Tag Archives: Georgia

Georgian government and opposition restart election reform talks

FEB. 27 2020 (The Bulletin) — Mediated by the US embassy in Tbilisi, the Georgian Dream coalition government and Georgian opposition parties re-started stalled negotiations on electoral reform. There had been four previous rounds of negotiations from November when the Georgian Dream downgraded efforts to bring in proportional representation ahead of a parliamentary election this year. The opposition walked out of talks at the start of February after the detention of one of its leaders.
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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Council of Europe summit move to Strasbourg from Tbilisi

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FEB. 26 2020 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s government abandoned plans to host the 130th session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Tbilisi on May 15 because of concerns that the attendance of Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov would spark potentially violent anti-Russia demonstrations. Instead, the session will be held in Strasbourg. Georgia currently holds the rotating chair of the 47-member Council of Europe and the Ministers’ Committee was supposed to be a prestige international event in Tbilisi.
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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Russia denies that it launched cyberattack against Georgia

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FEB. 21 2020 (The Bulletin) — Russia denied accusations made in February by Britain and the US that it was behind a massive cyber-attack against Georgia in October 2019 that paralysed thousands of websites. “This is synchronised propaganda organised by Washington, London, Tbilisi and others,” it said in a statement.
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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Police tear down protesters’ tents in Tbilisi

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DEC. 312019 (The Bulletin) — Rights activists accused the police in Georgia of using the pretext of New Year’s Eve celebrations to dismantle anti-government demonstrations. The protesters had maintained a camp outside Georgia’s parliament since November when MPs voted against backing their demands for election reform. Police said that nine people were arrested during the operation.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

South Ossetia releases Georgian doctor

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DEC. 28 2019 (The Bulletin) — Separatist forces controlling the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia released Vazha Gaprindashvili, a senior Georgian doctor, after holding him since Nov. 9 for crossing into the province illegally. They had given him a prison sentence of one year and nine months on Dec. 20 but had then changed their minds and released him. Tension has been rising around the breakaway region. Russia backs its independence but only a handful of other Russian proxies have backed the Kremlin. Dr Gaprindashvili, head of Georgia’s association of orthopaedics and traumatologists, said that he had done nothing wrong in trying to reach a patient in South Ossetia on Nov. 8 as he does not recognise its independence.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Abkhazian leader reigns after protests

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JAN. 12 2020 (The Bulletin) — The leader of the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia, Raul Khajimba, resigned after protesters stormed the presidential administration building. They accused Mr Khajimba of fabricating victory in an election last year. Abkhazia is essentially a Russian vassal state, with Russian military bases. The Kremlin and a handful of allies have recognised its independence since a Russia-Georgia war in 2008.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Tourism to Tbilisi grows 16%

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TBILISI/Jan. 6 2020 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s capital city is reaping the results of a major PR push to promote it as one of the must-do travel destinations for 2019 with the government saying that tourist numbers have increased by nearly 16% from 2018.

The main increase comes from Europe and tallies with a rise in the number of flights from Europe to Georgia. There has also been an increase in the number of flights into Georgia from the Middle East, where Georgia is advertised as a cool European-style destination to escape to from the hot Arab summers.

Georgia wants to increase its visitor numbers next year also and to push tourists towards its resorts in the Caucasus mountains and along the Black Sea coast.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Georgia cancels project to build deep sea port at Anaklia

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TBILISI/Jan. 9 2020 (The Bulletin) — The Georgian government cancelled a $2.5b contract to build Georgia’s largest deep-water port at Anaklia on the Black Sea because it said that finances for the consortium which had taken on the project were too flimsy.

Critics of the government, though, accused it of turning the country’s biggest infrastructure projects into a political weapon. One of the key consortium partners is TBC Bank which was set up by Mamuka Khazaradze who is currently standing trial, accused of corruption.

“The Anaklia Port Project is owned by the state, it is not owned by any private investors,” Maia Tskitishvili, Georgia’s minister for regional development and infrastructure, said when she announced that the contract, held by the Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC), would be cancelled . “By the end of 2020, we had to have a port in operation but as you can see, we will not get this result.”

She said ADC, led by TBC Bank had failed to replenish capital of $120m or attract a loan of $400m from international banks. ADC disagreed, though, and said that it had secured loan pledges from international banks such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). It said that these pledges had been undermined because the government had failed to guarantee to potential investors that they would get their money back is the project collapsed.

ADC said it would take the government to arbitration over the Anaklia contract.
Georgia has framed this project, conceived in 2014 under the current Georgian Dream coalition, as a vital piece of infrastructure needed to boost its status on the east-west transit corridor that China has dubbed the Belt and Road project.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

US warns Georgia that it must improve its commitment to democracy

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TBILISI/DEC. 24 2019 (The Bulletin) — The United States told Georgia’s government that it had to improve its commitment to democracy after weeks of anti-government protests and a counter-demonstration organised by the Georgian Dream coalition.

The intervention into the domestic politics of the US’ most loyal regional ally will be seen as a blow to Georgia leader Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country’s richest man and the architect of the Georgian Dream coalition.

In a statement, the US State Department said that it supported dialogue between opposition groups and the government.

“We urge the Georgian government to reinforce its commitment to the principles of democracy, individual liberty, and rule of law by ensuring that its judicial and prosecutorial system is free of political bias,” it said.

Rights groups have said that the Georgian Dream government has started to use the courts to pursue personal vendettas, allegations that the Georgian Dream government has denied. Opposition groups also accuse the Georgian Dream government of trying to interfere with the appointment of Supreme Court judges.

But a senior Georgian Dream official brushed off the implied criticism in the US statement.
“Anyone who can read this statement knows very well that it is actually supportive,” said Irakli Kobakhidze, the Georgian Dream executive secretary.

Protesters have demonstrated since MPs voted last month against backing plans to introduce proportional representation at next year’s parliamentary election. The government, though, in an attempted to compromise has said that the number of MPs elected by a first-past-the-post system will be reduced at the election.

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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Georgia’s TBC Bank launches consumer finance products in Uzbekistan

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DEC. 20 2019 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s TBC Bank has launched a consumer finance services trial in Uzbekistan, media reported, part of its drive to expand its international operations. Earlier this year, TBC Bank bought the Payme Uzbekistan-based digital payment service. It said that its consumer finance products are currently limited to electronic and furniture items at their ‘point-of-sale’.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019