Top 25 Wine Export Countries

15 March, 2019 | Macroeconomics | 29 seen

Now, this is interesting, after living in Georgia for almost 8 years, visiting its winemaking region Kakheti quite often, visiting countless chateaux's and marani's across the country - I thought Georgia should be in the top 10 or something.

It was at the end of 2018 I noticed Georgian journalists proudly reporting Georgia as a top 20 wine exporting country.

At first, I thought - cool, and decided to see which are the rest of the countries, probably, France, Italy, Chile, defiantly USA, South Africa. Well, huge was my surprise seeing countries like Latvia and Lithuania ranking at top 20 well above for such wine producing countries like Georgia or Moldova.

Anyhow, according to the Worlds Top Exports: 

Global sales from wine exports by country amounted to US$35.5 billion in 2017.

Among continents, European countries accounted for the highest dollar value of wine exports during 2017 with shipments worth $25.2 billion or 71% of globally exported wine.
Oceania’s international wine sales, led by Australia and New Zealand, came in at 9.2% followed closely by Latin America (excluding Mexico) plus the Caribbean at 8%. Asia supplied 5.3% worth of worldwide wine exports while North America shipped 4.4%. Africa benefited from 2.1% of international wine sales.

Wine export by country 2017, data source World Top Exports

I soon found that for such wine not producing countries like Latvia or Lithuania, the answer might be actually hidden in wine - re-export. 

Here is what I was able to find:

There are some cases though where anecdotal evidence overwhelmingly suggests a presence of re-export activity while firm-level trade data do not confirm this. For example, less than 10% of export of wine of fresh grapes is identified as re-exports in the post-crisis period, while it is known that Latvian companies do not produce either Bordeaux or Mosel.

Source: Evaluation of Latvia’s re-exports using firm-level trade data

'German reunification - a short history' Documentary

14 March, 2019 | Documentaries | 12 seen

Another great documentary from DW. This documentary is about the Fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's reunification back in 1989.

Interesting details revealing behind the scenes on how West Germany handled the reunification behind the backs of the Allied Forces

The fall of the Berlin Wall changed the course of history overnight. But German Reunification was never a guarantee. The situation could have spiraled out of control at any moment. Find out more in 2 + 4 + X: A SHORT HISTORY OF GERMAN REUNIFICATION.

West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl took advantage of the chaos during this turbulent time. His 10-point plan paved the way for the reunification of a divided Germany - but this was done behind the backs of the Allied Forces. Those who witnessed the events tell the story of the “2+4” negotiations and rocky road the world took to reunite the GDR with the West.

Watch on YouTube

Restaurant Natakhtaris Veli

12 March, 2019 | Restaurant reviews | 18 seen

Restaurant Natakhtris Veli is located in the Natakhtari village, accessible when driving from Tbilisi via Mtskheta to Gudauri. 

This place serves typical Georgian cuisine. Cozy atmosphere, fast service, friendly staff. Actually a pretty touristic place, but despite that, no rip off here. 

Restaurant Natakhtaris Veli

Located next to the Mtksheta- Gudauri highway. You can park your car in front of the restaurant.

Meal at Restaurant Natakhtaris Veli

Chailuri Fortress

10 March, 2019 | Military Heritage | 14 seen

Chailuri fortress is located between Manavi and Kakabeti villages in the region of Kakheti (or about one hour drive from Tbilisi towards Sighnaghi) on a hill right next to the Kakheti highway.

Fortress is a small pentagonal citadel with towers. The history of this fortress is shrouded in mystery.

The fortress is well visible from the highway side, but visitors rarely take stop here, so did I made my first stop here on January 12, 2019, when returning from Sighnaghi, I should add that I took a wrong entrance road and actually didn't reach the fortress, but at least I made a couple of photos and was able to track the name and sort of history for this place. Which is complicated.

Chailuri fortress in Georgia

Here is what I was able to find about Chailuri fortress in Russian (Source) Rough translation by me.

The height of the walls reaches 3-4 meters, and their width is 1.5-2 meters. Many historians believe that it was built at the beginning of the 17th century and for a long time served as a residence for the then ruler Shadiman Baratashvili.

Some disagree with this opinion and date its appearance to the 12th century. There is even the opinion that the fortress was built specifically for the filming of the film "The Legend of Surama Fortress".

As you may have guessed, the history of the defensive structure is covered in mystery. In any case, the fortress is perfectly preserved to our time and is worth a visit.

Restaurant Laivas

9 March, 2019 | Restaurant reviews | 15 seen

Dine in amazing ambiance on the banks of Lielupe river, in Jūrmala, Latvia. 

We visited Restaurant Laivas for a brunch menu (if I remember correct EUR 18 per person) back in June 2018. 

Now I have another great addition to Jūrmala restaurants list

Interior at Laivas Restaurant in Jūrmala

The brunch menu at Laivas

Sweets at Laivas restaurant

The True Story of the Internet: Dot Com Bubble (Documentary)

8 March, 2019 | Documentaries | 33 seen

Older, but still good documentary about the dot-com bubble from early 2000-s. Would recommend watching to crypto investors now.

The dot-com bubble (also known as the dot-com boom, the tech bubble, and the Internet bubble) was a historic economic bubble and period of excessive speculation mainly in the United States that occurred roughly from 1995 to 2000, a period of extreme growth in the usage and adoption of the Internet.

The Nasdaq Composite stock market index, which included many Internet-based companies, peaked in value on March 10, 2000, before crashing. The burst of the bubble, known as the dot-com crash, lasted from March 11, 2000, to October 9, 2002. During the crash, many online shopping companies, such as Pets.com, Webvan, and Boo.com, as well as communication companies, such as Worldcom, NorthPoint Communications and Global Crossing failed and shut down. Others, such as Cisco, whose stock declined by 86%, and Qualcomm, lost a large portion of their market capitalization but survived, and some companies, such as eBay and Amazon.com, declined in value but recovered quickly.

Watch on YouTube

Spring in Tbilisi (near Turtle lake)

7 March, 2019 | | 8 seen

Spring has finally reached Tbilisi. In today's Piece of Life, a few shots from our baby walk near Turtle Lake on March 6th, 2019

Sprouts and blue snowdrops. Can't wait for April. 

Blue snowdrops near Turtle lake in Tbilisi

Early sprouts

Piece of Life 

February 2019 Dividend Income Report - $83.25

6 March, 2019 | Investments | 18 seen

Welcome to the twenty-second (#22) dividend income report, covering earnings I've made from dividend-paying stocks, peer to peer lending (both fiat and cryptocurrencies) in February 2019. 

February was quite a windy here in Tbilisi, we did a couple of road trips around the country this month (All about Georgia) and I spent some time photographing (there are now zillions of baby photos and videos)

Here is a windy and cold evening in Tbilisi done in HDR

HDR photo from Tbilisi

It has been a while since I have made HDR photography, so in the middle of the month I decided to catch the golden hour here in Tbilisi from the balcony of our apartment (that's the view I see every day since October 2019)

Now, when speaking about the dividend income, the last February was a bit unplanned - two companies (Baltic Horizon Fund and BGLF) decided to pay a dividend in March, instead of February, and that's the reason actually for such a low month (on the other hand we will see a really huge boost in March). 

$83.25 was taken from dividend stocks and peer to peer lending in February 2019

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to mintos.com peer to peer lending website, by clicking on links on this page and by making an investment on mintos.com, I might earn affiliate income at no cost to you. Also, I'm not a financial advisor and I don't give you any advice, I'm just sharing my own experience. Investments in stocks, funds, bonds or cryptos are risk investments and you could lose some or all of your money. Do your due diligence before investing in any kind of asset. 

Both individuals and entities can invest through Mintos. Individual investors must be at least 18 years old, have a bank account in the European Union or third countries currently considered to have AML/CFT systems equivalent to the EU, and have their identity successfully verified by Mintos. At the moment, US citizens or taxpayers cannot register as investors at Mintos.

Sign up for Mintos.com here. By using my affiliate link for registration both you and I will receive — 1% of our average daily balance which should be paid in 3 installments for the first 90 days.

Interest income in February 2019

From the stocks, Mintos.com peer to peer lending and from cryptocurrency lending on Poloniex.com I got following income last month:

Ticker

Earnings

Mintos

€43.51

FGB

€11.43

EDF

€6.75

CLM

€5.39

EDI

€5.10

Poloniex

€0.95

Total: EUR 73.03 / USD 83.25

In total there were 6 great companies paying us dividends in February. That's double a year ago. 

The YoY growth rate for my dividend income in February 2019 was + 32.37%. or  $20.36 more than a year ago in February 2018. That's definitely is not the growth rate I like, but as I already said at the start of the article, there were two companies which decided to pay dividends in March instead of February. The total amount not received from these companies in February is about USD 45. The good news - that's a $45 boost for March dividend income report. 

Monthly income to the date

My journey towards million dollars in savings account now is already 2 years old. The result, so far, looks quite good.

Monthly Income chart as of February 2019

The cumulative earnings for 2019 now are $257.96  which is exactly 12.61% from my goal of 2019 ($2,045). On average, it would ask me to generate $178.80 every month for the next 10 months to reach my goal. Right, now I'm very confident reaching this goal, as there are already several months planned to have dividend income at the level of $200/mo. And in May I'm trying to get dividend income at $300. Super Charging May 2019 Dividend Income ($300/mo Goal)

2018 in Review and Financial Goals for 2019

Goals for February 2020

This is my favorite part of the reports - trying to forecast/set goals for the next year. But before setting a goal for 2020, let's see what I forecasted/said a year ago:

It would be cool to reach $100/mo a year after. From today's perspective speaking that would mean to increase investments on Mintos.com peer to peer lending and buy additional Baltic Horizon Fund shares and still I might be short. I hope to start buying US stocks closer the end of 2018, and if, then hopefully US stocks will help me to achieve $100 goal for February 2019.

Now, despite I have bought additional shares of Baltic Horizon Fund, and since the summer of 2018, I'm heavily investing in US stocks, I still didn't reach my little $100 goal. 2 companies decided to pay out dividends in March instead of February. On the other hand, I'll take it + I have this small Mintos.com matching plan, in short, it works like this, this month I will additionally invest $16.75 on Mintos.com platform. Matching interest earned on Mintos.com Peer to Peer Lending Platform. 

When setting goals for February 2020, I will say - $120 is what I'm looking now. Looks quite possible. Should add/increase few quarterly (Feb, May, Aug, Nov) paying stocks + few monthly stocks. Looking on both now,

'The Kim dynasty in North Korea' DW Documentary

5 March, 2019 | Documentaries | 12 seen

Lately, DW has been one of my favorite sources for documentaries, 'The Kim dynasty in North Korea' is a great short documentary for those trying to educate on North Korea topic.

Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump did hold a second summit meeting in late February in Vietnam. At their June 2018 summit, they agreed to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. 

But does North Korea intend to give up its nuclear weapons program? Some attribute the recent chain of events to the long-term stability of North Korea's ruling dynasty. North Korea has consistently refused to give up the nuclear program that it has been pursuing since 1962. Washington has been equally consistent in changing its policies toward Pyongyang. And what will become of the US commitment to protect South Korea and Japan? Our report outlines the history of North Korea's nuclear program, and also explains how the US has helped to enhance Pyongyang's strategic position. Every recent US administration - from Bill Clinton to Donald Trump - has changed the country's policy toward North Korea. American presidents come and go, but the Kim dynasty remains in place.

Watch on YouTube

Moxy Hotel Lobby Bar in Tbilisi

3 March, 2019 | Restaurant reviews | 26 seen

Moxy hotels lobby bar in Tbilisi serves delicious coffee latte and offers a really stylish interior. The one you could find in the fine NYC hotels or at least high-end hotels in Georgia. 

Discovered by accident in January 2019  while walking with our almost 6-month old daughter. For me, it was something new to learn that Moxy is a brand by Marriott. If I were to travel to Tbilisi I might consider booking a hotel room here as well (despite it might be pricey, as paid for two lattes here almost GEL 20)

Top 10 Boutique / Luxury Hotels in Tbilisi (Georgia)

Interior at Moxy hotels lobby bar in Tbilisi

A trendy design popping all around the world nowadays. See: Rooms Hotel Kazbegi

Moxy hotel in Tbilisi

Might be a good place for meeting point as well

Charlie Pizza, Mazeikiai

2 March, 2019 | Restaurant reviews | 16 seen

Charlie Pizza is a Lithuanian fast food chain located all across the country, serving pizza, salads, pasta and other freshly prepared dishes.

It was in May 2018, when we visited the one located in the Mazaikai town. 

Starter plate at Charlie Pizza in Mazeikiai, Lithuania

Lithuanian Cepelinai served at Charlie Pizza

Cepelinai or didžkukuliai (singular: cepelinas) is a popular dish in Lithuania. They are a type of dumpling made from grated and riced potatoes and usually stuffed with ground meat, although sometimes dry cottage cheese (curd) or mushrooms are used instead. So named because their shape resembles that of a Zeppelin airship, cepelinai are typically around 10–20 cm long, although the size depends on where they are made: in the western counties of Lithuania cepelinai are made bigger than in the east. After boiling, the cepelinai are served with sour cream sauce and bacon or pork rinds.

A burger at Charlie Pizza

You'll find Charlie Pizza at most of the larger cities of Lithuania: Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda, Siauliai, Panevezys, Alytus, Utena, Mazeikiai, Radviliskis and Plunge.

In Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda and Siauliai are established 7 CHARLIE KIDS areas - safe and friendly for children playgrounds where the little ones can have fun while their parents are enjoying dinner.

Fluffy Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

1 March, 2019 | Food blogger | 10 seen

On January 13th, 2019 little baby Fischer girl turned 6-month old, to celebrate it, we enjoyed a lovely Old New Year's Fireworks in Tbilisi and momma baked tasty fluffy lemon/raspberry cupcakes.

Lemon / raspberry cupcakes

Ingredients & Instructions

(Source: LEMON RASPBERRY CUPCAKES) 
LEMON CUPCAKES

• 6 tbsp (84g), unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cups (155g) sugar
• 6 tbsp (86g) sour cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups (163g) all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 4 tbsp (60ml) milk
• 2 tbsp (30ml) water
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

RASPBERRY FROSTING

• 4 oz (113g) raspberries
• 1/2 cup (112g) salted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (95g) shortening
• 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar
• Raspberries, for topping
• Lemon slices, for topping

INSTRUCTIONS

Lemon / raspberry cupcakes to celebrate baby girls 6-month anniversary 

'Is tourism harming Venice?' DW Documentary

28 February, 2019 | Documentaries | 39 seen

Venice is threatened by mass tourism. Some 30 million visitors a year come to the city in Italy, making their way through the narrow streets.

it has been a while since we returned from our latest Italy trip, back at the end of 2015 and start of 2016. We greeted the New year of 2016 in Venice's St Mark square, the place which was so overcrowded that the only way to make decent photography of cathedral was using long exposure photography.

With staying overnight at Hotel Guerrini in the city center without heating I didn't feel welcomed very much here in Venice. Now, I have never been a fan of AirBnb, and I agree it should be somehow limited and more regulated.

With an infrastructure more and more tailored to the needs of tourism, the city’s remaining residents feel left behind. During high season an influx of up to 130 thousand tourists a day means the city authorities have scant resources to cater for the more mundane needs of residents. A constant flotilla of small boats ferries passengers between city landing stages and giant cruise liners moored in the lagoon. Air quality in Venice is often worse than busy city centers. Within the last generation, the number of residents has dropped by nearly a third. The Rialto Bridge and St Mark’s Square have become the main attractions in this Venetian Theme park providing locals with jobs in the tourist sector, but little else. Rents are sky high, Airbnb rules the roost.

More and more historical buildings have been taken over by hotels. Shops, bars, and restaurant cater almost exclusively to tourists. But residents are fighting back and now there are over 30 local initiatives trying to stem the tides of mass tourism.

Watch this documentary on YouTube

Highest Deposit Rates in the World by Country 2019

27 February, 2019 | Macroeconomics | 77 seen

There are many options to consider when looking to grow your hard earned money - stocks, bonds, the relatively new peer to peer lending, and of course -  bank savings or deposits.

As a small and growing investor, I'm always looking for a higher yield investment, and despite deposits doesn't fit in my wealth building strategy, I have made some money in the past. 

In 2019 I would favor peer to peer lending marketplace like Mintos.com over the hustle of opening a foreign bank account in a distant country just to chase a higher deposit rate. 

• How To Open A Bank Account in U.S., As A Non-resident Non - citizen, Wells Fargo Bank
• Opening a Bank Account in Republic of Georgia

Both individuals and entities can invest through Mintos. Individual investors must be at least 18 years old, have a bank account in the European Union or third countries currently considered to have AML/CFT systems equivalent to the EU, and have their identity successfully verified by Mintos. At the moment, US citizens or taxpayers cannot register as investors at Mintos.

Affiliate link here: Sign up to Mintos.com here. By using this affiliate link for registration both you and I will receive — 1% of your average daily balance which should be paid in 3 installments for the first 90 days.

Remember - investments are risky, never invest more you can afford to lose.

According to the deposits.org research, these following countries offer the highest deposit rates in 2019 in national currencies.

Deposits.org provides the largest marketplace for retail interest bearing products for deposits, personal loans, home loans, credit cards, savings, SME financing and other exotic investment opportunities. We are the one-stop comprehensive reference for international financing and investment

Please note, in most case, a higher interest rate means higher inflation in a country

Data source: World Deposit Rates

When speaking about higher deposit rates in 2019, we can highlight the following regions and countries:  Former Soviet Union countries (Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan), Middle East, South Asia, and South America

As a foreigner living in Georgia, I've been using Georgia's banks in the past for savings, though I have got a very negative experience when dealing with national currencies - they are volatile. My February Savings Report - GEL Loses Another 16.5% Against USD; -17% Against EUR

As you can see in the above table, in some countries the inflation rate is far greater than the interest rate (Iran, Ukraine, Syria, Egypt, Vietnam).

I would be cautious when depositing in national currencies.

Here is the map visualizing countries and regions with the highest deposit rates in the World in 2019

Highest deposit rates around the World 2019

Now, let's see how about deposits in a more stable USD currency:

Data source: World Deposit Rates

Now, this looks more interesting (despite lower interest rate) - in 2019, you could get up to 5% in deposit rates.

On the other hand, countries with highest interest rates are politically and economically unstable, by choosing to deposit at one of the above-listed countries you could actually lose some or all of your savings (in case the bank goes bankrupt).

it's interesting to note that interest rates have lowered in countries like Ukraine and Georgia if compared to 2018.

Documentary - Scammed: Investment Fraud Revealed

26 February, 2019 | Documentaries | 9 seen

Interesting documentary about fraudulent investment schemes in Indiana, US.

From Wall Street to Main Street in cities and towns across Indiana…anyone with money to invest is vulnerable to financial fraud.

Business professionals we thought were trustworthy sometimes lie, cheat, and steal for their own personal gain.

In this documentary, we reveal criminal cases in which fraudsters bilked Hoosiers of millions of dollars. We’ll find out how investors were scammed by deals that sounded too good to be true or by sharing an affinity with the perpetrator. We’ll hear how the scams unraveled, learn from past mistakes, and discover how to prevent future financial fraud through education and recognizing warning signs.

Watch on YouTube