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Street selling banned in Tbilisi, Georgia


Street selling has been banned in Tbilisi.

In Tbilisi, there are currently 15,000 people selling their goods in markets and closed trading facilities and about 4,000 people selling their goods in the streets. In the streets, they sell cigarettes, clothes, shoes, honey, jewelry, and all sorts of paraphernalia.

The mayor of Georgia has announced to the 4,000 street vendors that they must move to closed trading facilities. The existing market traders called for a ban on street vending because it was harming the business of legitimate market traders. The fear was that, if their markets continue to decline in profitibility, then they too would become street vendors. The Mayor's Office said, "What would the streets of Tbilisi look like if that reallly happens? This is the right way, as they will be able to maintain their jobs on one hand and the environment will be clean and the sanitary situation improved on the other hand."

The process of moving street vendors off the streets began on Tuesday this week: August 10. In order to cater for the move, the Mayor's Office has constructed several trading facilities around town that can cater for up to 6,000 vendors.

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