Tag Archives: Georgia

BP says it is close to deal on TANAP pipeline

MARCH 25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Giving a boost to the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline project (TANAP), BP said it was close to a deal to become one of its stakeholders.

In an interview with Reuters, Chris Schlueter, BP country manager in Georgia, said good progress on a deal had been made.

“We are very, very close,” he said. “I think (we will sign the deal) in the next two months.”

Shares in BP rose on the news.

TANAP is seen as a vital plank of the EU’s future energy policy, diversifying away from Russia. It will carry Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian Sea, across Georgia, Turkey and the Balkans to central Europe.

Analysts have said that they consider it vital that, alongside Turkish and Azerbaijani companies, BP is a major shareholder in the project.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Georgia’s economy grew in 2014, says stat office

MARCH 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Officially, Georgia’s economy grew by 4.8% in 2014, up from 3.3% in 2013, the Georgian national statistics office said. Georgia has been enjoying growth for a few years. Economists have predicted a slowdown, though, because of a regional economic trough.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 224, published on March 25 2015)

Visitor numbers to Georgia drops

MARCH 14 2015 (The Bulletin) – Georgia received nearly 8% less visitors in January and February this year compared to the same period last year, media reported quoting government figures. Some analysts blamed the drop on tightened visa regulations for visitors from China, Iran, Iraq and Egypt.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

Hyatt says it expects to open a hotel in Tbilisi

MARCH 17 2015 (The Bulletin) – Hyatt Hotels said that it expects to open a new hotel in Tbilisi by 2017. The announcement will be a boost to Georgia’s tourist and foreign business sectors.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

Georgians relish rugby win over Russia

TBILISI, March 14 2015 (The Bulletin) – “We love rugby. We love Lelos!” a crowd of almost 30,000 roared when Georgia scored yet another try in the final minutes of this Georgia-Russia rugby match.

The final score against Russia was a crushing 33-0 win. Georgia’s Lelos — named after lelo, a Georgian folk sport similar to rugby — haven’t lost to Russia’s Bears since 1993, a run of wins that their fans will gleefully tell you about.

Georgia has a strong rugby team and will play against New Zealand, Argentina, Tonga and Namibia in this year’s World Cup in England.

Although the head coach of the Lelos, New Zealander Milton Haig, has said there is no difference who the opponent is, it is clear for the crowd that it matters. They want to see Georgia beat, smash even, the Russian team.

For the match against Russia, Tbilisi’s Mikheil Meskhi stadium was packed with Georgian fans, waiting for Georgia to crush Russia in front of their eyes. People also waved Ukrainian blue and yellow flags, underlining the anti-Russian feeling in the crowd.

On the rugby pitch, at least, Georgia and Ukraine can get their own back at Russia.

Last year Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and has been sponsoring rebels in the east of the country in an ongoing civil war. In 2008, Russia defeated Georgia in a small war which concreted its control over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“It’s solidarity,” explained a young Georgian fan, before joining the crowd shouting “Putin khuylo!” and “Abkhazia is ours!”. The Kremlin has tighten its grip over parts of Georgia this year but Georgian rugby fans can still relish in their superiority over Russia.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

Ex-Georgian PM Ivanishvili says will launch TV show

MARCH 14 2015 (The Bulletin) – Former Georgian PM Bidzina Ivanishvili said that he will launch a TV show, media reported. Although he will not host the show, he will be a semi-regular guest on it. His opponents have said that Mr Ivanishvili is trying to influence people through his TV appearances.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

Putin signs treaty with S.Ossetia

MARCH 18 2015 (The Bulletin) – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia that underlined the Kremlin’s alliance with the rebel state. Georgia has previously said Russian moves to solidify its hold on South Ossetia and Abkhazia are a breach of international law.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

Georgian government sells Batumi Tower

MARCH 18 2015 (The Bulletin) – The Georgian government sold the 35-storey Batumi Tower for $25.4m to a development company, generating much needed cash and ridding itself of one of former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s pet projects.

The blue and white tower with a golden ferris wheel set halfway up one of its sides has always generated wonder and ridicule.

Mr Saaskhvili, who was Georgian president from 2003 until 2013, had wanted the tower to serve as a Georgian-American technical university. His detractors said that it was a wasteful white elephant.

It has been unoccupied since it was finished in 2012.

Lika Glonti, an educational expert based in Tbilisi said: “I do think that this kind of building was not optimal for a university, but this is rather an issue of a taste. Selling Batumi Tower is a consequence of cancelling the idea of Batumi Technological University.”

The building was auctioned a day before the finance and economy ministries announced their plans to tackle the economic crisis. The local currency, the Lari, has fallen sharply against the dollar in the past few months and economists have revised down their economic growth predictions for this year.

A global collapse in oil prices and economic turmoil in Russia have impacted the wider former Soviet region.

On March 12, the economy ministry announced the privatisation of more assets, part of a larger three year plan to see it through the financial crisis that has swamped the region over the past few months.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

FDI in Georgia jumped 39% in 2014

MARCH 15 2015 (The Bulletin) – Preliminary data from Georgia’s statistics agency, Geostat, showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) jumped by 39% to 1.3b last year.

This is the highest level of FDI since 2008 when Georgia experienced an economic boom before a short war against Russia curtailed investor confidence in the country.

Geostat wasn’t able to give specific reasons for the sharp increase in FDI in 2014. FDI is vitally important in Georgia and the statistics showed how Georgia’s economic conditions had improved this year.

The data, though, doesn’t reflect the worsening economic conditions over the past months.

Economic turmoil in Russia and a drop in the price of oil have hit the region, knocking growth rates and denting currencies. This has trickled through to Georgia. FDI levels are expected to fall again this year.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)

Small scale political fighting breaks out in Tbilisi

MARCH 16 2015 (The Bulletin) – Several people were injured during a fight between activists of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition and activists of the opposition United National Movement party in the city of Zugdidi, media reported. The fight highlights worsening political climate in Georgia. A large opposition march is planned for Tbilisi on March 21.
ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 223, published on March 18 2015)