JUNE 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The authorities in Georgia seized several stakes in financial companies belonging to opposition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili because they said he has refused to pay a multi-million dollar fine imposed earlier this month. The move will raise political tension ahead of a parliamentary election later this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 094, published on June 29 2012)
JUNE 20 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Battling to fight falling consumer prices, Georgia’s central bank cut interest rates to 5.75% from 6%. This was the third monthly interest rate cut and reflects a regional trend. Countries in the South Caucasus and Central Asia are trying to stem deflation, or slowing inflation, with interest rate cuts.
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(News report from Issue No. 093, published on June 22 2012)
JUNE 19 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Capital Group Company, owned by Russians Dmitri Korzhev and Dmirtri Troitsky, has bought a copper ore and gold mine in Georgia from GeoProMining for $120m, media reported. Capital Group Company already owns a mine in Armenia. Despite political animosity, Georgia and Russia have close business links.
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(News report from Issue No. 093, published on June 22 2012)
MAY 30 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – An explosion damaged a major pipeline pumping gas from Azerbaijan’s Caspian Sea coast to Erzurum in eastern Turkey, knocking it out of action for 10 days, news agencies quoted sources as saying. It is unclear what triggered the explosion on the pipeline, an important export route for Azerbaijan’s gas.
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(News report from Issue No. 090, published on June 1 2012)
MAY 25 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Hours after hearing that its bid to host the 2020 summer Olympic Games had been rejected, Azerbaijan announced that it would prepare a joint bid with Georgia to host the 2020 European soccer championship. The soccer tournament is one of the biggest in the world and would involve major investment in infrastructure.
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(News report from Issue No. 090, published on June 1 2012)
MAY 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tens of thousands of people protesting against Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili rallied in Tbilisi. This was the largest anti-government demonstration in Georgia since 2009 and showed the depth of support that billionaire opposition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili has generated.
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(News report from Issue No. 090, published on June 1 2012)
MAY 24 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s government delayed plans to list its national railway company on the London Stock Exchange because of poor market conditions. Concerns over the Eurozone and a disappointing stock market debut for Facebook have unnerved investors. Georgian PM Nika Gilauri said the government still planned to list the railway company when the market improves.
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(News report from Issue No. 089, published on May 25 2012)
MAY 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A group of around 20 people attempted a rare gay pride march through the centre of Tbilisi until Christian activists and priests blocked their path and smashed their placards, media reported. The incident highlights Georgia’s deeply conservative society. Homosexuality is still a taboo subject.
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(News report from Issue No. 089, published on May 25 2012)
MAY 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Georgian Central Bank cut interest rates to 6% from 6.25%, its second interest rate cut in two months, to try and counter the country’s slowing economy. Consumer prices in April were 2.1% lower than a year earlier, the third consecutive month of deflation.
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(News report from Issue No. 089, published on May 25 2012)
MAY 12 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Five people died in Tbilisi after heavy rain caused a canal to overflow and flood a suburb of the town. The deaths highlight the poor housing, likened by some local media to slums, which some Tbilisi residents live in. News agencies had earlier reported that the Mtkvari River, that runs through central Tbilisi, had flooded but the authorities denied this.
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(News report from Issue No. 088, published on May 18 2012)