Page 59 - GEORptMay21

wheat, covering less than 10% of the overall consumption countrywide.
In 2020, 87.3% of the wheat imported to Georgia (or 430,236 tonnes) came
from Russia.
9.1.10 Electronics and consumer durables sector news
Georgia Industrial Group to produce Chinese tractors in Kazakhtan
The Georgian Industrial Group has signed an agreement with Kazakh authorities to produce Chinese YTO brand tractors in Kazakhstan, Kazakh Invest reported on March 25.
Under the agreement, the Georgian firm is set to be exempted from import customs duties and VAT. The project will be carried out in cooperation with a Chinese state-owned company. The firm plans to annually produce up to 500 tractors with a capacity of 90-130 horsepower.
“In August 2020, we actively began work on possible cooperation with a potential partner with China — YTO GROUP, which is the main division of the state national corporation SINOMACH. It is a reliable partner, one of the top 15 largest companies in China. I believe that the production of such equipment in Kazakhstan will give an impetus to the development of the agricultural machine-building and agro-industrial complex industries,” said the director of Cheka Kazrost Engineering, Daryn Imanmusayev.
The total investment in the project is expected at $5mn. The first tractors are set to leave the assembly line in May this year.
“Today the level of depreciation of the agricultural machinery fleet in Kazakhstan is about 76%. This is a depressing indicator. For the active development of the agro-industrial complex, we need high-quality agricultural machinery. This will increase productivity, increase the competitiveness of our products,” said the project manager of Kazakh Invest, Ainur Zhumanbaeva.
9.1.11 TMT sector news
Venice Commission calls on Georgia to amend electronic communication laws
The amendments passed by Georgia’s parliament last July to the country’s Law on Electronic Communications lead to “far-reaching consequences for the right to property and media freedom, as well as to the right of a fair trial”, according to an opinion adopted on March 20 by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission.
"The new rules of the law can neither pass the test of proportionality nor legitimacy," according to the opinion.
The ruling is critical for the deal in which Azerbaijan’s Neqsol took over Georgia’s main internet provider and the owner of the strategic cable link under the Black Sea to Europe—a deal that Georgian authorities want to reverse. The amendments allowed the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) to appoint on October 1 a special manager at the company Caucasus Online in a move aimed at reversing the allegedly unlawful sale of a 49% stake in the company to Neqsol.
The controversial transaction was aimed at creating a broad international communications network connecting Central Asia to Europe through Neqsol Holding, a 1,200-kilometre fibre-optic cable owned by Caucasus Online, which runs on the Black Sea floor.
According to Neqsol Holding, the deal was made in such a way that both the representatives of the Georgian government and the prime minister of the country were informed about it. The Communications Commission stated on October 17, 2019 that Caucasus Online had violated Articles 26 and 27 of the Communications Act when it did not previously agree with the Commission to change its beneficial owner.
59 GEORGIA Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com