The PPE market in Georgia: occupational safety is still «sidelined»

Getsiz.ru is read not only in Russia, but also in the CIS countries. Within two weeks, we will make our readers familiar with the situation on the PPE markets in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. We collected opinions of the participants in the branch and manufacturers of PPE about the market situation, challenges, achievements and new projects. Executive Director of «ARS Protection», Amiran Chigoshvili told us about the Georgian economy and prospects for the PPE market.

Amiran Chigoshvili, «ARS Protection», Executive Director.

2018 was a positive year for the economy of Georgia. Its growth was 4.7% and the planned growth in 2019 is 4.6%. Progress is primarily related to tourism: more than 8 million foreigners visited the country. Agriculture is actively developing too. The main product by which Georgia can be recognized abroad is wine. Alcohol exports in 2018 exceeded 190 million dollars. It was also a successful year for the development of the industrial sector. The major event was commissioning of the plant that will produce spare parts for Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier aircraft. The plant is a joint venture with Israeli «Cyclone» Concern.

Georgia is a country with one of the most open economies. Free trade agreements have been concluded with the European Union, Turkey and China. We are discussing the signing of such agreements with India, Japan and the United States. All this gave good results: the volume of foreign trade in 2018 was increased by 18.6%.

According to Forbes, Georgia ranks 44 among 161 countries in the world rating of the best countries for business in 2019. Opening a new business takes only one day here. Taxes are differentiated on the basis of income. So, if the business income for the year was less than 100 thousand lari ($ 42 thousand), then the income tax rate will be 5%.

The banking sector is well developed in Georgia. It is fairly easy to get a loan for business development.

Unfortunately, the incident and injury free work culture is not developed in Georgia. So, much is to be done here.

Foreign manufacturers Delta+, Sacla, 3M and others are active in the Georgian PPE market. Azerbaijani companies Vostok Protection and Debet Uniform are also working actively in Georgia. There are many joint ventures with European companies in the country. They purchase high-quality PPE. Here is a good example: HeidelbergCement Georgia Company is a joint venture with HeidelbergCement (Germany). Norms of the German head company in the field of occupational safety and health have been introduced at its 13 branches in Georgia. Russian manufacturers of PPE are not very active in Georgia, although their products may be requested by the end users.

We are a new company. We offer high-quality PPE of well-known European brands at the Georgian market. I am sure that we will find our niche.

Maxim Golovanov, Enrgocontract GC, Head of International Business Development Division

As is known, the key factors affecting the market capacity are legislation, regulations governing the use of PPE, as well as responsibility for non-compliance.

In Georgia, as in most CIS countries, the initial development of legislation in the field of PPE was limited to the translation and adaptation of Soviet GOSTs. Stricter requirements and bringing regulatory documents in line with modern international safety norms will cause an increase in expenses for occupational safety and PPE. As a result, the financial burden on manufacturing companies will grow. Since a big number of these enterprises in the fuel and energy sector, for example, are partially owned by the state, it sometimes can lead to a conflict of interests.

Therefore, occupational and industrial safety is often sidelined on the background of «higher priority» expenditure items of enterprises. If we talk about protection from thermal risks of different nature in state-owned companies workers are usually dressed in cotton workwear.

The exceptions are companies with foreign participation and enterprises that pay special attention to social responsibility, focusing on the development of corporate requirements for PPE based on modern norms and technical regulations of Russia, EU and the United States. Such companies are our key customers in Georgia.

In 2018 some changes were made in the labor legislation of Georgia. Under the influence of trade unions, non-governmental organizations and Georgia’s ambition for Association with the EU, a law on occupational safety was adopted in the country. A little later, in February 2019, additions were made to it, expanding the requirements for a wider range of professions, as well as giving the Department of Labor Inspection greater powers, including the right to impose penalties and fines.

The law should come into force at the end of this year. We hope that from 2019 the situation with occupational safety and health in Georgia will change for the better, and the number of accidents will begin to decline. The «Energocontract» Group of Companies, for its part, will continue its work in support of current and new partners in the field of risk assessment at workplace and determine the required PPE in accordance with international norms. And, of course, we will continue to provide employees of Georgian companies facing thermal risks with high-quality and reliable protective clothing.

«ARS Protection» was founded in 2017. Its office is located in Tbilisi. The company is a dealer of Nitras and Univet companies in Georgia.

The 23rd international specialized exhibition «Occupational Safety and Health – 2019» (BiOT) will be held on December 10-13 in Moscow, pavilion No. 75 of the Exhibition of Economic Achievements. The exhibition is organized by the Russian Ministry of Labor and the Association of Developers, Manufacturers and Suppliers of Personal Protective Equipment (ASIZ). In 2018, the area of BiOT Fair was 13 thousand square meters. The number of visitors was 15 thousand.