Page 10 - bne IntelliNews Georgia country report November 2017

2.5 Politics - misc
Political parties in Georgia received GEL12.9mn (€4.42mn) in donations between July 1 and October 15 and have spent some GEL8.83mn on campaigning in the last two weeks, data from the State Audit Office reveals. The donations concern the local election on October 21, during which voters will elect the mayors of five self-governing cities and the governors of 67 municipalities. While the ruling Georgian Dream party commands a constitutional majority in parliament after defeating the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party in the parliamentary election of October 2016, the upcoming ballot will test its popularity one year down the line. The leading opposition party, UNM, has previously been rocked by a series of scandals related to its founder, former President Mikheil Saakashvili, and internal disputes among his supporters and opponents. After splitting between the two factions in January, its sinking popularity dipped to a mere 10% approval rate. The UNM's downfall has taken place in the midst of a general fragmentation amongst opposition parties, which were unequivocally defeated in the parliamentary election, to the point where most did not even secure seats in the parliament.
On October 12, Georgian demonstrators clashed with police in the capital Tbilisi after gathering to criticise the city council's decision to h and over two strategic plots of land in the city to former prime minister and billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili. T he city council resolution, passed earlier this month, had caused controversy because of the way in which the voting was conducted, which included forcefully removing councillors from an opposition party from the meeting. In the end, a business owned by Ivanishvili was allowed to purchase two plots of land measuring 1,900 and 4,700 square metres respectively and located on a hilltop that oversees the city and in the city centre for the symbolic price of GEL1 (€0.34).
3.0 Macro Economy
Georgia - Main Macro 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 1Q17 2Q17 Indicators
GDP real growth (y/y, %)
7.2 6.4 3.4 4.6 2.9 2.7 5.1 4.7
GDP (per capita, $) 3,230.7 3,523.4 3,599.6 3,676.2 3,766.6 3,852.5 859.5 1,008.1
GDP: Final consumption expenditure, (local currency)
22,487.3 23,733.2 23,671.8 25,570.7 27,318.7 28,228.8 7,366.8
GDP: Gross capital formation, (local currency)
6,368.0 7,575.4 6,652.9 8,688.8 10,004.3 10,999.8 2,208.7
GDP: Exports, (local currency)
8,822.8 9,982.9 11,997.9 12,518.3 14,206.8 14,749.6 3,880.9
GDP: Imports, (local currency)
13,334.2 15,124.2 15,475.2 17,627.3 19,774.3 20,056.6 5,138.4
Source: bne IntelliNews, CEIC
10 GEORGIA Country Report November 2017 www.intellinews.com