JUNE 28 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Georgia arrested several more officials linked to the previous government of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s UNM party. UNM members have said the accusations of corruption are false. The row highlights political instability in Georgia.
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(News report from Issue No. 141, published on July 1 2013)
JUNE 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate to 4% from 4.25% to try to stem falling consumer prices. This is the fourth interest rate cut by Georgia’s central bank this year. Falling consumer prices in Georgia illustrate the economic problems facing the wider region.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
JUNE 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Foreign investment in Georgia, an important resource for the country, increased in Q1 2013 to $226m from $181m in Q4 2012, data from the national statistics agency showed. Reuters has previously reported that political fighting between President Mikheil Saakashvili and PM Bidzina Ivanishvili was deterring investors.
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(News report from Issue No. 139, published on June 17 2013)
JUNE 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Irakli Alasania, Georgia’ defence minister, said the two military bases in Afghanistan where suicide bombers have killed 10 Georgian soldiers in the past month would close. He said the closures would improve security but none of the 1,500 Georgian soldiers would be withdrawn.
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(News report from Issue No. 139, published on June 17 2013)
JUNE 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Nino Burjanadze, Georgia’s former parliamentary speaker and once an ally of President Mikheil Saakashvili, said she will run in October’s presidential election. Ms Burjanadze has a high profile and will be a potential threat to candidates put forward by Mr Saakasvhili’s party and by PM Bidzina Ivanishvili.
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(News report from Issue No. 139, published on June 17 2013)
JUNE 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Political fighting between Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and his main rival PM Bidzina Ivanishvili has dented foreign investment in Georgia, Reuters reported by quoting several foreign businessmen and official statistics.
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(News report from Issue No. 138, published on June 10 2013)
JUNE 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has made joining NATO, the US-led military alliance, one of the cornerstones of his foreign policy.
Mr Saakashvili has vigorously supported NATO’s war in Afghanistan. There was no internal threat to Georgia from Islamic radicals trained by the Taliban, the initial reason for Western armies to march into Afghanistan. Mr Saakashvili’s motive was purely geo-political.
Georgia has 1,600 soldiers in Afghanistan, the highest number of all non-NATO members, stationed mainly in Helmand province, one of the more restless areas. Considering the commitment, Georgian casualties had been relatively light. That, though, has changed.
On June 6, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Georgian military base, killing seven soldiers. This was the largest single loss of life to NATO forces this year. Last month three Georgian soldiers died in a similar attack. Since 2010, 27 Georgian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, according to the website icasualties.org.
The official reaction was one of defiance and Georgia’s defence minister Irakli Alasania broke off a trip to Brussels to visit soldiers in Afghanistan. On the streets of Tbilisi support for the war is still strong too but this may be beginning to change.
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(News report from Issue No. 138, published on June 10 2013)
MAY 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian police arrested and charged two Orthodox priests with leading attacks on a gay rights parade on May 17, media reported. The attacks brought condemnation from Georgia’s Western allies and tarnished the country’s reputation for liberal thinking.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
MAY 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Consumer markets in Central Asia and the South Caucasus region are maturing, as Tesco, the British supermarket chain, has realised.
Or at least, consumer markets in some of the region’s countries are maturing.
Tesco’s clothing department, which trades under the brand name F&F, announced that it planned to open various franchise stores across the Middle East, Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
Specifically it said that F&F would open a store in Astana, the Kazakh capital by the end of June, to be followed by stores in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.
These will be opened through franchise agreements with Saudi Arabia-based Al Hokair and Dubai-based Futtaim.
The deal and Tesco’s intention to expand across Central Asia and the South Caucasus is important as it acts as further evidence that consumer demand in these markets is changing.
Long associated with the luxury market, Western high street brands have moved into Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, over the past couple of years and now, with the arrival of Tesco, it appears that discount brands are following.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)
MAY 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Georgia arrested ex-PM Vano Merabishvili and ex-health minister Zurab Chiaberashvili and charged them with stealing public funds. Supporters of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili say the government of PM Bidzina Ivanishvili has targeted them since winning an election in 2012.
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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)