Prime Minister of Georgia held and led a session of the Economic Council today. Focus was made on the suggestion made by Borjomi JSC for a free of charge transfer of shares to the Government of Georgia from the holding company. The Irakli Garibashvili instructed the line ministries to actively work towards completing the respective procedures in the most efficient manner. Decision of the Government will be disclosed to the public at its upcoming meeting.

Members of the Economic Council briefed Irakli Garibashvili on the performance of the Public Employment Program. The Ministry of Health was approached nationwide by a total of 28 680 citizens in relation with the Public Employment Program, out of which 12 502 individuals were actually referred to the vacant positions.

The Prime Minister instructed Larry Barnabishvili, Department Head for Regional Coverage at the Government Administration to intensify coordination with Mayors of Municipalities to make sure that successful implementation of the program is facilitated with their active engagement.

Also, positive indicators of economic growth and rising trend of recovery in the sector of tourism were reviewed today. It was noted that over 400 flights are scheduled in a week. As for the coastline region of Adjara, tourism is rising in numbers there as well. Over 220 flights a month will be made to the region.

At the same time, performance of domestic sales of affordable medication imported from Turkey has been viewed as a positive occurrence at the meeting. Data for the past 10 weeks suggests that over 150 000 individuals benefited from the availability of cheap medication and saved in total 42 MLN GEL.

Positive trends of rising employment and declining unemployment were highlighted at the meeting. In Q1 of 2022 unemployment declined by 2.5% compared to the previous year and amounted to 19.4%. Number of employed individuals increased with 71.3 thousand in the country, while the number of the unemployed - reduced with 27.9 thousand.

In addition, negotiations have been held under the coordination of Georgia between Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan on the coordinated and uninterrupted cross-border flow of cargo. It was noted that no delays are observed in the throughput from the Georgian side. Certain faults found in this context are related to the road maintenance and infrastructure works currently implemented at the other side of the border at Larsi. Also, issues related to the transportation of perishable goods were dealt with and addressed at the meeting.