GM Opinion: How to Compensate GEL Depreciation and Narrowing Exports

Georgian Manganese Company has named one of the key reasons behind the national currency volatility.

As the company financial director Merab Lominadze told Business Partner, GEL depreciation is interconnected with ferroalloys production. “Exports have shrunk. Money transfers have also narrowed. This gap was to be balanced through several leading fields, and the ferroalloys industry was one of these fields. Based on the prime cost, we could not offer extraordinary low tariffs to our traders and compensate for the reduced transfers.

Neither the winemaking field nor other agricultural sectors could quickly compensate for these losses. Our field is an only direction that was to be strengthened, not to be suspended. And these enterprises needed cheap electricity. As a result, we would be able to supply products to even our traditional markets with more competitive tariffs and expand markets. This approach would bring very effective results for energy facilities in a long-term perspective. These measures and the expanded export markets would enable to launch new projects and stabilize the consumption and demand that may become questionable today”, Merab Lominadze said.