Tag Archives: Georgia

Kazakhstan falls in corruption rankings

DEC. 7 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – It is dry, that’s for sure, but Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index is also a decent benchmark of how countries are dealing with corruption in their systems — an issue that foreign investors, local businessmen, politicians and economists follow closely.

The 2012 edition makes for interesting reading on Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Topping the table for the region is, again, Georgia at 51st place in the 176 country list. Armenia is next at 105th position, alongside the likes of the Philippines and Mexico.

Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan occupy 133 position with Russia and then follows Kyrgyzstan (154) and Tajikistan (157). Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan prop up the table in 170th position. Behind them lie only Somalia, North Korea, Sudan, Afghanistan and Myanmar.

And the big changes from last year? Well, Georgia continues to rise through the ranks, it was placed in 64th position last year, and Armenia has also jumped forward, from 129th in 2011. Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan have also improved their rankings, slightly.

Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have remained fairly consistent.

By comparison, though, the biggest faller from the Central Asia and South Caucasus region was Kazakhstan which fell 13 places in the rankings from 120th position in 2011.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 116, published on Dec. 7 2012)

Clinton criticises Georgia’s new government

NOV. 29 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – At her first meeting with her new Georgian counterpart, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton publicly criticised Georgia’s new government for arresting several officials linked closely to the previous government. The previous government has described the arrests as a witch-hunt against them.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 115, published on Nov. 30 2012)

Ashton visits Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan

NOV. 26-30 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy representative, completed a whirlwind tour of Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. On her travels she met with opposition leaders as well as the heads of states. Her office said she discussed bilateral cooperation as well as human rights.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 115, published on Nov. 30 2012)

Georgian police makes more arrests

NOV. 16 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Georgia arrested more senior officials, mainly linked to the opposition, throughout the week in an operation some have described as a witch-hunt by the new government. Highlighting the alarm felt by Georgia’s foreign allies, the US publicly asked the authorities to stop the arrests.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 114, published on Nov. 23 2012)

Georgia’s opposition leader returns

NOV. 20 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – After five years in exile, Georgia’s former defence minister Irakli Okruashvili returned to Tbilisi to face accusations of bribe-taking and forming an illegal armed group. Mr Okruashvili had been an ally of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili before becoming an opposition leader in 2007 and then fleeing.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 114, published on Nov. 23 2012)

Georgia’s Poti workers end strike

NOV. 11 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Workers at the Black Sea port of Poti, in Georgia, ended their strike after management agreed to raise their wages by 20%. The workers had gone on strike on Nov. 1. Poti is a vital transit point along the transport corridor that shifts goods and energy supplies between Europe and Asia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 113, published on Nov. 16 2012)

Georgian police arrests ministers

Nov. 15 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Georgia arrested nine more interior ministry officials linked closely with the previous United National Movement party (UNM) government for abuse of power. Senior NATO and EU officials have expressed their concern at the arrests which UNM leaders likened to a witch hunt.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 113, published on Nov. 16 2012)

Georgia’s new PM visits Brussels

NOV. 12/14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Making a statement of intent on where he wants to lead Georgia, the country’s new PM, Bidzina Ivanishvili, made his first overseas trip since winning an election last month to Brussels where he met the head of NATO and the EU. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili visited Brussels at the same time on a separate trip.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 113, published on Nov. 16 2012)

EBRD to invest in Georgia’s retail market

Nov. 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Showing confidence in Georgia’s retail market, the EBRD said it had agreed to lend Smart Supermarkets, a relatively new chain of local convenience stores, $26m. The loan will be used to build a distribution centre and open 28 new shops across the country, mainly in residential areas.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 113, published on Nov. 16 2012)

Georgia arrests military chiefs

NOV. 9 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Politics in Georgia often carries a dramatic flavour and the arrest of Bacho Akhalaia, a former defence minister; Brigadier General Giorgi Kalandadze, the head of Georgia’s military; and Zurab Shamatava, a senior commander fits this mould perfectly.

Police arrested them allegedly for physically abusing six soldiers in Oct. 2011. The soldiers were sacked later that year for attempted mutiny.

Allies of Mr Akhalaia, who served as defence minister from Sept. 2009 to July 2012 before becoming the interior minister for a few months, were furious. They accused the new government of starting a witch-hunt against members of the previous administration.

Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, whose United National Movement party (UNM) lost a parliamentary election last month to a coalition lead by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, said the arrests had been politically motivated. The UNM’s MPs walked out of parliament.

Mr Ivanishvili is now Georgia’s PM but Mr Saakashvili remains the president until an election in about a year’s time. The arrests and the reaction to these arrests show the strain this uneasy partnership is already under.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 112, published on Nov. 9 2012)