Tag Archives: Georgia

Election in Georgia sparks power game

OCT. 27 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has dominated Georgian politics for a decade, will leave office on Nov. 17. A week later his arch-foe, billionaire PM Bidzina Ivanishvili also plans to step down.

Mr Saakashvili’s replacement as president is former academic Giorgi Margvelashvili, Ivanishvili’s handpicked candidate in an Oct. 27 presidential election.

However, Mr Margvelashvili will largely be a figurehead. Under constitutional amendments that come into force on the day of his inauguration, broad powers pass to the PM.

With Mr Ivanishvili quitting as PM a year after winning a parliamentary election to begin what he says will be a campaign to strengthen civil society, Georgians are still guessing who will run the country.

Mr Ivanishvili, whose ruling Georgian Dream coalition will officially nominate the incoming PM before a vote in parliament, has said he will announce his decision later this week.

The two likeliest choices are health minister Davit Sergeenko, a doctor who previously ran the hospital in Ivanishvili’s hometown, and interior minister Irakli Garibashvili, a confidant of the PM who once headed his charity fund. Neither were widely known before they joined the cabinet.

But whoever becomes PM, Mr Ivanishvili has made it clear that he will retain a degree of control

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

Accusations arise ahead of election in Georgia

OCT. 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — On the eve of a presidential election, Georgia’s PM Bidzina Ivanishvili has called outgoing President Mikheil Saakashvili a “political corpse” and said that he could be prosecuted for alleged abuses during his 10 years in office, media reported. Georgia holds a presidential election on Oct. 27.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 157, published on Oct. 23 2013)

Russia lifts ban on Georgian fruit imports

OCT. 14 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia lifted a ban on fruit imports from Georgia, a further sign of improving relations. In 2006, Russia banned fruit from Georgia, officially because of poor hygiene. Most analysts, though, said the ban was in retaliation for the expulsion from Tbilisi of four soldiers for spying.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 156, published on Oct. 16 2013)

Georgia withdraws from 2014 Winter Olympics

OCT. 7 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Georgian government said it may withdraw its team from the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia after a Russian soldier who fought in the 2008 against Georgia was named as one of the torch bearers. Georgia had said it wouldn’t send a team to Sochi but the government of PM Bidzina Ivanishvili reversed this.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)

Georgians support Saakashvili

OCT. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Around 12,000 supporters turned out for a rally in Tbilisi by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, media reported, one of the biggest of the year. A presidential election is scheduled for Oct. 27. Mr Saakashvili is ineligible for the election but the rally will act as a major show of support for his candidate.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)

Margvelashvili supported in election poll in Georgia

SEPT. 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A poll by the US group National Democratic Institute (NDI) said 39% of Georgians want Giorgi Margvelashvili, candidate of PM Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream coalition, to be the next president. The candidate of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s United Movement Party, David Bakradze, polled 18%. A presidential election in Georgia is set for Oct. 27.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 154, published on Oct. 2 2013)

Georgia becomes holiday destination for Iraqis and Iranians

BATUMI/Georgia, OCT. 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The rain lashed down. It turned Batumi’s roads into streams and sent tourists scuttling for cover. Sudden downpours are part of the summer scene at this resort town on Georgia’s Black Sea coast but it still takes unsuspecting tourists by surprise.

And it’s an eclectic mix of tourists. There are Georgians, Russians, Kazakhs and other tourists from the former Soviet Union, as well as Western backpackers and businessmen.

Then there are the Iraqis and Iranians. Georgia’s tourism agency said 10,811 Iraqis and 11,032 Iranians entered the country in August. After visitors from the former Soviet Union and Turkey, Iraqis and Iranians are the two biggest groups.

An investigation by the Wall Street Journal earlier this year said Iranian businessman, who until recently didn’t need a visa to enter Georgia, were setting up Georgian companies to avoid US sanctions. Possibly, but many Iranian and Iraqi visitors are going to Georgia to holiday.

There are now direct flights to Tbilisi from Tehran, Baghdad, Erbil in Kurdish Iraq and Basra on the Iraqi Persian Gulf. From Tbilisi, Batumi is an easy five hours by train.

In central Batumi three rather rotund Iraqi men had taken advantage of a break in the rain to dash into a barber shop. They grinned and sat down to wait their turn.

“Georgia is great. Very calm and relaxing,” one of the men said.

ENDS
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(Correspondent’s Notebook from Issue No. 154, published on Oct. 2 2013)

Georgia’s PM creates a new private equity fund

SEPT. 30 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — It can be useful having a billionaire as your PM.

This year foreign direct investment in Georgia has slumped. This is bad news for Georgian PM Bidzina Ivanishvili who pledged that FDI would increase after he won a parliamentary election last October. It’s bad news also for the Georgia; FDI is a major cornerstone of the economy.

In September, Georgia’s foreign minister, Nodar Khaduri, said FDI this year would probably be around $1b, half the initial estimate.

Political instability is likely the main cause of foreigners’ reticence to invest. A presidential election, that could be genuinely destabilising, is set for Oct. 27.

So, Mr Ivanishvili has come up with a solution. On Sept. 30 he announced a $6b private equity fund that would invest in the country. He personally will, reportedly, pledge $1b to the fund. The other main investors are Dhabi Group and Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) as well as Turkish, Chinese and Kazakh investment funds.

Of the $6b, half will be invested in the energy sector and the rest in manufacturing and tourism.

Coming less than a month before the election, this is a clever ploy from Mr Ivanishvili. Time will tell, though, whether the fund is just a vote winner or a genuine investment vehicle.

(News report from Issue No. 154, published on Oct. 2 2013)

Georgia predicts fewer investments

SEPT. 18 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia halved its prediction of foreign direct investment this year, a crucial pillar of the Georgian economy. In an interview with Reuters, Georgian finance minister Nodar Khaduri said that political uncertainty after a change of government in 2013 and a presidential election next month were worrying investors.

(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)

Presidential candidates confirmed in Georgia

SEPT. 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s central election commission confirmed that 23 people had registered for its Oct. 27 presidential election. The two main contenders are Giorgi Margvelashvili from PM Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream coalition and David Bakradze from President Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement party.

(News report from Issue No. 153, published on Sept. 25 2013)