Tag Archives: Georgia

Georgia orders Saakashvili to return

MARCH 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — It was only ever a matter of time.

Georgia’s government, a coalition called Georgian Dream that first won the 2012 parliamentary election and then the 2013 presidential election, has been going after former government ministers.

That’s the line taken by member of former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s government although the current government has said it is simply following its obligation to investigate alleged crimes.

Former ministers have been tried, and some found guilty, of corruption in what many observers have said is a witch hunt by rivals.

Now Georgia’s prosecution service has called up Mr Saakashvili for question on various cases ranging from the poisoning of a former PM to alleged government misspending and presidential pardons for convicted murderers.

The intent appears clear — to prove that Mr Saakashvili was corrupt and involved in various crimes. Last month his close ally, former PM Vano Merabishvili, was convicted of corruption and abuse of power and sentenced to five years in prison.

Mr Saakashvili has until March 27 to present himself at the prosecutor’s office in Tbilisi for questioning. He is currently in Brussels and has said that he has no intention of attending the hearing.

The United States which has been a long-term ally of Mr Saakashvili has said that it is concerned about the summons. As the United States is also a key ally of Georgia, this makes it harder for the government to pressure Mr Saakashvili into returning to Tbilisi to face awkward questions.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Old video of dead Georgian PM leaked

MARCH 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A video of former Georgian PM Zurab Zhvania lying dead in a Tbilisi flat in 2005 has surfaced on the internet, rekindling debate over how he died. A court decreed Zhvania died of carbon monoxide poisoning but this has been refuted.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Georgia’s GDP grows in Q4 2013

MARCH 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s GDP rose 7.1% in Q4 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, the statistics office said. The data is more evidence that Georgia’s economy is bouncing back after a sluggish 2011 and 2012. The Central Bank increased interest rates last month for the first time since 2011.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Georgia and Russia resume talks

MARCH 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia and Russia resumed bilateral talks in Geneva aimed at repairing relations after their brief war in 2008. Analysts had speculated that Russia’s move into Crime, Ukraine, this month may have derailed the talks. Georgia has strongly criticised Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Georgia deems Crimean vote illegal

MARCH 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili described Crimea’s referendum on independence from Ukraine as illegal, the harshest criticism of the vote yet from a former Soviet state. Two regions of Georgia — South Ossetia and Abkhazia — have held similar Russia-backed independence referendums.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)

Georgian president visits troops in Afghanistan

MARCH 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili made a surprise trip to visit Georgian soldiers in Afghanistan. Keen to boost its Western-leaning credentials, Georgia has been an enthusiastic supporter of NATO’s mission in Afghanistan. It has also pledged to help Afghanistan rebuild.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)

NATO beckons Georgia

MARCH 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s annexation of Crimea has, seemingly, changed the world order. Commentators have been discussing a new Cold War and the return of the East-West standoff. Russia’s swift, aggressive action in Crimea has scared the West.

Ironically, one country which may stand to benefit from the Crimea issue is Georgia — which Russia invaded in 2008.

Georgia is the most pro-Western of the former Soviet states of Central Asia and the South Caucasus and it has lobbied hard for membership to NATO and the EU.

But while these Western clubs have welcomed Georgia’s eagerness, they have also sounded caution while its vibrant political system went through the motions of picking a new leader.

Georgia survived the trauma of picking new leaders in 2012 and 2013, underlining its stability and credibility as a democratic nation. If this has endeared Georgia to the West, Russian action in Crimea may have nudged it even further into their arms.

Prominent commentators are now calling for Georgia to be given full membership status of NATO and the EU.

The Russian newspaper Kommersant quoted sources at NATO’s HQ in Brussels and the US State Department.

“If Russia announces annexation of the Crimea, the issue of granting Georgia a MAP (membership action plan) can be considered virtually a foregone conclusion,” Kommersant quoted an unnamed source in the US State Department as saying.

Crimea is now part of Russia. Perhaps it won’t be long before Georgia is finally part of NATO.

(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)

EBRD issues Eurobond in Georgian lari

MARCH 17 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to give Georgia’s currency a boost, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) issued its first debt in lari. The 2-year bonds were worth 50m lari ($29m). The placement appears to follow an EBRD strategy. Last month it issued 1-year bonds worth 2b Armenian drams ($5m).

(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)

Georgia backs Ukraine

MARCH 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s parliament, unsurprisingly, passed a motion calling on the West to take all necessary trade and diplomatic action “to help Ukraine amid Russian aggression”. The motion was a strong statement of where Georgia lies on the Ukraine-Crimea-Russia tug of war.

(News report from Issue No. 175, published on March 12 2014)

Georgia’s fire-fighters go on strike

MARCH 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s fire-fighters have been striking over their chief who they say is corrupt, media reported. The fire-fighters say they have lost their bonuses to their supervisors.

(News report from Issue No. 175, published on March 12 2014)