SOME ASPECTS OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION OF IMERETI

The Covid pandemic and hostilities developed in the post-Soviet space had a heavy impact on the world economy, sharply slowing economic growth and increasing socio-economic problems. The impact of current events has become a significant topic in terms of regional economies. The rather rich experience accumulated in the world has shown us that the management and development of the region should be based on the economic potential of a particular country, the historical past of economic and political life, cultural and natural-resource characteristics, which are the result of historical preconditions. From this point of view, Georgia is quite diverse and interesting country. This diversity and the rules and traditions of economic life formed on the basis of sharply different natural-economic conditions create the inequality of the state and trends of the development and competitiveness of the territorial-administrative units (parties) of the country. Our attention was drawn to the fact that the Imereti region is distinguished by low incomes of the population, high rates of migration processes and aging and, accordingly, high dependence on social assistance. Imereti region is located in the central part of Georgia, it is one of the most beautiful places. It occupies 9.4% of the territory of Georgia and unites 12 municipalities. Rather important positive factors of the region are: proximity to seaports and international airports, location on energy and automobile corridors, a high level of urbanization, a variety of minerals, favorable environmental conditions for the development of crops, various types of tourist and recreational resources. The real result is that today the actual weakness of Imereti region is the high level of unemployment and poverty. Less developed municipal services, commercial and business infrastructure, low level of professional development and qualification of the workforce, absence of effective natural disaster management system, limited rights of regional and local administrative structures, meager income and property resources. It is a fact that the region cannot effectively use the existing resources for the purpose of development. In order to strengthen agriculture and increase labor productivity, first of all small-land farms should be enlarged, which will contribute to the technical rearmament of the sector and the intensification of production. It is a sad reality that Imereti is considered a region significantly dependent on social assistance. Not only the unemployed, but also the majority of employed people are socially vulnerable, because the payment is quite low. A similar situation is a problem not only in Imereti, but in the entire country. The post-pandemic period is characterized by price increases and unstable inflationary processes, the influence of both internal and external factors is great. Revealing the low standard of living and poverty should not become the main goal. There is constant talk about identifying the problem, revealing it, its percentage increase or decrease. Nominal indicators without deep analysis are quite far from the real situation. The main and important thing is not only to determine the causes, but also to fight against them and eliminate them in time. Enumeration and statistics workers and their economic-statistical studies should make a significant contribution to the assessment of the existing situation in the region and its further improvement. The real socio-economic situation of the region should be reflected (and not in numbers artificially beautified to please ourselves), only by revealing the reality and seeing the existing weak points correctly, we will be able to improve the economy of both the region and the country and achieve the desired results. It is on the basis of real data that the further development strategy of the region, new projects and programs should be developed. Recently, they often mention the "decent salary", which probably a significant part of the employed people in Georgia will not have in the near future. In this regard, the minimum wage and the size of the consumer basket need to be reconsidered once again. In order to provide normal wages to the employees, the government should adopt a law on minimum wages. When it comes to European integration, among many other issues, the most important and necessary issue is the review of the population's incomes and living standards, and bringing them closer to the European countries should be the main goal.