On Wednesday, September 10, Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), in cooperation with Tax Payers Union (TPU), conducted the final presentation of the project “State-owned enterprises (SOE) and their efficiency in Georgia; Focus: Agriculture Sector”.

Project team presented the research, prepared within the frames of the mentioned project: “State-Owned Enterprises in Georgia and their Efficiency – the Analysis of Agriculture Sector”.

Authors of the research made the audience familiar with the methodology of evaluating the efficiency of the state-owned enterprises and summarized the general situation in the state-owned enterprises. Based on the internal audit report of 2013 from the Ministry of Agriculture, researchers publicized the balance between the income and expenses of the SOEs in 2012. The information made it clear that the majority of the enterprises completed the 2012 plan with loss.

The authors identified the major problems and made the audience familiar with the recommendations to solve these flaws.

The researchers also put emphases on the special socio-economic importance of Mekanizatori LTD and the United Melioration Systems Company of Georgia and noted that the rapid privatization of the above is unrealistic; thus these companies must be prepared for privatization. The authors presented the two ways of privatizing these companies: either private management or division of the company. 

The presentation was followed by the discussion; the meeting attendees took active participation. The meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture Nodar Kereselidze, representatives of Agricultural Projects Management Agency (APMA), National Agency for State Property Management, State Audit Office, members of various Parliamentary committees as well as the representatives of various organizations and think-tanks and other stakeholders.

The participants discussed the advantages and disadvantages of state owning the company. Some of the attendees claimed that it is necessary in order to avoid increased service fees for farmers, which will be inevitable in case of privatization.

The project was realized with financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) “Policy, Advocacy and Civil Society Development in Georgia” (G-PAC)project, implemented by East-West Management Institute (EWMI).