Page 47 - GEORptMar20

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and CEO of Chocolats Camille Bloch, Daniel Bloch—the son of Camille Bloch who founded the company in 1926—reportedly discussed details of the project on January 23 at a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 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”.
9.1.8 ​TMT sector news
The massive cyberattack on websites of the government and private agencies in Georgia last October 28 “was planned and carried out by the Main Division of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry​ ​stated​ o​ n February 20, backed up by the UK and US which put out their own statements on how Moscow was the guilty party.
“The... cyber-attack was targeted at Georgia’s national security and was intended to harm Georgian citizens and government structures by disrupting and paralyzing the functionality of various organisations, thereby causing anxiety among the general public,” Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also called out what they said was a massive Russian cyberattack against Georgia. More than 2,000 websites were knocked out. Raab described the cyberattack as “totally unacceptable”. Russia's Foreign Ministry denied any involvement, the RIA news agency said.
The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) found that the GRU was "almost certainly" behind the attacks. It said the attack was the first significant example of GRU cyber-attacks since 2017.
The UK said Russia had sought to "sow discord and disrupt the lives of ordinary Georgian people".
"The Russian Government has a clear choice: continue this aggressive pattern of behaviour against other countries, or become a responsible partner which respects international law," Raab added.
Pompeo said: "The United States calls on Russia to cease this behaviour in
47​ GEORGIA Country Report​ March 2020 ​​www.intellinews.com