’s funding will continue. A total of 15,000 benefi ciaries are in-volved in the Agro Insurance project as of 1 November 2014 and the total value of the in-sured risks equals GEL 150 million.”

FactCheck took interest in this statement and looked into the Agro Insurance proj-ect.

The Agro Insurance proj-ect was enacted from 1 Sep-tember 2014. This is a pilot project, planned to operate for one year. The project aims to actively include the insur-ance system in the fi eld of agriculture. The Agricultural Projects Management Agency is in charge of the project’s co-ordination.

Directive No. 1,462 of the Government of Georgia deter-mined the actions and budget necessary to implement the AgroInsurance project. The overall budget of the project equals GEL 5 million. The conditions of insurance are as follows: a total of 70%-90% or, in some cases, even 95% of the insurance package will

be covered by the state whilst the farmer, user or any other person using the insurance will pay, according to certain scales, over 0,5% of the insur-ance. Whilst subsidising the insurance package, the state covers a maximum amount of GEL 30,000 in the case of an individual whilst covering GEL 50,000 in the case of agricultural cooperatives. All sorts of agricultural products will be insured by the proj-ect. This includes insurance from natural disasters such as hailstorms, excessive precipi-tation, storms and autumn frost. The project only insures the plots of land which have cadastral codes, maps and/or GPS coordinates. It should be noted that the insurance does not cover damage caused by droughts.

Insurance companies li-censed in Georgia expressed their wish to participate in the AgroInsurance project. On 1 September 2014, a memo-randum of cooperation was signed between the Agricul-tural Projects Management Agency and the following insurance companies: GPI Holding, Aldagi, IC Group, Irao and Cartu. The insurance companies agreed to sign contracts with farmers taking part in the insurance project. The insurer is obligated to pay a part of the insurance bonus upon the issuance of the in-surance policy. The rest of the insurance bonus will be paid by the Agency.

FactCheck requested in-formation about the Agro Insurance project from the Agricultural Projects Man-

agement Agency. According to their data, a total of 15,423 hectares of land has been in-sured in terms of the project as of 17 November 2014 whilst the number of the benefi cia-ries is about 16,500. The in-surance limit amounts to GEL 150 million which means that the total value of the insured risks is about GEL 150 mil-lion. According to the Agency, farmers actively cooperated with the Agency in order to in-sure their harvest. The whole amount of GEL 5 million, al-located by the government for the project, has already been used up. Hence, the budget of the project has increased and amounted to GEL 11,101,329. The project will continue next year as well.

We asked Giorgi Gigolas-hvili, Head of the Insurance Institute, an NGO, to com-ment upon the AgroInsurance project. He stated: “The fi eld of agricultural risks insurance has never been created in any developed countries without the interference of the state. The state shares the agricul-tural risks with the insurance companies. As of today, the insurance market in the fi eld of agriculture is virtually un-used and the activity of the in-surance companies is very low because they cannot get in-come. According to the data of 2013, agricultural insurance constituted only 1% of the property insurance. This is a very low share. We will only be able to talk about the success of the Agro Insurance project after a year based upon the benefi ts the farmers and the insurance companies get.”

Nodar Khaduri:Minister of Finance of GeorgiaMinister of Finance of Georgia

“A total of 15,000 benefi ciaries are involved in the Agro Insurance project as of November 2014 and the total value of the insured risks equals GEL 150 million.”

CONCLUSIONThe AgroInsurance project was enacted as a pilot beginning on 1 September 2014. The project The AgroInsurance project was enacted as a pilot beginning on 1 September 2014. The project enables farmers to insure their harvest against natural disasters. The state subsidises from 70% enables farmers to insure their harvest against natural disasters. The state subsidises from 70% to 95% of the insurance package. According to the data of theAgricultural Projects Management to 95% of the insurance package. According to the data of theAgricultural Projects Management Agency, a total of 15,423 hectares of land has been insured in terms of the project as of 17 Agency, a total of 15,423 hectares of land has been insured in terms of the project as of 17 November 2014 whilst the number of the benefi ciaries is about 16,500. State funding amounts November 2014 whilst the number of the benefi ciaries is about 16,500. State funding amounts to GEL 11,101,329. The initial budget of the project equalled GEL 5 million but given the to GEL 11,101,329. The initial budget of the project equalled GEL 5 million but given the growing interest of the farmers, it has been increased. growing interest of the farmers, it has been increased. Based upon the aforementioned facts, Nodar Khaduri’s statement: “A total of 15,000 Based upon the aforementioned facts, Nodar Khaduri’s statement: “A total of 15,000 benefi ciaries are involved in the Agro Insurance project as of 1 November 2014 and the total benefi ciaries are involved in the Agro Insurance project as of 1 November 2014 and the total value of the insured risks equals GEL 150 million,” is value of the insured risks equals GEL 150 million,” is TRUE.TRUE.

Mariam CHACHUAFactCheck

According to the Doing Business study, Georgia has moved from the 8th to the 15th

position in 2014 as compared to the previous year. Minis-ter of Economy of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, made a statement about this issue on Maestro’s Business Contact saying that the worsening of Georgia’s rating in the Doing Business study was mainly due to the new research meth-

odology. FactCheck took interest in

this statement and verifi ed its accuracy.

Doing Business is the World Bank’s study which has been conducted in all of its member states since 2004 and aims to assess their particular busi-ness environments.

There have been certain methodological changesin the Doing Business study this year. In addition, the data of 2013 was re-calculated which resulted in Georgia’s rating being changed, moving from the 8th to the 14th position. This year, according to Doing

Business 2015, Georgia holds the 15th position.

The following components are new to Doing Business for 2015:

Methods of rating calcula-tion have changed

An additional study on sec-ond largest cities for 11coun-tries with the world’s largest economies has been added

According to Doing Busi-ness 2014, Georgia’s rating worsened in fi ve components and signifi cantly improved in one component (Resolv-ing Insolvency), moving from the 130th to the 122nd position (Chart 1).

Giorgi Kvirikashvili:Minister of Economy of Georgia

“The worsening of Georgia’s rating in the Doing Business study is due to the new research methodology.”

CONCLUSIONGeorgia held the 8Georgia held the 8thth position in the Doing Business 2013 study whilst moving to the 14 position in the Doing Business 2013 study whilst moving to the 14thth position after the data was re-calculated according to the new methodology. position after the data was re-calculated according to the new methodology. In addition, according to Doing Business 2015, there have been no major reforms in the fi eld of In addition, according to Doing Business 2015, there have been no major reforms in the fi eld of business in 2014.business in 2014.FactCheckFactCheck concludes that Giorgi Kvirikashvili’s statement is concludes that Giorgi Kvirikashvili’s statement is HALF TRUE.HALF TRUE.

The views expressed in this website are those of FactCheck.ge and do not refl ect the views of The FINANCIAL or the supporting organisations

The views expressed in this website are those of FactCheck.ge and do not refl ect the views of The FINANCIAL or the supporting organisations

FactCheckFactCheck

Chart 1Chart 1

Chart 2Chart 2

HALF TRUE

Chart 1 Rating2013 2014

Georgia’s Rating 14 15Starting a Business 4 5Dealing with Construction Permits 3 3Getting Electricity 36 37Registering Property 1 1Getting Credit 5 7Protecting Minority Investors 43 43Paying Taxes 22 38Trading across Borders 31 33Enforcing Contracts 23 23Resolving Insolvency 130 122

Even though the business environment in Georgia has not worsened over recent years, according to the Do-ing Business study, there has been no major reform in the fi eld of business for the past two years. The number of

reforms aimed at improving-Georgia’s business environ-ment was quite high in previ-ous years (Chart 2). In 2007, Georgia was amongst the top ten countries with reforms in the fi eld of business. The reforms carried out in 2012

improved Georgia’s ratings in six components. Given the fact that Georgia’s ratings are still quite low in some of the components, the business environment needs to be im-proved or its ratings could worsen in the future as well.

Year Number of Reforms2007 62008 42009 22010 42011 42012 62013 12014 1



Q. BP on behalf of its oil and gas partners op-erates three pipelines in Georgia. Why has the oil company decided to fund a project that is quite dif-ferent from the core ac-tivities of the company?

A. The story is rather long. Before we started construc-tion of the pipelines, we con-ducted impact assessments on the natural and social en-vironments. Company policy envisages the establishment of good relations with lo-cal people as well as help in support of the development needs they have.

We planned from the very beginning, prior to the start of construction of the pipelines, that the company would implement the initia-tive of development of the local communities.The com-munity development initia-tive targets communities within the four-kilometre corridor along the route of the pipelines.

Programme structure refl ects community needs based on the needs assess-ments we have conducted.We announced a tender for selection of the local imple-menting partner organiza-tion for the programme’s im-plementation. Development of small and medium busi-nesses is one of the compo-nents of the programme. Af-

ter the results of the tender, two domestic organizations were selected: the Regional Development Association and the Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC). The Regional Development Asso-ciation develops the project for communities in the west-ern part of the pipeline and the corridor. CTC works in the eastern part - in Garda-bani, Marneuli and Tetrits-karo. It is very important for us, because such a pro-gramme fi rst of all helps us to establish good relation-ships with the people.

Q. The oil pipeline by itself is very important for Georgia. What kind of benefi ts does your company get from such social and economic projects?

A. Well, this project is aimed not only at the estab-lishment of good relations, but at improvement of the social and economic condi-tions of the local people, our neighbours. It is a part of the global policy of the company, because BP runs a very re-sponsible business. In all its countries of operation, BP takes care of the people as-sociated with it. Let me men-tion specially that the activi-ties are not aimed at PR.

BP Spent USD 17 Million on Small Business

Development in GeorgiaThe FINANCIAL

By MADONA GASANOVA

BP BP and its co-venturers’ support under and its co-venturers’ support under the Community Development the Community Development Initiative (CDI) has resulted in over Initiative (CDI) has resulted in over 550 small business projects and 550 small business projects and up to 700 people being employed. up to 700 people being employed.

Since 2003 BP and its co-venturers have already spent Since 2003 BP and its co-venturers have already spent USD 17 million under the Community Development USD 17 million under the Community Development Initiative, one of the components of which envisages Initiative, one of the components of which envisages providing support for small business development.providing support for small business development.Today the state authorities use the model introduced by Today the state authorities use the model introduced by CDI in Georgia. The programme is aimed at enhancing CDI in Georgia. The programme is aimed at enhancing harmonious relationships with the people residing in harmonious relationships with the people residing in the villages located within a 2 kilometre radius of the oil the villages located within a 2 kilometre radius of the oil and gas pipelines through the introduction of capacity and gas pipelines through the introduction of capacity building opportunities and the support of business building opportunities and the support of business start-up.start-up.BP on behalf of its oil and gas partners has launched BP on behalf of its oil and gas partners has launched the Community Development Initiative for Local the Community Development Initiative for Local People in the villages located along the Baku-Tbilisi-People in the villages located along the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and South Caucasus gas Pipeline. Ceyhan oil pipeline and South Caucasus gas Pipeline. The programme includes several components. These The programme includes several components. These are: support for agriculture, development of the are: support for agriculture, development of the reconstruction process of the rural infrastructure, and reconstruction process of the rural infrastructure, and support for the development of small business. Through support for the development of small business. Through the above initiatives, the company is trying to improve the above initiatives, the company is trying to improve the living conditions of the local people.the living conditions of the local people.“Management of the programme is very important. “Management of the programme is very important. Several groups are involved in it, including the company Several groups are involved in it, including the company BP itself. In addition, there is the implementing BP itself. In addition, there is the implementing organization that prepares and executes the projects - organization that prepares and executes the projects - the Advisory Council of the Program, whose members the Advisory Council of the Program, whose members are the representatives of international organizations are the representatives of international organizations authorized to regularly assess the programme and authorized to regularly assess the programme and prepare recommendations. We also engage independent prepare recommendations. We also engage independent evaluators for mid-term and fi nal evaluation of the evaluators for mid-term and fi nal evaluation of the

programme. Members of the group help us in the programme. Members of the group help us in the intermediary and fi nal assessment of the programme intermediary and fi nal assessment of the programme as well as provide the recommendations that we as well as provide the recommendations that we consider in further work. The role of the local people consider in further work. The role of the local people and local governments is important,” said Rusudan and local governments is important,” said Rusudan Medzmariashvili, Manager of Social Responsibility at Medzmariashvili, Manager of Social Responsibility at Company BP.Company BP.Medzmariashvili believes that the payment of a grant Medzmariashvili believes that the payment of a grant alone fails to ensure the success of a programme. In alone fails to ensure the success of a programme. In her words, it is a long term process, which involves her words, it is a long term process, which involves the announcement of an initiative, review of the the announcement of an initiative, review of the proposals, applicant training, selection, funding and proposals, applicant training, selection, funding and monitoring.monitoring.“Our system of control and monitoring is very “Our system of control and monitoring is very thorough. We are in very close cooperation with the thorough. We are in very close cooperation with the local people. We study every stage of the development local people. We study every stage of the development of the programme through monitoring. If necessary, we of the programme through monitoring. If necessary, we make corrections to the Programme even during the make corrections to the Programme even during the implementation period. We are not in a hurry. Sharing implementation period. We are not in a hurry. Sharing knowledge and experience requires time. knowledge and experience requires time. We are very happy that the local people are interested We are very happy that the local people are interested in learning as much as possible. They cooperate with in learning as much as possible. They cooperate with us in the implementation of the programme. They us in the implementation of the programme. They study all the details. They consider the advice that ends study all the details. They consider the advice that ends in good results. Development of the programme fully in good results. Development of the programme fully accords to the initial plan of its implementation,” said accords to the initial plan of its implementation,” said Medzmariashvili.Medzmariashvili.The Community Development initiative was introduced The Community Development initiative was introduced and funded by BP and its oil and gas co-venturers. The and funded by BP and its oil and gas co-venturers. The ideas of the business projects belong to the local people. ideas of the business projects belong to the local people. In order to get funding, the people have to pass through In order to get funding, the people have to pass through several stages. several stages. The fi rst stage is about the selection of ideas, the second The fi rst stage is about the selection of ideas, the second - about presentation of the business plan developed in - about presentation of the business plan developed in close cooperation with the programme’s implementing close cooperation with the programme’s implementing partners. Success comes from the close mentoring partners. Success comes from the close mentoring and monitoring process. The implementing partners and monitoring process. The implementing partners work intensively, monitoring the development of any work intensively, monitoring the development of any business idea.business idea. Continued on p. 15



Q. The development of small businesses in Georgia has been an im-portant task for a long time. We have seen a lot of good enterprises op-erated by individuals, groups, etc. How many people have already been employed?

A. Several hundred people have started private busi-nesses in the frames of CDI. People have been very inter-ested in the programme.

Q. How many enter-prises have been estab-lished? Specifi cally, I mean registered enter-prises operating up until now.

A. There are about 500 registered enterprises along the BTC and SCP pipelines. Besides the owners of these enterprises, additional peo-ple have also been employed. Thus, additional jobs have been created.

Support for small busi-nesses, development of ag-riculture, rehabilitation of the infrastructure in the vil-lages, and support for the community organizations are all components of the pro-gramme.

Q. The state also tries to use the model of BP in supporting small and medium-sized business-es. The model does not imply cooperation with banks, while the differ-ence to other state mod-els is that direct moni-toring is implemented during the entire period

of several years. You control the process of their business, prevent them from spending the money unwisely, so unintentionally is that what leads to your guar-anteed success rate of at least 99%?

A. Upon submission of the fi rst application after an-nouncement of our competi-tion, our representative visits the place, studies the situa-tion and makes a conclusion. He provides a report to the committee that discusses the ideas. Acceptance of busi-ness ideas is the main initial action. The selected busi-ness ideas are improved and included in business plans. Trainings are aimed at cor-rect reporting on fi nancial and accounting statements. After that, the applicants submit an improved business plan. Systematic monitor-ing is carried out simultane-ously. Photo material is also collected to show and to com-pare the situations before, during funding and after the funds are provided. Monitor-ing lasts up until the end of the project. When a project is announced as a winner, an action plan is prepared referring both to the start of the business and the devel-opment of services. We sup-port the businessmen during the entirety of the above-mentioned period. We often visit them for the purpose of advice and control. We visit them at least once a week, but if necessary we visit more often.

Q. How do you help them specifi cally?

A. We give them money for the purchasing of equipment for example. The co-funding is to reach at least 50%. The co-funding implies either money, or labour share, it makes no difference. What they must spend the funds on is fi xed. We control ev-

erything and always request justifi cation. By this I mean that they must provide docu-ments certifying that the equipment was offi cially bought and all taxes were paid.

Q. Do Georgian labour-ers really need support?

A. Support is necessary by all means. Frequent visits by us are very important. They give them stronger motiva-tion and charge them with greater responsibility. First of all the people get the chance for self-realization. Many entrepreneurs have

started businesses accord-ing to their professions. They changed their minds and remained in their vil-lages instead of moving to the towns. A good example is several dentists’ clinics that have opened within the framework of the pro-gramme where skilled den-tists are now working. In the past they had no choice but to move to the towns and work as hired workers there. However, now they have their own clinics in the vil-lages. One dentist provides their service to the residents of at least 2-3 villages.

Q. Can you please tell us about the areas of the activities?

A. There are two types of businesses: agricultural business and non-agricul-tural. The non-agricultural businesses include dentists’ rooms, carpenters’ shops, mobile service of sanitary technician by phone order, stone-cutting business, etc. We also want to encour-age women, and we ensure that privilege is granted to the businesses that have the participation of business-women.

Continued from p. 14



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IRAO Insurance Company, a member of VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP (VIG),

will be focused on strengthening its positions on market as far as increasing its market share, moreover enlarging corporate and retail segments of the Company, based on the strategy for the year 2015. Besides, the Company uses maximum efforts for development and renovation of its services and business performance, including CSR activities - for permanent satisfaction of customers and whole society.

“We are also striving for more activation of our regional rep-resentations, to make available insurance services to the broad audience of customers across the country,” said Vakhtang Dekanosidze, General Director of IRAO – VIENNA INSUR-ANCE GROUP. “Moreover, IRAO is building its brand plat-form around its membership and belonging to a big family - VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP and founding European busi-ness proceeding model on the national level,” he said.

“As a member of VIG, IRAO actively takes part in CSR an-nual projects initiated by our shareholders, such as: Sum-mer Camp Art Competition for the children of VIG employees’, participation in the Competi-tion for VIG employees, “ Rec-ognition of Voluntary Commit-ment”, besides annual Social Active Day project that was initiated by Chairmen of Super-visory Board of VIG, Dr. Günter Geyer, he added.

“We make CSR investments “We make CSR investments mainly in the fi elds that are of mainly in the fi elds that are of top global priorities: environ-top global priorities: environ-mental directions and educa-mental directions and educa-tion sphere, supporting young tion sphere, supporting young generation - children,” Dekano-generation - children,” Dekano-sidze said.sidze said.

Q. Please describe to us CSR’s perfect world, tak-ing into account recent events. Could you please provide the list and brief description of CSR proj-ects implemented by IRAO Insurance Company?

A. In general, corporate so-cial responsibility is a funda-mental concept that become popular since 90s, when com-panies or organizations decide to contribute to a better society, through environmental and social aspects. Corporate so-cial responsibility is presented by volunteering contributions undertaken by the companies through their business activi-ties and social commitment. Sustainability of the companies should affect on their social re-sponsibility towards customers, employees, environment and on relationships with stakeholders.

On global level there are good examples for broad CSR ac-

tivities provided by worldwide companies for encouragement of society for participation and development of social respon-sibility.

Thus it is very obvious that for more suffi ciency and long-lasting results it is especially important to implement inter-national or at least nationwide CSR standards. Moreover, in case there be some category of regulations to obligatory implementation of CSR proj-ects by the private companies – it would positively refl ect on social life of various countries.

What for our Company, In-surance Company IRAO is op-erating on the local insurance market more than 10 years and holds one of leading positions. Last years - social commitment became indispensible part of the company’s everyday life. IRAO and its employees were actively involved in various social and charity activities, such as medical support to Retirement Houses, Orphan-ages, Charity Blood Donation projects, Green Activities in terms of environmental is-sues and etc. Starting from the

year 2012, CSR become one of the top priorities for our com-pany’s strategy: our concerns over wealthy community, healthy generations and envi-ronment is embedded in our service proceeding terms and conditions of the insurance products.

Moreover in 2011, VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP, the top insurance group in Austria, Central and Eastern Europe, presented in 25 countries of the region by 50 insurance com-panies, became 100 % share-holder of IRAO. Since fi rst VIG’s ancestor company was founded in Austria more than 185 years ago, awareness of responsibility, striving for sus-tainability and value-oriented growth became its major prior-ities. These priorities create the backdrop for the Group’s social commitment that comes from beginning of VIG corporate history as a matter of tradition. VIG is providing with number of social, volunteer and char-ity activities as in-house, as on international level - calling VIG member companies for active involvement in social corporate

projects in their countries. From the year 2013 IRAO

has joined VIG Social Active Day project, when the part of the companies’ employees, in-cluding Management and all structural levels are organiz-ing and implementing a social project, dedicated towards vul-nerable members of the soci-ety: children, disabled persons, unprotected families and etc. On that ordinary working day, employees of the companies’ have on option, weather they stay at their offi ces or would spend it through volunteer works.

SOCIAL ACTIVE DAY IRAO, NOVEMBER, 2013BUILDING SQUARE FOR CHILDREN OF IDP’S SETTLEMENT

In the frames of Social Ac-tive Day, in November, 2013, around 30 employees of IRAO (20 % of the whole staff), head-ed by Company’s Manage-

ment, gathered at the settle-ment of Internally Displaced People (the victims of Geor-gia-Russia military confl ict in 2008) in village Skra, Gori region, to spend the day with children and built a Square, as long as the infrastructure of the settlement was in terrible condition. The employees of IRAO, together with the locals and their children spent a day: cleaning, planting the Square and building the Rocking-Chair on its territory, adjacent to the Educational Center of the children. Still the Company is providing various aids to the Children’s Center and continu-ous it support.

SOCIAL ACTIVE DAY IRAO, NOVEMBER, 2014 “MONK ANDREA`S FOUNDATION”

The “Monk Andrea`s Foun-dation” was established in the year 2011, by a mother of 17 years boy, who has died of cancer. Since then Mother Tinatin, together with the co-establishers and supporters, took care over 75 children, struggling with heaviest forms of cancer. Currently there are 28 children under Foundation support. All the children are from socially vulnerable fami-lies from various Georgian re-gions and besides any medical treatments and care, the Foun-dation insures these children with food, clothes, vacations and trips on Georgian seaside and etc. Some of the children stay in the Foundation (house) on a permanent basis, because of unbearable living conditions in their own families.

On November 28, 2014 around 25 employees of IRAO together with the Company’s Board of Directors, visited the Foundation. IRAO employees organized an entertainment event for children, delivered them gifts and necessary equipment for their proper development and rehabilita-tion. But the most important and positive impact of this and such events is to have a good time with children that makes proper infl uence on their spirit.

Starting from August 2014, according to the signed Mem-orandum, IRAO is provid-ing funds to the Foundation for various needs. We believe that we continue our relations and support to the children of “Monk Andrea`s Foundation” in future.

Q. How long-term are your CSR projects?

A. CSR projects should not only refer to the compliance of human right standards, labor and be provided through one time activities. Together with the State, who is a main body to address social concerns of the population, private sector should be responding to vari-ous needs of the society on per-manent basis. Consequently we made a decision to provide CSR as a stable attribute to our everyday life, embedded in our service proceeding terms, in the relations with customers and the whole society.

Q. What kind of CSR activities can be the most

stable and long-term in Georgia?

A. We believe that stable and long-term CSR activities could be carried out in our country in education sphere, such pro-viding competitions among students with further employ-ment perspectives in the par-ticular company or sponsoring of most distinguished ones for further academic studies abroad.

Environmental activities, such as permanent care and cleaning of particular “Green Zones”, as in capital as in other parts of Georgia and etc.

Q. How satisfi ed do your employees are and what is the company’s strategy to take care of its employees? How many people are employed in your company and is their number increasing or not?

A. HR suffi cient policy and proper corporate governance promotes desirable organiza-tional culture within the Com-pany. As in other development companies, we are also striv-ing towards improvement of the working conditions of our employees, their professional development and maintaining our team in long-term perspec-tive. Besides, healthy corporate environment makes working atmosphere not only joyful, but also increases productivity and better performance.

Currently the number of IRAO employees is around 210 people. This year the number of the employees of IRAO has increased over 25 %.

Q. What impact do you think corporate manage-ment systems have on the Georgian economy?

A. The development of private sector and its corpo-rate management systems have positive impact over the Georgian Economy and the country’s wealth indicators. Increased sustainability of corporate systems, as far as development of service and fi -nancial sectors, lowers an un-employment rate in the coun-try, decreases risk factors and improves an attractiveness of the country for foreign invest-ments.

Q. What are the major tasks and challenges for 2015?

A. Taking into account rap-idly growing insurance market conditions, moreover the fact, that insurance industry be-comes more popular in Geor-gia, when insurance products, from luxury goods transforms to necessity goods category – our major challenge is to provide our customers with appropriate innovations, ad-equately and timely address to their demands, therefore to maintain one of the leading positions on the market and increase our market share.

IRAO - Strengthening its Positions on Georgian

Insurance Market

VAKHTANG DEKANOSIDZE, General Director of IRAO – VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP

“The Company’s mission is to provide its customers with prompt, easy accessible and qualifi ed insurance products and services in most rational price, based on reliable reimbursement system. We are pursuing to permanent renewal of the existing products and services and offer our customers a unique performance based on an individual approach. We perform according to the principles of sustainable relations, transparency and professionalism.”



Advertiser: Geocell. Contact FINANCIAL Ad Dep at marketing@fi nchannel.com




Despite the fact that recent tendencies show the devel-opment of digital technologies, the

retail landscape still remains very important. Leading tele-communication companies who create and provide the newest technologies con-stantly try to demonstrate their products or services by using retail shops, exhibition centres and fl agships.

At the same time, custom-ers are prepared to visit re-tail shops at an appropriate location, get professional assistance from experts and choose/test the innovative product/service before buy-ing it.

The best and most interest-ing example of this is Apple Stores, where customers of any age or style can make the proper choice for them. This is a place where they can get help, and have got the chance to make the right decision.

There are many directions in designing a retail space. Based on the example of its new shops Geocell will intro-duce Georgia’s experience to designing a retail space. This new style of offi ce is a part of all of the innovations and world class customer dialogue and service, which is priori-tized and empowered by the privilege of being part of a strong group and the leading European telecommunication company, TeliaSonera.

A BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Geocell, which has been

operating on the Georgian market since 1997, is a mem-ber of the Scandinavian tele-communications giant Telia-Sonera, which also includes several companies from Eu-rope such as Telia Sweden (Sweden), Telia Denmark (Denmark), Sonera (Fin-land) Omnitel (Lithuania), EMT (Estonia), NetCom (Norway). From Eurasia Te-

liaSonera unites seven com-panies, these are: Azercell (Azerbaijan), Geocell (Geor-gia), Moldcell (Moldova), Kcell (Kazakhstan), Ucell (Uzbekistan), Tcell (Tajiki-stan), and Ncell (Nepal).

From 2009 - 2011 the re-branding project was suc-cessfully completed in Te-liaSonera countries, the aim of which was to unite all

member countries under the same concept. Geocell was one of the best examples of the project as it managed to simultaneously implement rebranding in every Custom-er Touch Point.

Geocell’s service centres were changed in 2009 for the first time to a new and completely different design, which was relatively attrac-tive compared to the rest of the retail landscape at the time. However, the func-tions of the service centres remained the same and Geo-cell’s service centres con-tinued to be visited by cus-tomers focused on quality of service. And this process continued until the company made changes in this direc-tion as well.

Retail strategy - modern tendencies and the custom-ers’ choice is the driving force of any company’s retail strategy or business strategy in general. At the same time business strategy is closely linked to the satisfaction and improvement of custom-ers’ needs. This process is renewable and constant. To manage this process a com-pany should always follow the tendencies which exist on the market, listen to the voice of the average consum-er, and adapt its action plan to the specific environment taking into consideration various micro and macro factors.

The renewed strategy of Geocell that started from 2012 was positively reflect-ed in the sales as well as in the reorganization and re-construction of the service centres. The company drew out a new action plan based

on the current trends in the world, which aims to bring the newest technologies and services and introduce them to customers; to raise customers’ awareness which also means bringing custom-ers to the next level of devel-opment.

To achieve this goal Geocell completely changed its sales and service network. Old service centres were closed down and new Geocell fl ag-ships (large and multifunc-tional stores) were opened. Small and medium-sized sales and service centres which are adapted to the new system will extend across the breadth of the country very soon.

The current shape, struc-ture and function of Geo-cell’s stores are the analogue of TeliaSonera’s Scandina-vian countries’ stores. The whole concept is designed based on the instructions of the TeliaSonera brand.

The physical space is di-vided into so-called func-tional zones, which vary depending on the different sizes of the stores. Depend-ing on the size of the physi-cal space the zones can be more diverse. In Geocell’s flagship (which is spread over 260 sq.m.) about 10 different functional zones are represented: sales, ser-vice, technical innovations, experts, “Geocell Hub”, etc. Customers wishing to find some technological news can get detailed informa-tion and help from experts. In the zone of sales and technological innovations the customers are able to test the innovative products themselves. Out of the inno-

vative products available at Geocell stores the variety of the smartphones should be highlighted in particular.

It should also be noted that the concept of new shops also includes differ-ent functions for the service staff. The new staff are very friendly, have a fundamen-tal knowledge of technology and are flexible in terms of their service.

GEOCELLHUB

Geocell Hub is one of the most interesting and innova-tive zones in terms of market-ing. The Hub is a place which is used for different market-ing or educational purposes.

Hub zones are only avail-able in large stores - fl agships - where there is enough physi-cal space and functions to ac-commodate them. In Geocell Hub such technologies as Google Glass, Oculus and 4D design projection are being introduced. The Hub is also used for discussing and pre-senting different interesting projects and products.

People can attend Hub events by registering on Geo-cell’s Facebook page.

Geocell and the National Library Initiate Digital Photo Narrative


“Together let’s create a digital photo narrative” - with this message the National Library of Parliament of Georgia and Geocell launched a project with the aim of collecting pho-tographic material scattered across the different regions of Georgia, and digitalizing it all for archiving purposes.

Important information including photos and other documents are to be found in many households throughout the country. The new proj-ect will serve as a means of discovering material previ-ously unknown to society, and converting it into digital ver-sions to preserve for future generations. Having sourced and digitalized the material, the National Library and Geo-cell will showcase it online. Thus, the idea is to create yet another important archive in the National Library of Parlia-ment of Georgia.

Special mobile groups have been created which travel throughout Georgia equipped with special equipment and will digitalise the photos. At this stage more than 50,000 photos in 8 regions of Georgia have already been digitalized.

To provide easy access to

the digitalized photos Geocell has created a special webpage http://www.photomatiane.ge/ through which everyone can see the photo material.

This is a unique project that enables everybody to be a part of it. The idea of its message refl ects the same - to create a digital photo narrative to-gether with Geocell.

Geocell considers it very important to have an ar-

chive of photos refl ecting the 19th-20th centuries. There are photo albums kept in al-most every family throughout Georgia. Photos preserve the memory of families’ ances-tors. These photos might be really important not only to individual families, but to Georgian society as well. By digitalizing photos and creat-ing an archive, 19th and 20th century Georgia will come

alive for which the role of Geocell is “crucial to contrib-uting to the popularization of this initiative.”

It has always been impor-tant for Geocell to carry out projects for the country’s cul-tural heritage. Therefore this project with the National Li-brary of Georgia is very inter-esting for the company. Geo-cell wants to preserve values and transfer them to future

generations through modern technologies. To have a digi-tal photo archive in the Na-tional Library will also make it possible for people to access this ‘Digital Photo Narrative’ through mobile internet.

Geocell and the National Library invite everyone who is willing to participate in creat-ing Georgia’s digital narrative through modern technologies, to take part in the initiative.

Retail - Strategy, Face Of The Brand, A Place Where Customers Can Make

The Right Decision



Open and construc-tive dialogue with the Government is one of the pillars of the com-pany. Membership of various organizations allows us to share our ideas and suggestions regarding the improve-ment of the economic and investment climate of the country.

AGH has become a signatory of the Code of Conduct initiated by ILO, for prevention of human traffi cking and forced labour.

Q. Please can you provide the list of all AGH’s CSR proj-ects?

A. In 2010 we found-ed the charity fund Ardza. It carries out projects funded by AGH in three main di-rections: promoting business ethics among young entrepreneurs; the rehabilitation and preservation of Georgia cultural heritage; and environmental projects. We have implemented many projects, however I would like to distin-guish only several of them:

AGH has been co-operating with Cauca-sus University for four years. We have been promoting the subject of ethical business prac-tice among students. We annually reveal the three best students in the class and award them with monetary prizes, books and op-portunities of intern-ship in the company. To promote ethical busi-ness principles among young leaders we have sponsored the interna-tional event - the 74th International Session of the European Youth Parliament. It was held in Georgia for the fi rst time. A total of 300 youths from 35 coun-tries participated in it. We also sponsored one of the projects of School of Diversity, initiated by local NGO Iris Group. The project was target-ing the establishment of pluralistic society in Georgia. It was focused on enhancing coopera-tion between different social groups residing in the country.

The company tries to promote the volunteer spirit of its employees. A voluntary programme operates in the company. We have over 30 philan-thropists. They transfer money from their sala-ries to the fund account. Later, we donate the selected sum to orphan-ages and shelters. We have a charity box which employees often bring in various household items for. Once every month we sort the selected items and then proceed to do-nate them to orphanages and shelters.

In order to maintain our cultural heritage, we have fi nanced the full rehabilitation of several churches and monaster-ies. We are also actively

involved in environ-mental protection. We follow the Green Offi ce principle. Only energy effi cient equipment is used by the company. In order to promote energy effi ciency we have introduced an eco-loan with lower interest rates compared to other products. Restoration works on Jegeta Moun-tain in Western Georgia are the latest project which we have been car-rying out.

Q. What are the principles of the so-cial responsibility policy of AGH?

A. AGH considers CSR to be an integral part of its management. We use it in our daily ac-tivities. Internal policy is based on respect for human rights, gender equality, environmental protection, transpar-ency and responsibility. The ground of any of our business is based on care of the future gen-eration, contribution to the development of eco-nomic and social devel-opment.

Q. What are the main challenges for your company and the whole economy in 2015?

A. Further diversifi -cation of the economy is important for the coun-try. It will help to avoid dependence on particu-lar countries in terms of export as well as FDI. Together with fi nancial investments, attracting innovative technologies and know-how is cru-cial. In order to increase the availability of cheap fi nancial resources, it is important to increasing the sovereign rate of the country. All the positive reforms that contrib-uted to the simplicity of doing business in the country should contin-ue. The tax code as well as offi cials’ attitude to-wards business should be improved. Improving service quality is also important. The country, government and private sector should pay more attention to the envi-ronment. Investment in energy-effi cient equip-ment should be encour-aged more.

As for the Alliance Group Holding, our goal is to continue attracting FDI. Our main target sector in 2015 will be re-newable energy (mainly hydro power), one of the most strategic fi elds in the country. We also plan to introduce vari-ous innovative projects with the support of our international partners.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish your readers a successful and prosper-ous New Year 2015!

corporate corporate social responsibilitysocial responsibilityAGH: “CSR is AGH: “CSR is about Action, about Action, Not Talk”Not Talk”Continued from p. 10 corporate citizen more or

less,” Clark told. According to Clark,

most Georgian companies are doing lots of things that would qualify them as good corporate citizens. “At the same time there are lots of opportunities to improve corporate citi-zenship. In many areas, Georgian businesses, like other businesses, have lots of improvements they can make. Some of them would do it because it is the right thing to do. We see our task as letting members of AmCham recognize a good thing that they are doing today as well as to identify opportunities for improve-ment to become better citi-zens in the future. Some of the companies are quiet citizens. They are not talk-ing much about it but they are really doing a lot of good things.”

In Georgia companies mostly limit their re-sponsibilities to within the frames of charity. As

Clark said, charity is only one part of being a good corporate citizen, just as for a physical citizen. “An emphasis on charity is not enough.”

“Different people and different companies make different choices about what part of being a good citizen that they wish to emphasize. For example, one company might greatly emphasize supporting employees be-yond what is really need-ed while another might emphasizes charity to others,” said Clark.

“Physical citizens choose to do more here and less there every day; it is a balancing act. As a rule, none of us should criticize people for the specifi c choices they make (e.g., not enough for charity) unless we also look all other areas where they are being good phys-ical citizens (e.g., lots of volunteerism). Compa-nies are no different they make choices as well. It is not up to us or up to any-one else to criticize com-

panies about their choic-es so long as, overall, they can be considered to be a good corporate citizen on balance. Having said that, we can and should criti-cize companies when they do terrible things in spe-cifi c areas,” said Clark.

In Kbilashvili’s words, Georgian companies are involved in many more activities that are in line with CSR than just char-ity. However, when it comes to promotion, she said charity is what they choose to promote. “There are even lots of Public Private Partner-ship projects in Geor-gia. However, not many people have heard about them,” she added.

“The majority of Geor-gian companies are well enough presented in the internal as well as external directions of CSR. Com-panies provide insurance packages for employees. They motivate their work-ers as they realize that company team members create the business suc-cess stories. The majority

of successful companies are well aware of the in-ternational standards of HR behaviour. Last week a competition was held for the best HR projects in Georgia. 12 companies participated in it. Such a case makes it clear that we are moving forwards,” said Kbilashvili.

“Being a good corpo-rate citizen is the right thing to do. Just like be-ing a good physical citi-zen. One chooses to be good not because one must be but because one wants to be. Companies as well have to want to be good corporate citizens,” said Clark.

“It is terrible if a com-pany does CSR activities because it must. Compa-nies need to want to do it,” Clark said.

“The U.S. is often criti-cized for its court system which makes it easy to sue companies for do-ing the wrong thing. But on the other hand, one of its benefi ts is that companies generally do the right thing since it is

more expensive for them to not do the right thing,” he added.

“There are three strate-gies that AmCham and the CSR Committee at Am-Cham are going to follow. The fi rst strategy is for AmCham to be a platform for members to tell others what they are doing, how they are being good cor-porate citizens. The sec-ond strategy is to put to-gether the tools members can use to improve their corporate citizenship. The third is that AmCham it-self, which is a very good corporate citizen already, can always do better. As a result AmCham itself will become a better corporate citizen,” Clark told The FI-NANCIAL.

Companies Practicing CSR are Good Corporate CitizensContinued from p. 5

can be traced back to Max Weber’s famous 1905 book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, relating the differences in per-capita GDP in Europe to the respective shares of Protestants and Catholics in those countries. Ever since, a huge body of lit-erature has elicited con-nections between religious beliefs and economic be-havior. For example, Mc-Cleary and Barro (2003) show that countries with high levels of religious ob-servance (operationalized as attendance at religious services) tend to experi-ence lower GDP growth. Crabtree (2010) explores the link between the share of religious population of a country and its and per-capita incomes. Lipford, McCormick, and Tollison (1993) look at the connec-tion between the rates of church membership and crime and various demo-graphic numbers like di-vorce, marriage, and fer-tility.

In our setting, the announcement of the Catholicos-Patriarch’s initiative yields what economists call a “natural experiment”. In the labo-ratory, it is possible to de-fi ne a treatment group and a control group, yet many economic questions which are about the society as a whole cannot be answered in the lab. A natural ex-periment is a situation where for natural reasons there is something like a treatment and something like a control group. In the problem at hand, the majority of Orthodox Christians (OCs), making up 84% of the population, can be considered a treat-

ment group, as they are the only ones to whom the Patriarch’s initiative ap-peals. The Non-Orthodox Christian (NOC) ethnic minorities, such as Arme-nians, Azerbaijanis, and other congregations can be considered as a control group, if we assume that the Patriarch’s announce-ment will not affect their reproduction behavior. The majority of NOC population is consists of Armenians and Azerbai-janis who comprise about 15 % share of the total population of Georgia. Armenians are members of the Armenian Apostolic Church and Azerbaijanis are Shiite Muslims. The fi gure shows the composi-tion of Georgian popula-tion by religious belief – the brighter the color, the higher the share of NOC population (except for the occupied territories, which are not included in the analysis).

Using a methodology called difference-in-dif-ferences (DID), we can identify whether the re-ligious leader’s initiative had causal impact on the birth rates in Georgia.

This analysis uses household level survey data provided by CRRC Georgia. Among other

household demographic characteristics, it con-tains information about how many babies fami-lies have and in which year they were born. The data ranges from 2000 to 2010. Moreover, the data-set contains information about parents’ religious affi liations and the in-tensity of religious belief. From this data, we con-structed two kinds of pan-el datasets. Dataset 1 con-tains information about the birth rates in a given year. Yet the Patriarch’s initiative only applied to the third and subsequent children in a family, so that in Dataset 2 we look separately only at births of third and subsequent children. In line with the DID methodology, we compared the number of births within both groups before and after the policy intervention (the fi rst dif-ference) and then sub-tracted the change in the control group from the change in the treatment group (the second differ-ence) — hence the name difference-in-differences. For reasons that cannot be discussed here, what remains after the subtrac-tions can be considered a measure of the causal ef-fect of the church leader’s

initiative on the birth rate.

RESULTS AND INTERPRETATIONS

The DID methodology was applied to Dataset 1 and Dataset 2 separately. To our surprise, in case of Dataset 1 the estimated “Patriarch coeffi cient” is virtually zero in magni-tude and not statistically signifi cant. This means that a causal impact of church intervention on overall fertility trend in Georgia cannot be found in the data. Likewise, in case of Dataset 2 the coef-fi cient is negative(!) and not statistically signifi -cant. This indicates that the church policy did also have no effect for the birth rates of the third and sub-sequent children either.

One possible explana-tion for the this result could be peer effects on fertility. That is, the Pa-triarch’s announcement may have had also an ef-fect on reproductive be-havior of the NOC groups, though in an indirect way. The NOC population may have observed their neighbors having more children and wanted to catch up. It may be also the case that Patriarch’s announcement induced wide media coverage of the issue of fertility and thus affected OC and NOC groups alike. How-ever, the way NOC groups live in Georgia and their language skills make it unlikely that there were such effects. The major-ity of NOC population resides segregated in spe-cifi c regions of Georgia with little or no contact with the Georgian OC population. Therefore, it is unlikely that fertility peer effects could have

been strong. Moreover, the majority of these groups are not literate in Georgian and therefore the Georgian media’s cov-erage of fertility is unlike-ly to have had such strong repercussions.

Another explanation would be that the NOC regions of Georgia en-joyed better economic growth rates after 2007 than the OC regions, which, as reproduction in a country like Georgia is positively correlated with economic conditions, would make the effect of the Patriarch’s initiative “invisible”. We did some further analysis, based on the data only for Tbilisi, where the proportion of NOC population is differ-ent, and found that differ-ences in economic growth between the treatment and the control groups are unlikely to make the Patriarch’s infl uence dis-appear (if there was one in the fi rst place).

To sum up, despite the claims of the Ortho-dox Church of Georgia, economic analysis does not support that the Pa-t riarch’s initiative was instrumental in raising the birth rate in Georgia. Instead, it is indeed plau-sible that the dramatic in-crease of birth rates could have been triggered by the improved economic conditions. The baby boom may not have been a “wonder” in the end.

Did the Patriarch cause a baby boom in Georgia?Continued from p. 2

The Orthodox Church of Georgia operates wonderful mon-asteries and churches, preserving Georgian cultural herit-

age. But it is the church also responsible for the increase of birth rates in recent years? (Source: Wikimedia Commons)



DECEMBER 22, 2014

1Clubs, Pubs…Pub Nali4/1 Kiacheli St. Tel: 243 04 2021:00-00:30 - Band ZarebiSkyyBar 22 Metekhi Str. Mob: 592 32-32-32 21:00 - Band “Wheels”, DJ DatunaCity TimeLeonidze/Machabeli Str. 1/6; Tel: 292 02 1220:00-24:00 - Live BandRestaurant “Dzveli Sakhli” 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:00-23:00 - Georgian songs with live performanceRestaurant “Bermukha”Agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; Mob: 598 59 69 69Everyday from 17:00 restaurant Bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. Music program starts from 19:00: Dato Archvadze’s quartet “Taoba”: Georgian folk and city songs. Estrada singers: Giorgi Tsiklauri, Nina Okroashvili, Giorgi KakutiaCafé “Kala” 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-37 21:00 - Rezo Kiknadze - saxophonistPub «Dublin» 8 Akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-67 21:00-24:00 - Band «Goblins» (Covers)

2Cinema«Rustaveli» Cinema 5 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 293-22-53, 2 555-000 «Naughty Kids 2»;«Mandarins»;«The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies» 3D;«Penguins of Madagascar» 3D;«Horrible Bosses 2»;«The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1»;«Interstellar»(Ticket Price: 7,50 - 12,50 GEL)«Amirani» Cinema 36 Kostava Str. Tel: 299-99-55 «Naughty Kids 2»;«The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies» 3D;«Penguins of Madagascar» 3D;«Horrible Bosses 2»(Ticket Price: 7,50 - 12,50 GEL)

TheatreV. Abashidze State Music and Drama Theatre182 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 234-80-90Mary Poppins Director: David DoiashviliCast: Buba Gogorishvili, Giorgi Kvelashvili, Salome Kipiani, Archil Sologhashvili, Nino MitaishviliDuration: 80 minutes Date: December 22 Time: 19:00 Price: 8, 10 GELNodar Dumbadze Professional State Youth Theatre99/1, D. Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 295-78-74, 295-39-27Khutkunchula Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Tamar Mamulashvili, David Khakhidze, Mariam Chukhrukidze, Nikoloz Kvantaliani, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Maia Khornauli, Nino Andriadze, Zurab Avsajanishvili, Mamuka BogveradzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 22 Hall: Big Stage Time: 12:00 Price: 7, 10 GEL

4GalleryExhibition «Post-Stalin Liberalization in Georgian Painting»D. Shevardnadze National Gallery 11, Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 299-80-22Gallery’s working hours: Saturday-Sunday 10:00-18:00till - December 24 Manana Tumanishvili’s personal exhibition.Sh. Amiranashvili Art Museum1, Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 299-71-76Museum is working every day except Monday. From 11:00 till 17:00till - January 19 Levan Lagidze’s new works exhibition - «Return» Lagidze Gallery23, Paliashvili Str. Tel: 599 19 19 36till - February 11 Exhibition of Lado GudiashviliLado Gudiashvili Exhibition Hall11 L. Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 293 23 05Exhibition Hall is working every day, 11:00 - 18:30 except Mondays and offi cial holidays.Entry: Adults - 5 GEL / People from 6-18 - 3 GEL / Students and pensioners (with ID) - 3 GEL / Admission is free for orphan groups (with proof of status) and for children under 6till - January 30

DECEMBER 23, 2014

1Clubs, Pubs…Pub Nali4/1 Kiacheli St. Tel: 243 04 2021:00-00:30 - Nali BandSkyyBar 22 Metekhi Str. Mob: 592 32-32-32 21:00 - Band «Wheels», DJ DatunaCity TimeLeonidze/Machabeli Str. 1/6; Tel: 292 02 1220:00-24:00 - Live BandRestaurant «Bermukha»Agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; Mob: 598 59 69 69Everyday from 17:00 restaurant Bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. Music program starts from 19:00: Dato Archvadze’s quartet «Taoba»: Georgian folk and city songs. Estrada singers: Giorgi Tsiklauri, Nina Okroashvili, Giorgi KakutiaRestaurant «Dzveli Sakhli» 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:00-23:00 - Georgian songs with live performanceCafé «Kala» 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-37 21:00 - Maia KankavaPub «Dublin» 8 Akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-67 21:00-24:00 - Band «Goblins» (Covers)


5ConcertTbilisi Concert Hall1, Melikishvili Str. Box offi ce: 298-76-8219:00 - Concert of «Vano’s Show», «Comedy Show» and «Keri’s District» (Ticket Price: 15, 20 GEL)Tbilisi V. Sarajishvili State Conservatory8 Griboedov Str. Tel: 293-46-24XVII International Festival «New Year Music Celebrations»19:30 - Chamber Music ConcertDedicated to the 90th Birth Anniversary of the prominent Jewish musician Rudolf Barshai Giorgi Kharadze (cello) Tbilisi State Chamber Orchestra «Georgian Sinfonietta»Conductor: Davit Kintsurashvili(Ticket Price - 5, 8, 12, 15 GEL)

TheatreRustaveli Theatre17, Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 272-68-68Misanthrope - Premiere Directed by Gosha GorgoshidzeCast: Manana Abramishvili, Lela Akhalaia, Goga Barbakadze, Paata Guliashvili, Kakha Kupatadze, Keti Svanidze, Beka Songhulashvili, Bacho Chachibaia, Lasha Jukharashvili Date: December 23 Hall: Small Stage Time: 19:00 Price: 10, 15, 20 GELMarjanishvili Theatre8 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Play at Table Fingers Theatre Director: Beso KupreishviliCast: Onise Oniani, Elene Pirtskhalava, Zaza Kakabadze, Luka Zirakadze, Invited actress - Ketevan Kantidze Date: December 23 Hall: Big Stage Time: 20:00 Price: 6 - 16 GELMarjanishvili Theatre (New Stage)5 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Free Butterfl ies Director: Ani KhidesheliCast: Koko Roinishvili, Anuka Grigolia, Tako Beriashvili, Irakli ChkhikvadzeDuration: 80 minutes Date: December 23 Time: 20:00 Price: 6 GELLiberty Theatre2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 298-58-21Jeans Generation Director: Davit DoiashviliCast: Marina Janashia, Nana Darchiashvili, Goga Chkheidze, Dima Merabishvili, Merab Kolbaia, Lela Metreveli, Jaba Kiladze, Mariam Nadiradze, Apolon Kublashvili, Sandro MargalitashviliDuration: 165 minutes Date: December 23 Time: 19:00 Price: 6, 12, 14 GELV. Abashidze State Music and Drama Theatre182 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 234-80-90Mary Poppins Director: David DoiashviliCast: Buba Gogorishvili, Giorgi Kvelashvili, Salome Kipiani, Archil Sologhashvili, Nino MitaishviliDuration: 80 minutes Date: December 23 Time: 19:00 Price: 8, 10 GELNodar Dumbadze Professional State Youth Theatre99/1, D. Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 295-78-74, 295-39-27Khutkunchula Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Tamar Mamulashvili, David Khakhidze, Mariam Chukhrukidze, Nikoloz Kvantaliani, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Maia Khornauli, Nino Andriadze, Zurab Avsajanishvili, Mamuka BogveradzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 23 Hall: Big Stage Time: 12:00 15:00 Price: 7, 10 GELThe New Year’s eve & Cosmic Aliens Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Vakhtang Chachanidze, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Shalva Antelava, Mamuka Bogveradze, Giorgi Shavgulidze, Tamar TkemaladzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 23 Hall: Small Stage Time: 12:00 15:00 Price: 7, 10 GEL


DECEMBER 24, 2014

1Clubs, Pubs…Pub Nali4/1 Kiacheli St. Tel: 243 04 2021:00-00:30 - Band ZarebiSkyyBar 22 Metekhi Str. Mob: 592 32-32-32 21:00 - Band «Wheels», DJ DatunaCity TimeLeonidze/Machabeli Str. 1/6; Tel: 292 02 1220:00-24:00 - Live Band MacLaren’s Irish Pub5 Rkinis Rigi (Chardin)Mob: 599 57 85 4921:30 - Enjoy a unique ambiance of 60s-70s hits and improvisations by David Gabidzashvili and David Barnabishvili. Great mood is guaranteed! Spend evening at the warmest pub in the city!Restaurant «Dzveli Sakhli» 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:00-23:00 - Georgian DancesRestaurant «Bermukha»Agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; Mob: 598 59 69 69Everyday from 17:00 restaurant Bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. Music program starts from 19:00: Dato Archvadze’s quartet «Taoba»: Georgian folk and city songs. Estrada singers: Giorgi Tsiklauri, Nina Okroashvili, Giorgi KakutiaCafé «Kala» 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-37 21:00 - Live BandPub «Dublin» 8 Akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-67 21:00-24:00 - Band «The Jumping General»


5ConcertTbilisi Concert Hall1, Melikishvili Str. Box offi ce: 298-76-8219:00 - Concert of «Vano’s Show», «Comedy Show» and «Keri’s District» (Ticket Price: 15, 20 GEL)

TheatreRustaveli Theatre17, Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 272-68-68Misanthrope - Premiere Directed by Gosha GorgoshidzeCast: Manana Abramishvili, Lela Akhalaia, Goga Barbakadze, Paata Guliashvili, Kakha Kupatadze, Keti Svanidze, Beka Songhulashvili, Bacho Chachibaia, Lasha Jukharashvili Date: December 24 Hall: Small Stage Time: 19:00 Price: 10, 15, 20 GELMarjanishvili Theatre8 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966The Men Director: Tsitsino KobiashviliCast: Dimitri Tatishvili, Temo Kiladze, Zaza Goguadze, Zura Berikashvili, Onise Oniani, Vasiko Odishvili, Lela Meburishvili, Ana Sanaia Date: December 24 Hall: Big Stage Time: 20:00 Price: 6 - 16 GELMarjanishvili Theatre (New Stage)5 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Recipe of Inspiration Director: Nino AkhvledianiCast: Ketevan Tskhakaia, Manana Kozakova, Davit KhurtsilavaDuration: 95 minutes Date: December 24 Time: 20:00 Price: 14 GELLiberty Theatre2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 298-58-21So what if wet lilac is wet Director: Gogi TodadzeCast: Giorgi Bakhutashvili, Otar Lortkipanidze, Nikoloz Paikridze, Medea Jibladze, Tamar Tavkhelidze, Tamar Aznarashvili, Mariam Karkashadze, David Kolelishvili Date: December 24 Time: 19:00 Price: 6, 9, 11 GELTumanishvili Film Actors Theatre164 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 234-28-99Hellados Youth Art Centre «Art Hall»Director: Goga PipinashviliCast: Nana Shonia, Temur Gvalia Date: December 24 Time: 20:00 Price: 10 GELV. Abashidze State Music and Drama Theatre182 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 234-80-90Mary Poppins Director: David DoiashviliCast: Buba Gogorishvili, Giorgi Kvelashvili, Salome Kipiani, Archil Sologhashvili, Nino MitaishviliDuration: 80 minutes Date: December 24 Time: 19:00 Price: 8, 10 GELAkhmeteli Theatre8 Vekua Str. Tel: 262-54-37, 262-59-73, 262-61-97Navigator K. Gamsakhurdia State Sokhumi Drama TheatreDirector: David SakvarelidzeCast: Lili Khuriti, Badri Begalishvili, Giorgi Gasviani, Nana Khuriti, Edem Khvichia, Nikoloz Tserediani, David Beradze, Besarion Karchava, Izolda BokuchavaDuration: 70 minutes Date: December 24 Time: 19:00 Price: 5, 7 GELGriboedov Theatre2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 293-11-06Freeloader Director: Nugzar LortkipanidzeCast: Dimitry Sporishev, Mikhail Arjevanidze, Nino Meladze, Zurab Chipashvili, Medea Mumladze, Oleg Mchedlishvili Date: December 24 Hall: Small Stage Time: 18:00 Price: 5 GELNodar Dumbadze Professional State Youth Theatre99/1, D. Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 295-78-74, 295-39-27Mousetrap Director: Otar BaghaturiaCast: David Khakhidze, Khatia Melkadze, Badri Gvazava, Paata Kikvadze, Salome Tsurtsumia, Giorgi Gogishvili, Merab Sharikadze, Khatuna BerdzenishviliDuration: 80 minutes Date: December 24 Hall: Big Stage Time: 12:00 Price: 7, 10 GELRequiem Directed by Lili BurbutashviliCast: Nino Archaia, Vano Dugladze, Giorgi Katchakhidze, Ioseb Molodinashvili, Paata Kikvadze, Lasha Grdzelidze, Tsotne Saghinadze, Nugzar Kurashvili, Vasil AmurvelashviliDuration: 120 minutes Date: December 24 Hall: Small Stage Time: 19:00 Price: 7, 10 GEL


DECEMBER 25, 2014

1Clubs, Pubs…Pub Nali4/1 Kiacheli St. Tel: 243 04 2021:00-00:30 - Nali BandSkyyBar 22 Metekhi Str. Mob: 592 32-32-32 21:00 - Band «Band’a’roll», DJ DatunaCity TimeLeonidze/Machabeli Str. 1/6; Tel: 292 02 1220:00-24:00 - Live BandMacLaren’s Irish Pub5 Rkinis Rigi (Chardin)Mob: 599 57 85 4921:30 - Enjoy a unique ambiance of 60s-70s hits and improvisations by David Gabidzashvili and David Barnabishvili. Great mood is guaranteed! Spend evening at the warmest pub in the city!Restaurant «Bermukha»Agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; Mob: 598 59 69 69Everyday from 17:00 restaurant Bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. Music program starts from 19:00: Dato Archvadze’s quartet «Taoba»: Georgian folk and city songs. Estrada singers: Giorgi Tsiklauri, Nina Okroashvili, Giorgi KakutiaRestaurant «Dzveli Sakhli» 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:00-23:00 - Georgian songs with live performanceCafé «Kala» 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-37 21:00 - Guliko ChanturiaPub «Dublin» 8 Akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-67 21:00-24:00 - Band «Good Company»


5ConcertTbilisi Concert Hall1, Melikishvili Str. Box offi ce: 298-76-8219:00 - Concert of Moris Janashvili (Ticket Price: 20, 30, 40, 50 GEL)Tbilisi V. Sarajishvili State Conservatory8 Griboedov Str. Tel: 293-46-24XVII International Festival «New Year Music Celebrations»19:30 - Choir Music ConcertTbilisi State Conservatoire MA Students Chamber ChoirChoir Conductors: Tamar Dekanosidze, Eter Broladze, Lasha Mirotadze, Giorgi Revishvili, Levan Djagaev, Archil Ushveridze(Ticket Price - 4, 6, 8, 10 GEL)

TheatreMarjanishvili Theatre 8 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Sand Woman Director: Davit DaneliaCast: Nino Gachechiladze, Beka Goderdzishvili, Valeri Korshia Date: December 25 Hall: Theatre in Attic Time: 20:00 Price: 11 GELMarjanishvili Theatre 8 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966The Men Director: Tsitsino KobiashviliCast: Dimitri Tatishvili, Temo Kiladze, Zaza Goguadze, Zura Berikashvili, Onise Oniani, Vasiko Odishvili, Lela Meburishvili, Ana Sanaia Date: December 25 Hall: Big Stage Time: 20:00 Price: 6 - 16 GELMarjanishvili Theatre (New Stage)5 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Tartuffe Director: Levan TsuladzeCast: Nika Kuchava, Zviad Skhirtladze. Manana Kozakova, Barbare Dvalishvili, Tamar Bukhnikashvili, Zaza IakashviliDuration: 140 minutes Date: December 25 Time: 20:00 Price: 14 GELLiberty Theatre2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 298-58-21Tomorrow is Christmas Director: Giorgi SikharulidzeCast: Gia Abesalashvili, Tamuna Nikoladze, Giorgi Zanguri, Giorgi Shanidze, Guga Kakhiani, Ana Nikolaishvili, Kakha Shartava Date: December 25 Time: 19:00 Price: 6, 12 GELV. Abashidze State Music and Drama Theatre182 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 234-80-90Chippolino Director:Maya ChartolaniCast: Ann Zambakhidze, Iuri Vasadze, Marina Jokhadze, Manana Tatishvili, Tina Merkviladze, Lasha RamishviliDuration: 120 minutes Date: December 25 Time: 19:00 Price: 8, 10 GELGriboedov Theatre2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 293-11-06Christmas Tale Director: Vakhtang NikolavaCast: Mikhail Arjevanidze, Apolon Kublashvili, Karina Kenia, Ludmila Artyomova-MghebrishviliDuration: 70 minutes Date: December 25 Time: 12:00 14:00 Price: 5 GELNodar Dumbadze Professional State Youth Theatre99/1, D. Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 295-78-74, 295-39-27Khutkunchula Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Tamar Mamulashvili, David Khakhidze, Mariam Chukhrukidze, Nikoloz Kvantaliani, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Maia Khornauli, Nino Andriadze, Zurab Avsajanishvili, Mamuka BogveradzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 25 Hall: Big Stage Time: 12:00 Price: 7, 10 GELThe New Year’s eve & Cosmic Aliens (in russian) Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Vakhtang Chachanidze, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Shalva Antelava, Mamuka Bogveradze, Giorgi Shavgulidze, Tamar Tkemaladze, Tamar TskvitinidzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 25 Hall: Small Stage Time: 13:00 Price: 7, 10 GELThe New Year’s eve & Cosmic Aliens Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Vakhtang Chachanidze, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Shalva Antelava, Mamuka Bogveradze, Giorgi Shavgulidze, Tamar Tkemaladze, Tamar TskvitinidzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 25 Hall: Small Stage Time: 15:00 17:00 Price: 7, 10 GEL

4GalleryManana Tumanishvili’s personal exhibition.Sh. Amiranashvili Art Museum1, Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 299-71-76Museum is working every day except Monday. From 11:00 till 17:00till - January 19 Levan Lagidze’s new works exhibition - «Return» Lagidze Gallery23, Paliashvili Str. Tel: 599 19 19 36till - February 11 Exhibition of Lado GudiashviliLado Gudiashvili Exhibition Hall11 L. Gudiashvili Str. Tel: 293 23 05Exhibition Hall is working every day, 11:00 - 18:30 except Mondays and offi cial holidays.Entry: Adults - 5 GEL / People from 6-18 - 3 GEL / Students and pensioners (with ID) - 3 GEL / Admission is free for orphan groups (with proof of status) and for children under 6till - January 30

DECEMBER 26, 2014

1Clubs, Pubs…Pub Nali4/1 Kiacheli St. Tel: 243 04 2021:00-00:30 - Nali BandSkyyBar 22 Metekhi Str. Mob: 592 32-32-3221:00 - Agora Live Band, DJ DatunaCity TimeLeonidze/Machabeli Str. 1/6; Tel: 292 02 1220:00-24:00 - Live Band & Maka Durglishvili; DJ PaataMacLaren’s Irish Pub5 Rkinis Rigi (Chardin)Mob: 599 57 85 4921:30 - Enjoy a unique ambiance of 60s-70s hits and improvisations by David Gabidzashvili and David Barnabishvili. Great mood is guaranteed! Spend evening at the warmest pub in the city!Restaurant «Bermukha»Agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; Mob: 598 59 69 69Every day from 17:00 restaurant Bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. Music program starts from 19:00:Dato Archvadze’s quartet «Taoba»: Georgian folk and city songs. Estrada singers: Giorgi Tsiklauri, Nina Okroashvili, Giorgi KakutiaRestaurant «Dzveli Sakhli» 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-36520:00-23:00 - Georgian DancesCafé «Kala» 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-3721:00 - Maia BaratashviliPub «Dublin» 8 Akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-6721:00-24:00 - Band «Rustavi 2» (Covers)


5ConcertTbilisi Concert Hall1, Melikishvili Str. Box offi ce: 298-76-8217:00 - Concert of «Vano’s Show», «Comedy Show» and «Keri’s District» (Ticket Price: 15, 20 GEL)

CircusTbilisi Circus1, The Heroes Square Tel: 298 30 3516:00 - New Year Tree(Ticket Price - 10 GEL)

TheatreMarjanishvili Theatre8 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Wet Lilac Director: Gizo JordaniaCast: Gia Burjanadze, Tamuna Bukhnikashvili, Keti Chkheidze, Kato Kalatozishvili, Paata Inauri, Tamar Skhirtladze, Davit Dvalishvili, Aleko Makharoblishvili, Teko Chubinidze, Lika Kobuladze, Eka Makharoblishvili Date: December 26 Hall: Big Stage Time: 20:00 Price: 6 - 16 GELMarjanishvili Theatre (New Stage)5 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Woman with Dog Director: Levan TsuladzeCast: Nika Tavadze, Nanka Kalatozishvili, Nata Kakhidze, Beso BaratashviliDuration: 120 minutes

Date: December 26 Time: 20:00 Price: 14 GELLiberty Theatre2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 298-58-21Rain Saller Director: Nugzar LortkipanidzeCast: Keta Lortkipanidze, Sandro Margalitashvili, Jaba Kiladze, Giorgi Jikia, Mamuka Mumladze, Lasha Gurgenidze, Shako Mirianashvili Date: December 26 Time: 19:00 Price: 6, 13, 15 GELTumanishvili Film Actors Theatre164 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 234-28-997 P.P. Director: Zurab GetsadzeCast: Giorgi Kipshidze, Rusudan Bolkvadze, Nanuka Litanishvili, Natia Pharjanadze, Eka Chkheidze, Nana Shonia, Nika TseredianiDuration: 75 minutes Date: December 26 Time: 20:00 Price: 7 GELV. Abashidze State Music and Drama Theatre182 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 234-80-90Chippolino Director:Maya ChartolaniCast: Ann Zambakhidze, Iuri Vasadze, Marina Jokhadze, Manana Tatishvili, Tina Merkviladze, Lasha Ramishvili, Aleko BegalishviliDuration: 120 minutes Date: December 26 Time: 19:00 Price: 8, 10 GELAkhmeteli Theatre8 Vekua Str. Tel: 262-54-37, 262-59-73, 262-61-97Confession of the Priest Director: Irakli Gogia, Beqnu KapianidzeCast: Beqnu Kapianidze, Marina Kharchilava, Giorgi Gasviani, Andria Gvelesiani, Jaba Japaridze, Giorgi Tchumburidze, Gigi MigriauliDuration: 60 minutes Date: December 26 Time: 19:00 Price: 10, 15 GELGriboedov Theatre2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 293-11-06Christmas Tale Director: Vakhtang NikolavaCast: Mikhail Arjevanidze, Apolon Kublashvili, Karina Kenia, Ludmila Artyomova-MghebrishviliDuration: 70 minutes Date: December 26 Time: 12:00 14:00 Price: 5 GELNodar Dumbadze Professional State Youth Theatre99/1, D. Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 295-78-74, 295-39-27The New Year’s eve & Cosmic Aliens (in russian) Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Vakhtang Chachanidze, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Shalva Antelava, Mamuka Bogveradze, Giorgi Shavgulidze, Tamar Tkemaladze, Tamar TskvitinidzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 26 Hall: Small Stage Time: 12:00 Price: 7, 10 GELRomeo & Juliet Director: Levan TsuladzeCast: Vameh Jangidze, David Khakhidze, Kote Tolordava, Nino Papiashvili, Kakha Gabelaia, Vano Dugladze, Beso Megrelishvili, Mariam Chukhrukidze, Kakha Tcholadze, Nikoloz NanitashviliDuration: 160 minutes Date: December 26 Hall: Big Stage Time: 19:00 Price: 7, 10 GEL


DECEMBER 27, 2014

1Clubs, Pubs…Pub Nali4/1 Kiacheli St. Tel: 243 04 2021:00-00:30 - Nali ZarebiSkyyBar 22 Metekhi Str. Mob: 592 32-32-3221:00 - Veriko Turashvili & Live Band, DJ DatunaCity TimeLeonidze/Machabeli Str. 1/6; Tel: 292 02 1220:00-24:00 - Live Band & Nata Kurdovanidze; DJ VakoMacLaren’s Irish Pub5 Rkinis Rigi (Chardin)Mob: 599 57 85 4921:30 - Enjoy a unique ambiance of 60s-70s hits and improvisations by David Gabidzashvili and David Barnabishvili. Great mood is guaranteed! Spend evening at the warmest pub in the city!Restaurant «Bermukha»Agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; Mob: 598 59 69 69Every day from 17:00 restaurant Bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. Music program starts from 19:00:Dato Archvadze’s quartet «Taoba»: Georgian folk and city songs. Estrada singers: Giorgi Tsiklauri, Nina Okroashvili, Giorgi KakutiaRestaurant «Dzveli Sakhli» 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-365 20:00-23:00 - Georgian DancesCafé «Kala» 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-3721:00 - Keti ParesashviliPub «Dublin» 8 Akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-6721:00-24:00 - Band «Rustavi 2» (Covers)


5ConcertTbilisi Concert Hall1, Melikishvili Str. Box offi ce: 298-76-8216:00, 19:00 - Humorina (Ticket Price: 10, 15, 20, 25 GEL)Tbilisi V. Sarajishvili State Conservatory8 Griboedov Str. Tel: 293-46-24XVII International Festival «New Year Music Celebrations»19:30 - Vocal Music ConcertDedicated to the 90th Birth Anniversary of Otar TaktakishviliSoloists: Ketevan Kemoklidze, Salome Jikia, Giorgi Oniani, Teona Dvali, Sulkhan Gvelesiani.Tbilisi Z.Paliashvili State Academic Opera & Ballet Theatre OrchestraConductor: Zaza Azmaiparashvili(Ticket Price - 5, 8, 12, 15 GEL)Entertainment Centre Boom BoomAddr: D. Agmashenebeli Lane, 16th KM, Tbilisi MallMob: 570 103 143Children’s entertainment centre «BOOM BOOM» is inviting you for magical New Year play!«Alice in Wonderland»Magical ambiance, unique program, unexpected spec effects, funny games, dances and songs! Show: December 27, 15:00Ticket Price: 18 GEL

CircusTbilisi Circus1, The Heroes Square Tel: 298 30 3517:00 - New Year Shows at Tbilisi Circus(Ticket Price - 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 GEL)12:00, 16:00, 18:00 - New Year Tree(Ticket Price - 10 GEL)

TheatreRustaveli Theatre17, Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 272-68-68Old Jokers Director: Gocha KapanadzeCast: Kakhi Kavsadze, Darejan Kharshiladze, Zaza Lebanidze, Jemal Ghaghanidze, Manana Gamcemlidze, Marina JanashiaDuration: 140 minutes Date: December 27 Hall: Small Stage Time: 19:00 Price: 10, 15, 20 GELMarjanishvili Theatre8 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Kakutsa Cholokashvili Director: Levan TsuladzeCast: Nika Tavadze, Nika Kuchava, Lela Meburishvili, Ioseb Gogichaishvili, Gia Burjanadze, Zura Berikashvili, Dimitri Tatishvili, Zaza Iakashvili, Roland Okropiridze, Beka Goderdzishvili, Onise Oniani, Leo AntadzeDuration: 180 minutes Date: December 27 Hall: Big Stage Time: 20:00 Price: 4 - 10.50 GELMarjanishvili Theatre 8 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966House in Clouds Director: Mamuka TkemaladzeCast: Vano Iantbelidze, Gia Abesalashvili Date: December 27 Hall: Theatre in Attic Time: 20:00 Price: 11 GELMarjanishvili Theatre (New Stage)5 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966The Trial Director: Temo KupravaCast: Koko Roinishvili, Paata Papuashvili, Anuka Grigolia Date: December 27 Time: 20:00 Price: 14 GELLiberty Theatre2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 298-58-21The Kennel Director: Vano KhutsishviliCast: Slava NatenadzeDuration: 90 minutes Date: December 27 Time: 19:00 Price: 6, 10, 12 GELTumanishvili Film Actors Theatre164 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 234-28-99Bakula’s Pigs Director: Mikheil TumanishviliCast: Nineli Chankvetadze, Rusudan Bolkvadze, Ramaz Ioseliani, Laura Rekhviashvili, Gvantsa Gurgenishvili, Zurab Kipshidze, Giorgi KipshidzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 27 Time: 20:00 Price: 10 GELV. Abashidze State Music and Drama Theatre182 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 234-80-90Once Upon a Time... Christmas Tail Director: David DoiashviliCast: Sopo Khalvashi, Tika Patsatsia, Tato Chakhunashvili, Salome Kipiani, Archil Sologhashvili, Tornike GogrichianiDuration: 110 minutes Date: December 27 Time: 19:00 Price: 8, 10 GELAkhmeteli Theatre8 Vekua Str. Tel: 262-54-37, 262-59-73, 262-61-97Rapunzel Director: Lasha GogniashviliCast: Sophia Sebiskveradze, Giorgi Migriauli, Giorgi Chumburidze, Gvantsa Kandelaki, Tamta Patashuri, Jaba JaparidzeDuration: 60 minutes Date: December 27 Time: 14:00 Price: 7, 10 GELGriboedov Theatre2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 293-11-06Morozko Director: Linda UbronavichuteCast: Mikhail Arjevanidze, Nina Ninidze, Mikhail Ambrosov, Medea Mumladze, Ivan Kurasbediani, Valentina Voinova Date: December 27 Time: 12:00 14:00 Price: 5 GELNodar Dumbadze Professional State Youth Theatre99/1, D. Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 295-78-74, 295-39-27Khutkunchula Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Tamar Mamulashvili, David Khakhidze, Mariam

Chukhrukidze, Nikoloz Kvantaliani, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Maia Khornauli, Nino Andriadze, Zurab Avsajanishvili, Mamuka BogveradzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 27 Hall: Big Stage Time: 12:00 15:00 Price: 7, 10 GELThe New Year’s eve & Cosmic Aliens Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Vakhtang Chachanidze, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Shalva Antelava, Mamuka Bogveradze, Giorgi Shavgulidze, Tamar Tkemaladze, Tamar TskvitinidzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 27 Hall: Small Stage Time: 13:00 15:00 Price: 7, 10 GELAmiko Director: Otar BagaturiaCast: Nino Lezhava, Kote Tolordava, Lasha Grdzelidze, Zurab Avsajanishvili, Lika Shukakidze, Nugzar Kurashvili, Vakhtang Akhaladze, Irakli Gogoladze, Natia KupatadzeDuration: 105 minutes Date: December 27 Hall: Small Stage Time: 19:00 Price: 7, 10 GEL


DECEMBER 28, 2014

1Clubs, Pubs…Pub Nali4/1 Kiacheli St. Tel: 243 04 2021:00-00:30 - Nali BandSkyyBar 22 Metekhi Str. Mob: 592 32-32-3221:00 - Agora Live Band, DJ DatunaCity TimeLeonidze/Machabeli Str. 1/6; Tel: 292 02 1220:00-24:00 - Live Band & Maka Durglishvili; Karaoke, DJ Vako Restaurant «Bermukha»Agmashenebeli lane 13th km. Tel: 259 69 69; Mob: 598 59 69 69Every day from 17:00 restaurant Bermukha is awaiting you with renovated hall and colorful show program. Music program starts from 19:00:Dato Archvadze’s quartet «Taoba»: Georgian folk and city songs. Estrada singers: Giorgi Tsiklauri, Nina Okroashvili, Giorgi KakutiaRestaurant «Dzveli Sakhli» 3, Sanapiro Str. Tel: 2 365-36520:00-23:00 - Georgian songs with live performanceCafé «Kala» 8/10 Erekle II Str. Mob: 599 79-97-3721:00 - Live BandPub «Dublin» 8 Akhvlediani Str, Tel: 298-44-6721:00-24:00 - Band «Rustavi 2» (Covers)


5ConcertTbilisi V. Sarajishvili State Conservatory8 Griboedov Str. Tel: 293-46-24XVII International Festival «New Year Music Celebrations»19:30 - Piano Recital - Boris Berezovsky(Ticket Price - 10, 15, 25, 30 GEL)

CircusTbilisi Circus1, The Heroes Square Tel: 298 30 3517:00 - New Year Shows at Tbilisi Circus(Ticket Price - 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 GEL)12:00, 16:00, 18:00 - New Year Tree(Ticket Price - 10 GEL)

TheatreMarjanishvili Theatre8 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Teibele and her Demon Director: Goga TavadzeCast: Ana Vasadze, Malkhaz Abuladze, Natia Gubenko, Paata Papuashvili, Marlen Egutia, Giga Gogichadze, Niaz Khutsianidze Date: December 28 Hall: Big Stage Time: 20:00 Price: 6 - 16 GELMarjanishvili Theatre8 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Tamed Falcon - Premiere Director: Peter Chargeishvili Date: December 28 Hall: Theatre in Attic Time: 20:00 Price: 11 GELMarjanishvili Theatre (New Stage)5 Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 2 955-966Doubt Director: Guram VashakidzeCast: Nani Chikvinidze, Zviad Skhirtladze, Nino Tsuladze, Nino Dumbadze Date: December 28 Time: 20:00 Price: 14 GELLiberty Theatre2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 298-58-21God! Save us and People Director: Avto VarsimashviliCast: Kakha Mikiashvili, Apolon Kublashvili, Dima Merabishvili, Tiko Kordzadze, Mariam Nadiradze, Salome Chulikhadze Date: December 28 Time: 19:00 Price: 6, 12 GELTumanishvili Film Actors Theatre164 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 234-28-99Free Couple Director: Keti DolidzeCast: Nineli Chankvetadze, Paata Baratashvili, Vano DugladzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 28 Time: 20:00 Price: 10 GELV. Abashidze State Music and Drama Theatre182 Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 234-80-90Once Upon a Time... Christmas Tail Director: David DoiashviliCast: Sopo Khalvashi, Tika Patsatsia, Tato Chakhunashvili, Salome Kipiani, Archil Sologhashvili, Tornike GogrichianiDuration: 110 minutes Date: December 28 Time: 19:00 Price: 8, 10 GELGriboedov Theatre2 Rustaveli Ave. Tel: 293-11-06Morozko Director: Linda UbronavichuteCast: Mikhail Arjevanidze, Nina Ninidze, Mikhail Ambrosov, Medea Mumladze, Ivan Kurasbediani, Valentina Voinova Date: December 28 Time: 12:00 14:00 Price: 5 GELAkhmeteli Theatre8 Vekua Str. Tel: 262-54-37, 262-59-73, 262-61-97Pippi Longstocking Directors: Irakli Gogia, Lasha GogniashviliCast: Sophia Sebiskveradze, Tamta Patashuri, Giorgi Tskhadadze, Maya Vatsadze, Shorena Zubiashvili, Vasil Shikhashvili, Vazha Tsitsiloshvili, Neli BadalashviliDuration: 60 minutes Date: December 28 Time: 14:00 Price: 7, 10 GELNodar Dumbadze Professional State Youth Theatre99/1, D. Agmashenebeli Ave. Tel: 295-78-74, 295-39-27Mousetrap Director: Otar BaghaturiaCast: David Khakhidze, Khatia Melkadze, Badri Gvazava, Paata Kikvadze, Salome Tsurtsumia, Giorgi Gogishvili, Merab Sharikadze, Khatuna BerdzenishviliDuration: 80 minutes Date: December 28 Hall: Big Stage Time: 12:00 Price: 7, 10 GELThe New Year’s eve & Cosmic Aliens (in russian) Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Vakhtang Chachanidze, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Shalva Antelava, Mamuka Bogveradze, Giorgi Shavgulidze, Tamar Tkemaladze, Tamar TskvitinidzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 28 Hall: Small Stage Time: 12:00 Price: 7, 10 GELThe New Year’s eve & Cosmic Aliens Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Vakhtang Chachanidze, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Shalva Antelava, Mamuka Bogveradze, Giorgi Shavgulidze, Tamar Tkemaladze, Tamar TskvitinidzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 28 Hall: Small Stage Time: 14:00 16:00 Price: 7, 10 GELKhutkunchula Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Tamar Mamulashvili, David Khakhidze, Mariam Chukhrukidze, Nikoloz Kvantaliani, Nikoloz Nanitashvili, Maia Khornauli, Nino Andriadze, Zurab Avsajanishvili, Mamuka BogveradzeDuration: 100 minutes Date: December 28 Hall: Big Stage Time: 15:00 Price: 7, 10 GELI Can See the Sun Director: Dimitri KhvtisiashviliCast: Vameh Jangidze, Tamar Lortkipanidze, Nino Archaia, Khatia Melkadze, Berta Khapava, Badri Gvazava, Levan Katsiashvili, Giorgi Katchakhidze, Beso Megrelishvili, Paata MkheidzeDuration: 90 minutes Date: December 28 Hall: Big Stage Time: 19:00 Price: 7, 10 GEL


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ever, they are so unimportant that many people do not even know about them. Therefore there is lots of work to be done from everyone’s side. More talks about this issue may be really helpful. It would be im-portant for businesses to start considering NGOs as partners not just as organizations re-quiring funding. Cooperation will be more effective in this case.

Q. Can we say that the lack of development of CSR is linked to the exist-ing socio-economic situa-tion in the country?

A. If the socio-economic conditions would be higher in Georgia, then the demand for CSR would be higher in accordance. However, with this logic, social responsibil-ity would not develop in the country till the economic situ-ation improves. On the other hand, the sense of being so-cially responsible means that you support the improvement of the social situation. Ac-cordingly it is important for the companies to see that an improved social situation will improve their business. The pace of development of the country is linked to the de-velopment of CSR. The pace of development is so very ac-celerated and local companies are so very integrated with in-ternational markets, that the development stages of CSR will be greater in the future. Companies’ desire to enter

the EU market will contribute to it.

Q. Which direction of CSR needs expanding in Georgia?

A. Developing external CSR would be important nowa-days. It enables collaboration between various sectors yet on a higher level. External CSR offers more opportuni-ties. I can hardly imagine a company implementing ex-ternal CSR and ignoring the internal. If such a precedent takes place it will mean that proper perception of the con-cept of CSR does not exist in that company. Internal re-sponsibility is what causes the external one. In general, in Georgia internal CSR is more developed than external.

Q. How does EPF stim-ulate CSR?

A. EPF tries to stimulate CSR activities among busi-nesses. The competition the Best Food Enterprise of 2014 is underway within our Food Safety project. The idea of the competition is to reveal the companies that are meeting food safety standards. This is also a part of CSR. Companies that take care of food safety, take care of their customers. We encourage companies to revise their responsibil-ity and highlight it. We try to make clear for entrepreneurs that by taking care of their customers and meeting stan-dards, they will increase the benefi t to themselves. This is a very simple algorithm.

The second direction, in which we are actively coop-

erating with companies and businesses, is a social en-trepreneurship programme. This programme includes a business carrying out a so-cial mission. Its implementa-tion, income or profi t is used for a social mission. It is not a standard, profi t-oriented business. It mostly incorpo-rates non-governmental or-ganizations. It is focused on solving existing societal and environmental problems. It includes support and em-ployment of various vulner-able groups of population, e.g. people with special needs, internally displaced persons, probationers, etc. Attracted income is reinvested back into the social enterprise and is focused on achieving this goal. Social enterprise, on the one hand, helps society. At the same time it is an im-portant contributor to the country’s socio-economic de-velopment. One of its main advantages is that social en-trepreneurs unite people with a very common problem and they together take care of its resolution.

Along with our partner organization, we have been arranging a competition for business school students for three years now. We want to involve students in the devel-opment of social enterprises. Participants are writing busi-ness plans. This initiative is focused on creating a new business plan to establish a new social enterprise and implementing small projects so support existing enter-

prises. Within our start-up fund we are fi nancing win-ning business plan idea. At the moment we have two social enterprises supported by EPF that were initiated as result of cooperation between students and non-profi t or-ganizations. Jury panels are made up of businessmen and representatives of leading companies. They are evaluat-ing the competitors from the perspective of their pragmatic viewpoints. It is important that company representatives are not only providing prizes for students, but also other opportunities, like internship. This year, some of the jury members will also provide master classes for the winners of the fi rst round of the com-petition. They will give them specifi c guidance on how to implement projects. We do hope that this kind of involve-ment from companies will be continued. The competition Students for Social Enterprise is a clear illustration of how the interest and involvement of companies is growing from year to year.

Large Companies Dominating CSR Activities in GeorgiaContinued from p. 4

within a company – this is set principally by the board and senior management. We look to see that the board is setting strategy and business direction and, importantly, overseeing what the management of the company is doing, without be-ing overly involved in day-to-day business – these are some key tenets of good corporate governance.

We also look at what goes on inside the company in terms of the so-called ‘control en-vironment’. When properly established, internal controls help to protect the assets of the business against fraud and in-effi cient use, and ensure sound information fl ows, ultimately allowing the right people to make informed decisions. As mentioned above, we also look at the approach companies take towards demonstrating transparency, both internally and externally. This is some-thing that can be improved in Georgia and the region, espe-cially in companies looking for foreign investment. We also consider the role of sharehold-ers and how, especially minor-ity shareholders, are treated. If all these components are func-tioning well, then I think one might say a company has good corporate governance.

Q. After signing an As-sociation Agreement and bringing DCFTA into force competition between

Georgian companies has been increasing. How can good corporate gover-nance be used by Georgian companies as their com-petitiveness advantage?

A. Let’s imagine you are a for-eign investor looking for a part-ner in Georgia. Let’s say you don’t know Georgia particularly well. What would concern you? What would you like to know when considering investment opportunities here? Can you trust the stated fi nancial situ-ation of the company? Is the information you want about the company accessible to you? Is the company being properly run? Are there adequate pro-tections in place to protect your planned investment?

Let me give a simple example. If we go to the websites of many Georgian companies – assum-ing one exists – you may readily fi nd a list of products and servic-es provided - but likely nothing about the board, the manage-ment structures, the company’s fi nancial performance, issues and risks facing the company and so on. A company that shows itself to be more open can gain a competitive advantage over less transparent, compa-rable companies not only with regard to the public in general but also potential investors.

Investors entering a market would like to know certain in-formation about a company before they invest or enter into a partnership. One area that investors will always consider, especially in transition econo-

mies, is the quality of gover-nance – that is a large part of the assurance for their invest-ment. Poor corporate gover-nance would weaken a compa-ny’s ability to attract external, and especially international, fi nance. On the other hand, a company which demonstrates good corporate governance practice will be much more at-tractive to investors.

Q. What are the benefi ts that good corporate gov-ernance brings to compa-nies?

A. Corporate governance is a discipline integrated into a business; it is not something separate from the business. Numerous studies show mul-tiple benefi ts of corporate gov-ernance – whether or not we are talking of large, regulated companies or whether we are talking of smaller, unregu-lated companies – corporate governance applies to all. The benefi ts we regularly see re-late to enhanced performance in the company – in terms of operational performance, its decision-making processes, its ability to manage the risks it faces, improvement in reputa-tion and trust, as well as the very integrity of the business it-self, its ability to access fi nance at better rates or with higher valuations. Perhaps most im-portantly, corporate gover-nance actively contributes to the sustainability, success and growth of the business.

Q. You mentioned that transparency is one of the

main challenges for Geor-gian companies. What is the reason in your opinion and how are you going to overcome this challenge?

A. We need to differentiate between types of companies, as well as between mandatory dis-closure and voluntary transpar-ency practices. A locally-owned private company operating in the real sector will have mini-mal disclosure requirements, while listed companies, or regu-lated institutions such as banks, face higher requirements in terms of the information they are required to make available. However what we encourage businesses to consider is their approach to making certain information available even if it is not required to be disclosed – voluntary transparency. We need to encourage companies to consider a gradual approach to this – to see the benefi ts. This not only improves accountabili-ties within a company, but also raises levels of trust outside the company, including crucial in-vestor confi dence.

Corporate Governance To Help Georgian Companies Attract Foreign InvestorsContinued from p. 4


“US brands seeing that US com-panies are doing successfully in Georgia is very important as it might encourage them to join us on the Georgian market,” Darrell van Ligten, President--Interna-tional for The Wendy’s Company, told The FINANCIAL. “Wendy’s is an American brand which is known everywhere. Everyone knows that if Wendy’s enters a market, it means that it trusts the country and it believes that there are opportunities there. I am sure that Wendy’s is encouraging oth-er brands to enter the Georgian market and to follow our experi-ence. We inspire other brands to come here and to make invest-ments in a great country. We also have Dunkin’ Donuts who made the same decision as Wendy’s,” he added.

The Wendy’s restaurant chain is doing well in Georgia in all pa-rameters and Darrell van Ligten says that he is very excited by the Georgian market. The success story of the Wendy’s brand in Georgia continues with the open-ing of two new restaurants in Tbilisi together with local partner Wissol Group. Ligten hopes that Wendy’s restaurants will soon be opened in two other cities, Ba-tumi and Kutaisi.

“We are very excited about how our business in running in Georgia. We already had restau-rants in Rustaveli and Vake and from both the international and customer perspective they are do-ing well. Our Georgian partners had a great vision about how to bring the Wendy’s brand to the Georgian market and it turned out to be a very successful vision for us. Nowadays, Wendy’s Geor-gia is proud of not only being the biggest Wendy’s restaurant in the world, but for creating and implementing innovative ideas, which are exported abroad. Geor-gia has become the prototype for new Wendy’s restaurants in those countries which are going to join the Wendy’s family for the fi rst time. By innovative ideas I mean a new concept which is unique to Wendy’s restaurants. These are: a coffee corner, centre for children to celebrate their birthdays, and game zone. The design is unique and fantastic and we see that the customers love it. Such positive and successful factors really en-courage us to expand our busi-ness in Georgia together with Wissol Group, our Georgian part-ner. Opening new restaurants in Tbilisi is a great sign that we are confi dent in Georgia and its mar-ket,” Ligten said.

Wissol Group opened a new branch of its supermarket Smart and American restaurant Wen-dy’s on Tsintsadze Str. (previ-ously Saburtalo Str.). At the same time a new Wendy’s restaurant was opened in Vake, at Chavcha-vadze Avenue 36. By expanding Wendy’s and Smart chains, Wis-sol Group has employed another 300 people.

The Pretzel Burger with beer cheese is a new product which is already available to try at Wendy’s restaurants. One of the most important business aims of Wendy’s is to replace imported products with local ones.

“The investment climate in Georgia is good. The challenge is to fi nd good partners in Georgia. We are fortunate as we found great partners but in general, this is a problem. Having partners

which truly understand the busi-ness, the market and the distri-bution is very necessary. More qualifi ed, professional and edu-cated people should be involved in business, I would recommend, and investments should be made in this direction. That is some-thing that international partners would benefi t from,” Ligten said.

“Despite its size, the Georgian market is very promising. A few days ago I saw micro economic factors and I looked at what the infl ation level is in Georgia and what the GDP growth is. As I see, it is stable and solid. From the macroeconomic perspective we are excited about Georgia. It is hard to compare Georgia with other countries because the mar-ket size is different everywhere. But what we see is that Wendy’s restaurants are doing very well here and we are completely satis-fi ed,” he added.

Wendy’s is one of the favourite restaurants of the Georgian popu-lation, according to the customer research that Wendy’s conducted in Georgia. “The research found that people love coming here, they love socializing here and love bringing their families to Wendy’s restaurants,” said Ligten.

“What customers always like is quality. They choose brands which provide high quality prod-ucts. They also like it when a brand communicates with them. Dif-ferent marketing campaigns that bring your brand closer to your customers are always very produc-tive. Again, from doing customer research they always say that the quality really matters and is what attracts them to the Wendy’s res-taurant chain. They also like how Wendy’s food tastes and the ser-vice which the restaurant provides. The customers always understand and appreciate all the effort of a company which is designed spe-cially for them,” he added.

“Georgian customers demand high quality food which tastes great. And they also demand a wonderful experience and I think we deliver that. They want a nice environment too. Georgian cus-tomers do not want to go every-where, but only to specifi c areas where a special environment has been created for them. And ev-eryone can see how gorgeous the design of the Georgian Wendy’s restaurants is. Even the furniture is beautiful. Georgian customers understand the concept of value. They want to make sure that they get what they pay for. When they come to Wendy’s they get that value,” said Ligten.

Wendy’s entered Georgia on 12 September, 2013, and opened its fi rst restaurant on Rustaveli Av-enue together with local partner, Wissol Group. Later on, another Wendy’s restaurant was opened on Chavchavadze Avenue. Today there are four Wendy’s restau-rants in Tbilisi. Wissol Group, one of the largest business groups in Georgia, signed a license agree-ment with Wendy’s in 2012 to develop the restaurant chain in Georgia.

American Restaurant Wendy’s Inspires Other Brands to Enter the Georgian Market



3 Vashlovani Str.;(“Super Babilon” oposit)

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Beliashvili Str. Tel: 253 07 97

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5, Marjanishvili Str. Tel: 294 16 20

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4, Besiki Str.

Tel: 2 519 966

QUEUE

#1 Freedom squ.Tel: 2 240 241

Book Corner

13b, Tarkhnishvili Str.Tel: 223 24 30

[email protected]

www.facebook.com/RespublikaEspressoBar

16, Marjanishvili Str.Tel: 555 003151

Espresso Bar “RESPUBLIKA”

Addr: 3 Vekua Street.(Trade Center GTC)

Tel.: 2 93 61 38

CAFE CINEMA

diningdining| places we strongly reccommend to visit |

Erekle II str.Tel: 555 00 44 46

Addr: 11, Apakidze str.Tel.: 2 300 777

Best Western

Tbilisi

4, Vashlovani Str.Tel: 298 90 86

PICASSO



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Documents

Corporate Social Responsibility_2014