Former National Bank governor slams government's food price portal as ‘misleading’

Former President of the National Bank of Georgia, Roman Gotsiridze, has criticized the Georgian government's newly launched food price information portal, arguing that it is designed to create a misleading impression about efforts to reduce the cost of essential goods.

In comments to Front News, Gotsiridze claimed that the government is relying on old political tactics and is using major supermarket chains to promote a narrative that does not reflect the actual situation facing consumers.

“Where in any civilized country have you seen a government create a state website listing discounts offered by private retail chains? Nowhere,” Gotsiridze said.

His remarks followed the launch of eKalata.gov.ge, an information portal introduced by Georgia’s Competition and Consumer Protection Agency. The website provides information on basic food products included in the government's household basket program and displays available offers from participating retailers.

Gotsiridze noted consumers seeking to purchase the advertised products may still need to visit multiple supermarket chains because not all discounted items are available in the same store. He also noted that many of the listed discounts are temporary promotions and that some products had already been on sale before the portal was launched.

Using supermarket chain Agrohub as an example, Gotsiridze argued that many of the products featured on the platform were already being sold at discounted prices, creating what he described as an illusion of a new government initiative.

“The products were already being sold at promotional prices. As a result, what we are seeing is an attempt to create the appearance of additional benefits for consumers where none actually exist,” he said.