Tatyana Gracheva

As the National Statistics Office said on Wednesday, Georgian external trade turnover posted a 14.7 percent year-on-year increase and amounted to $19.62 billion in January-November.
A rise by 11.1 percent was shown by the value of exports (totally $5.58 billion). A growth by 16.3 percent was reached by imports (totally $14.04 billion) in the reporting period.
43.1 percent was hit by the share of trade turnover, and trade deficit, a measure of the negative balance of trade in which imports exceed exports, reached $8.45 billion.
According to Vakhtang Tsintsadze, the Deputy Economy Minister, the volume of exports had exceeded the annual indicators of 2022.
He also said that state programs and policy steps taken by the state over the recent years to [increase] the competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses and diversify foreign trade markets made it possible to observe positive trends in external trade.
“Record-high” figures in external trade were registered in the first 11 months of 2023.

NH Logistics GEO has been offering IOR Importer of Record and EOR Exporter of Record services since 2001 and is a market leader in Georgia and Eurasia, supporting many clients with their import/export shipments.

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A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on Monday by Serbia’s central bank and China’s central bank to establish yuan clearing arrangements in Serbia.
According to the statement of the central bank, intensive cooperation between the two central banks in the execution of transactions in Chinese yuan by banks in Serbia is regulated by the MoU.
NBS noted that cross-border transactions in Chinese yuan by companies and financial institutions in China and Serbia will be promoted and trade and investments will be facilitated by the establishment of a clearing arrangement in Serbia.
NBS governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic said that NBS put the Chinese yuan on the list of currencies which can be traded on the domestic foreign exchange market in January 2015, being an institution that closely monitors the needs of the domestic economy and market and creates stimulating conditions for efficient business operations. Chinese yuan is necessary for the Serbian financial markets due to strong growth of trade between the countries, as well as high investment inflows.
NH Logistics SER has been offering IOR Importer of Record and EOR Exporter of Record services since 2001 and is a market leader in Serbia and Eurasia, supporting many clients with their import/export shipments.

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Azerbaijan’s “close cooperation” with Tbilisi on both political level and collaborative projects was lauded by the country’s President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday. The positive impact of the “mutually beneficial” partnership on Europe was also highlighted and optimism for a further integration of the South Caucasus region was also expressed.
As the official said in his press comments at Azerbaijan’s ADA University, it is “possible” to create a Benelux-style model for regional integration. A “positive signal” for such an opportunity was made by the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum in October, where the PMs of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia were brought together. Signing of a peace deal concluding the long-running dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region between Baku and Yerevan could realize it.
Aliyev hailed the efforts of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to meditate for peace between the neighbouring states for a “lasting peace” in the region and stressed his latest communication with the head of the Georgian Government concerning the possibility of the integration initiative.
The integration and mutual benefit derived from joint projects were noted by him in comments on the “successful cooperation” between Tbilisi and Baku over the past 30 years. As the Azerbaijani President said, his government was open for Armenia to join the initiatives once they sign a peace treaty. The possibility of collaborative efforts and providing a sense of security for all parties involved were mentioned.
“Full protection” of Georgia’s energy security regardless of what happened between the “big players” was also noted by Aliyev. He cited Tbilisi as a “reliable source of supply” and said that “interconnection and interdependence” between the two states had been upgraded to the level of “friendship”.
Aliyev recognized the close integration of Georgia and Azerbaijan due to common projects for mutual benefit and the cooperation between the two countries. According to him, they have become more important for Europe together than they would be separately.
A “big contribution” for their own and Europe’s energy security already made by the two states was stressed by the president. Projects of oil pipelines, natural gas pipelines, transportation, railways, power cables and security formats (with the initiatives also involving Turkey) had been pointed to.
According to the Government head, absence of an official conclusion of the conflict made Armenia’s potential contribution to the cooperation between the other regional states “unclear” at this stage.
NH Logistics GEO has been offering IOR Importer of Record and EOR Exporter of Record services since 2001 and is a market leader in Georgia and Eurasia, supporting many clients with their import/export shipments.

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Both production and export of the most important economic branches in Serbia were reduced in 2022, and this trend continued this year as well.
The increasingly noticeable decline in domestic private investments, which were reduced to around seven percent of the national GDP in 2022, is the most worrisome trend.
According to the Biznis Top 2022/23 edition, the state policy, which is constantly (directed) at foreign investors, causing long-term damage to the most competitive part of the Serbian economy, is the biggest reason for this.
An increase by slightly less than a fifth annually, to 17,285.6 billion dinars, was shown by the domestic economy’s business income in 2022.
The total profit reached 864.2 billion dinars (increase by 25%). The Biznis Top edition published by the business monthly Biznis i Finansije (Business and Finance) reports that the total loss amounted to 3,906.5 billion dinars at the end of 2022 (4 percent up).
A list of the 150 largest companies in Serbia in 2022, according to generated profit and income, based on data from the Agency for Business Registers (APR), is published by Biznis Top.
5,172 billion dinars of revenue were generated by the leading one hundred companies, with only five companies that generated more than 20 percent of this amount.
A slight decline (0.3-0.4 percent) of total investments, an increase by more than 20 percent of foreign direct investments and a stagnation of public investments in real terms were recorded in 2022.
The analysis of the National Convention on the European Union demonstrated a fall of domestic private investments to around 7 percent of the national GDP.
Although companies are blamed by the government for fueling inflation with excessive price increases, companies in Serbia submitted an analysis of financial reports that shows that they can attribute only 1/10 of inflation growth to business income growing faster than expenses.
The National Convention on the EU reports that the retail sector, which managed to transfer the entire burden of growing inflation onto suppliers and shoppers, is an exception to this rule. That might indicate potential violations of the Law on the Protection of Competition in that sector.
The Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) generated the highest earnings and operating income last year and became the absolute ‘winner’. The profit of NIS was increased by more than four times, to 93.5 billion dinars, and revenues by over 77 percent, to almost 500 billion dinars.
NH Logistics SER has been offering IOR Importer of Record and EOR Exporter of Record services since 2001 and is a market leader in Serbia and Eurasia, supporting many clients with their import/export shipments.

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