MAY 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Three Georgian soldiers died in Afghanistan when a suicide bomber attacked their base in Helmand province in the south of the country, media reported. Pro-West Georgia has been a stalwart supporter of NATO’s war in Afghanistan. Media reported that 22 Georgian soldiers have now died in Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 135, published on May 20 2013)
MAY 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Orthodox demonstrators attacked a small gay rights march in Tbilisi, injuring several activists. The attack showed Georgian society’s conservative leanings which can collide with the country’s drive towards the more liberal West. Human rights groups accused police of failing to protect gay rights activists.
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(News report from Issue No. 135, published on May 20 2013)
MAY 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rate to 4.25% from 4.5%, the third cut this year, because of falling price data, media reported. In January, Georgia’s interest rate had been set at 5.25%. Data shows steady consumer price deflation since then, however, although the government still targets annual inflation of 3%.
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(News report from Issue No. 135, published on May 20 2013)
MAY 3 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prices in Georgia continue to fluctuate wildly. In the 12 months to end-April, the national statistics agency reported that Georgia’s economy experienced average deflation of around 1.7%, mainly pulled down by a large drop in fuel and food prices. Three years ago, annualised inflation was around 14%.
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(News report from Issue No. 134, published on May 6 2013)
MAY 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Pushing aside its disagreements, Georgia said it would send a team to the Winter Olympics in Russia next year. Relations between Georgia and Russia have improved steadily since a war in 2008 although the Georgian Olympic Committee had considered boycotting the Winter Games, set to be hosted by Sochi on the Black Sea coast.
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(News report from Issue No. 134, published on May 6 2013)
APRIL 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili attracted roughly 10,000 people to his first major rally in Tbilisi since his party, the United National Movement (UNM), lost a parliamentary election in October. Mr Saakashvili is locked in an increasingly acrimonious fight with Georgian PM Bidzina Ivanishvili.
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(News report from Issue No. 132, published on April 22 2013)
APRIL 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian fizzy water brand Borjomi will be back on sale in restaurants, bars and shops across Russia after the Russian health authorities lifted their seven year ban. Analysts had interpreted the ban as a political move by Russia. In December, Russian investment company Alpha Group bought a controlling stake in Borjomi.
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(News report from Issue No. 131, published on April 12 2013)
APRIL 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili broke his shoulder when he fell off a bicycle during a morning workout on a trip to Istanbul, media reported quoting Georgia’s presidential press service. The accident, a day earlier, forced Mr Saakashvili to emergency surgery.
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(News report from Issue No. 131, published on April 12 2013)
APRIL 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Disagreements between the local authorities in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia and their Russian sponsors do exist, but Russia effectively controls the province through its military presence and financial support, the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank said in a new report. The views of the ICG, which is based in Brussels, are influential.
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(News report from Issue No. 131, published on April 12 2013)
APRIL 1 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Tbilisi arrested three men for holding a radioactive isotope that could be used to make a so-called dirty bomb, media reported. Police did not give the nationalities of the men. The Georgian authorities have previously arrested people in Tbilisi for selling elements needed to make a radioactive bomb.
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(News report from Issue No. 130, published on April 5 2013)