JAN. 16 (The Conway Bulletin) — An explosion in a house in Tbilisi killed four people and injured eight others. The authorities blamed the explosion on a gas leak. Campaigners have complained that the government is more interested in constructing prestige projects for businesses rather than improving living conditions for ordinary people.
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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019
JAN. 17 (The Conway Bulletin) — The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped Georgian wrestler Davit Modzmanashvili of his silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics because he failed doping tests. The IOC is re-testing urine and blood samples taken from the 2012 Olympics using the latest methods. Since 2017, Mr Modzmanashvili has represented Uzbekistan. He won a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Championships in Bishkek.
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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019
TBILISI/JAN. 9 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s Prosecutor-General confirmed that it had launched a money laundering investigation focused on a handful of transactions by the chairman and deputy chairman of London-listed TBC Bank in 2008.
It said that Mamuka Khazaradze, the TBC chairman, and Bardi Japaridze, the deputy chairman, took a $17m unsecured loan from TBC through two shell companies, Samgori Trade LLC and Samgori M LLC, which was promptly written off by the Bank and has never been repaid.
The investigation was ongoing, the Prosecutor-General said, but also that in an earlier investigation Georgia’s Financial Monitoring Service had “arrived at the conclusion that activities clearly showed the characteristics of legalisation of illegal income, i.e. money laundering, and other illicit acts.”
TBC Bank has denied any wrongdoing and said that the Central Bank investigated these transactions in 2008 and passed them off as transparent.
“We hereby categorically deny the false accusations and misleading information carefully orchestrated by the forces behind the dark PR,” TBC said.
Some allies of Mr Khazaradze said that Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s richest man and the owner of a rival bank, may be trying to discredit him.
TBC Bank is the largest retail bank in Georgia with a 38% of the loan market. Its shares fell by 5% on news of the investigation to 1,408p.
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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019
AN. 14 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia and Azerbaijan will jointly fund the construction of a new terminal at the Georgian city of Batumi on the Black Sea, media reported. The terminal will specialise in the loading and unloading minerals and fertilisers and add to the ports of entry and exit for goods moving across the South Caucasus. Reports said that US companies Wondernet Express Investments and Trammo will also invest in the project.
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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019
JAN. 4 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia earned 20% more from wine exports, an important part of both its economy and national identity, in 2018 than in 2017, the Georgian National wine Agency said. Russia was once again the top importer of Georgian wine, followed by Ukraine and then China. Georgia earned $203m from wine exports in 2018. The total volume of exports increased by 13%. Georgian wine experts have said that China will become its biggest wine foreign wine market over the next decade.
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>>This story was first published in issue 396 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 11 2019
JAN. 3 (The Conway Bulletin) — Oil shipments from the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi fell by 51.2% in 2018, Reuters reported by quoting an unnamed official at the terminal which is operated by Kazakh oil and gas company Kazmunaigas. Azerbaijan’s decision to push oil shipments through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline which it part-owns and a volume increase for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium from Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, are the main drivers of the drop-off at Batumi.
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>>This story was first published in issue 396 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 11 2019
JAN. 7 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s Orthodox Church avoided a potentially difficult diplomatic scenario by not commenting on the split from the Russian Orthodox Church by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Instead, two days after the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, signed a decree formalising the split, the Georgian Orthodox Church said that it would not be right for a junior patriarchate to comment on the status of more senior patriarchates. The Georgian Orthodox Church is ranked ninth in the seniority of Orthodox Churches, below the Russian Orthodox Church. Relations are still strained between Russia and Georgia since a war in 2008.
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>>This story was first published in issue 396 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 11 2019
JAN. 8 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed Georgia Healthcare said that it had set up dentist studios at various clinics it operates (Dec. 28). Georgia Healthcare is targeting clients from within Georgia, where the state health service is considered poor, and also potential clients from across the Middle East. Private healthcare has become increasingly big business in the region, with Istanbul as its focus.
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>>This story was first published in issue 396 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 11 2019
TBILISI/JAN. 9 (The Conway Bulletin) — London-listed TBC Bank, Georgia’s largest retail bank, said that the Georgian Central Bank had investigated transactions between two of its units in 2007 and 2008.
The transactions involved TBC Bank’s chairman Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, the deputy chairman, TBC Bank said in its statement without detailing the allegations.
“The National Bank of Georgia has issued a fine of about 1m lari ($375,000) and, at this stage, it is unclear whether NBG will seek to impose additional sanctions,” TBC Bank said in a statement.
“TBC has already challenged this fine in the courts in Georgia and the court has issued an injunction suspending payment of the fine.”
It also added that the Georgian Prosecutor-General had opened an investigation linked to the transactions.
TBC Bank has said that it denies the unnamed allegations.
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>>This story was first published in issue 396 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 11 2019
DEC. 17 (The Conway Bulletin) – Defeated Georgian presidential candidate Grigol Vashadze of the United National Movement party (UNM) reiterated his call for supporters to continue to protest daily against what he has described as a “stolen election”. Mr Vashadze, a former foreign minister, lost to Salome Zurabishvili in the second round of a presidential election last month, polling 40% of the vote compared to her 60%. His supporters accuse Georgia’s richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, of bribing the electorate to support Ms Zurabishvili, his preferred candidate.
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>>This story was first published in issue 395 of The Conway Bulletin on Dec. 23 2018