Georgian Parliament official says understanding root causes of price hikes “essential”

Gia Volski, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party and the First Vice Speaker of the Parliament, on Saturday said it was essential to closely examine how goods reach store shelves in order to determine what caused the high price markups affecting consumers.

In his remarks, Volski emphasised the need for a detailed analysis of the entire supply chain - from origin markets to retail outlets - to identify the factors behind rising prices.

“It is necessary to know the real situation in detail and to know precisely the route goods take from the markets they originate from to store shelves, and what creates the need for price markups that have become such a heavy burden on the population - whether this is deliberately engineered sabotage, or whether there are mechanisms that can overcome this problem”, he said.

He noted that there may be existing resources and reserves that could help ease the financial burden on the population in several areas.

“I believe that the very launch of the study of this issue, which the Prime Minister has announced, implies that there are certain resources and reserves to relieve the public of this heavy burden in a number of areas”, Volski concluded.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Friday emphasised the importance of balancing business and public interests while addressing food prices during the session of the Government’s coordination commission, which was attended by representatives of distribution companies.

In his remarks, Kobakhidze noted that preliminary research was showing that the markup on food products in Georgia averaged 86%, a notably high figure.