Page 47 - GEORptFeb20

Hazelnuts represent Georgia’s largest agricultural export by value and support the livelihoods of more than 50,000 growers and processors.
Bloch already has a registered company in Georgia and has identified a 561-hectare land asset in Lagodekhi municipality, eastern Georgia.
The company aims to cultivate hazelnuts using new technology to raise productivity.
It is planning to employ around 40 people in its project.
Chocolats Camille Bloch produces 3,700 tonnes of chocolate per year. The annual revenue of the company stands at more than $45mn.
Gazelle Fund, an investment fund dedicated to high-growth, small and medium sized enterprises in the Eurasia Region, has invested $1.1mn in NUTSGE—the leading locally-owned processor and exporter of hazelnuts in Georgia.
The hazelnut industry is a strategically important agribusiness sector for Georgia. The country is the fourth largest producer of hazelnuts in the world. The investment positions NUTSGE to further deepen its export capacity to Europe, Asia and Africa, enhance the development of its supply chain with hundreds of local farmers and further build-out is local workforce.
“This year is a critical rebound year for the Geogian hazelnut industry, following two difficult years of stink bug infestation,” said director of NUTSGE Mamuka Beriashvili. “The funds from Gazelle Finance come at a critical time for our company, and will enable us to rapidly build market share in the premium hazelnut market segment”.
9.1.7 ​TMT sector news
A cyberattack hit several servers in Georgia including those of Proservice, impacting 2,000 websites in the country including those of the president, the courts, several mayors’ offices and three television channels on October 28, according to local press reports.
The hacker took over the sites and displayed a photo of former president Mikheil Saakashvili with the words, in English, “I’ll be back.” Self-exiled Saakashvili left the country in 2013 after his United National Movement (UNM) party lost elections in 2012 and he was barred by the Constitution from pursuing another presidential term. He is now wanted on what he calls politically motivated charges. Georgia will hold a general election next year. Public support for the ruling Georgian Dream party, led by billionaire oligarch and ex-PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, is weakening, opening the door for a change in regime.
“Today, October 28, one of the largest cyberattacks on the cyberspace of Georgia took place at dawn. One of the targets of the attack is a server owned by Proservice, which houses websites of state agencies, the private sector and media organizations. As a result of the attack, about 15,000 web pages were placed on the servers of the company,” Proservice said.
According to local news sites, the cyberattack was the largest experienced by Georgia since 2008, when the Russians were suspected of launching an assault as Georgia and Russia briefly went to war. No evidence that the latest attack originated from Russia has been presented thus far. A criminal investigation has been launched.
Analysts said that the cyberattack was not very sophisticated but highlighted worrying weaknesses in Georgia’s cybersecurity.
The World Bank, in collaboration with the Georgian economy ministry, will develop a National Innovation Ecosystem in the country in order to
47​ GEORGIA Country Report​ February 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com