Tag Archives: Georgia

Georgia-Russia road link closure hurts Tbilisi tourism

TBILISI, JULY 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The closure of a road that threads through the Caucasus mountains and connects Georgia to Russia for three weeks because of a landslide has hit tourism in Tbilisi, highlighting the importance of the neighbours’ only direct overland link.

Russian tourism in Georgia has increased steadily over the past eight years since a Georgia-Russia war over the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Many Russians drive to Georgia along the only road directly linking the two countries at the Kazbegi border.

The other two roads linking Georgia and Russia run through South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway region in Georgia. Both routes are closed off to Georgia.

Giorgi Bregadze, head of the research department at the Georgian National Tourism Administration, told the Bulletin that there had been a fall in the number of Russians crossing into Georgia through the Kazbegi border this year.

“Many Russians have changed their holiday plans because the road was closed,” he told the Bulletin.

And the impact in Tbilisi has been felt immediately.

Bariiat from Dagestan in Russia’s North Caucasus, said that scores of reservations at her guesthouse had been cancelled.

“Our neighbours are all complaining that Russian tourists are not arriving as usual”, she said.

For Russians looking to drive to Georgia for their annual summer holiday the only route is on a long detour via Azerbaijan.

After a two-week vacation in Georgia with his wife, Pasha had to drive back to Lermontov in the Stavropol region of southern Russia.

“Our return journey to Russia through Baku will be 1,000km longer than our outward journey,” he said.

The closure of the Upper Lars checkpoint has not only hit Georgia. Armenia has also complained that goods from Russia have been unable to get through because of the landslide.

Emergency workers have said that they expect the landslide to be cleared next week and the road re-opened.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Skyland says finds gas in Georgia

JULY 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Australia’s Skyland Petroleum said it started production at Block XIG, a gas field 10km south of Tbilisi. Skyland owns 20% of the project, Georgia Oil and Gas (GOG) owns 60% and state-owned Georgian Oil and Gas holds the rest. Last month, Skyland said it started operations at its first well at the Kyzyl-Tumshuk oil and gas field in southern Tajikistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Kalashnikov opens store in Georgian capital

TBILISI, JULY 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russian arms manufacturer Kalashnikov has opened its first shop outside Russia in a Tbilisi shopping mall, selling guns and accessories from both the Kalashnikov range and the Baikal hunting range.

Kalashnikov, which is 51% owned by Rostec, a Russian defence sector state holding, had not sold civilian firearms to Georgia in a decade, the company said.

“In the next five years, we are looking to boost deliveries of civil arms to Georgia,” Kalashnikov’s marketing director, Vladimir Dmitriyev said in a press release.

Relations between Russia and Georgia have slowly improved since former President Mikheil Saakashvili lost power in 2013 and the new government moved towards reconciliation after a war in 2008 exacerbated tensions in the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The new store said it will sell hunting and sports arms. The company is looking to brush off the old Soviet-era heritage and build a more modern, branded look. Last year, it opened 20 new shops across Russia and plans to enter Kazakhstan in 2017. Kalashnikov is one of Russia’s most recognisable brands.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Two ministers quit in Georgia

JULY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Two key Georgian ministers linked to the Republican party resigned as the campaign battle for the upcoming parliamentary election intensified. Defense minister Tina Khidasheli, one of the two outgoing ministers, had sparked controversy in June when she unilaterally decided to scrap conscription in the army. Paata Zakareishvili, the other outgoing minister, worked in the State Ministry for Reconciliation, which liaises with the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Georgian IS commander gets killed

JULY 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Abu Omar Al-Shishani, a Georgian- born IS commander, was reported dead, according to IS-linked news outlets. Known as ‘Omar the Chechen’, Al-Shishani reportedly died in combat in Mosul, in northern Iraq. A native of Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge, Al-Shishani had served as the extremist group’s de facto minister of war.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

EBRD loans $100m to Georgia’s telecom

JULY 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD said it had loaned $100m to MagtiCom, Georgia’s largest telecoms operator, to buy Caucasus Online, a Georgian internet service provider that also works in Armenia and Azerbaijan. MagtiCom, whose main shareholders are two American telecoms companies, has almost 2m subscribers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

EBRD funds Georgia’s fertiliser maker

JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD said it is about to unlock a $155m loan to Georgia’s fertiliser producer Rustavi Azot. The loan will be part of a $175m funding programme to modernise its production line and reduce the factory’s emissions. RustaviAzot, located 25km south of Tbilisi, employs around 2,000 workers and has an output capacity of up to 220,000 tonnes of ammonia per year. In March, the plant faced closure for failing to pay its gas bill.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Georgia enters Association Agreement with the EU

TBILISI, JULY 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — After two years of preparations, Georgia formally entered into an Association Agreement with the EU, a deal touted by its political leaders as another step towards EU membership and one which should also make it easier for Georgian companies to sell products to Europe.

Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili hailed the adoption of the Association Agreement as one of the most important days in the government’s stated mission of easing Georgia’s visa arrangements with the EU and even becoming an EU member state.

“It cements Georgia’s relations with a partner which, for years, has been our model and end destination”, he said in a press conference.

In a statement, the European Commission’s foreign affairs representative, Federica Mogherini, said the agreement will bring Georgia benefits but reforms were needed before more EU integration was possible.

“The EU is looking forward to further strengthening its cooperation with a country that is still working on crucial reforms in areas such as the rule of law, the accountability rules for public decision-makers and transparency,” she said.

At its core, the EU Association Agreement improves Georgian companies’ access to European markets in exchange for a commitment to improve the rule of law, health and safety standards and democracy.

The EU said that the benefits to Georgia are already being felt. It said that Georgian kiwis, blueberries, nuts, garlic and wine are more readily available in Europe.

On the streets of Tbilisi, most people welcomed further integration with the EU but were unaware of the details of the deal. Even those who had studied it said that it would take time for Georgian companies to get the most out of the agreement.

“The majority of Georgian companies are not ready to start exporting to the EU countries in terms of qualities and certificates,” said Ioseb Kobakhidze, managing director of Georgian Herbs, a dried fruit producer.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Landslide blocks vital Armenia-Georgia-Russia road

TBILISI, JULY 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Emergency workers will, over the next few days, finish clearing a landslide that has blocked for a fortnight the only road linking Armenia and Georgia to Russia.

The landslide has exposed just how reliant Armenia, and to a lesser extent Georgia, is on the Upper Lars highway as a link to Russia. The only other direct land routes across the Caucasus mountains to Russia thread through the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and are currently closed.

Georgian and Armenian officials said that the stretch of road near the border with Russia and Georgia should reopen on July 12. It has been blocked since the landslide hit on June 23.

And the blockage has forced politicians to look at how reliant they are on this single route into and out of Russia. At a cabinet meeting, Armenian PM Hovik Abrahamyan said that relying on the Upper Lars route was dangerous.

“It is time to explore alternative routes,” media quoted him as saying. Armenia is largely isolated in the South Caucasus. It borders two sworn enemies, Turkey and Azerbaijan, and sees Russia, through Georgia, and Iran, to its south, as its only possible partners.

While trade with Iran has improved and could grow further with the easing of Western sanctions on Iran, Armenia’s reliance on Russia has grown markedly.

Armenia turned down an Association Agreement with the EU in favour of joining the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union. This also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Armenia is the only country that doesn’t share a border with other members.

In need of alternatives to the Upper Lars route, Armenia asked Georgia to consider opening routes through South Ossetia and Abkhazia, regions Georgian forces fought Russia for control over in a 2008 war.

Apparently appreciating the seriousness of the scenario, Georgia’s PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili agreed to start talks, marking a potential important shift in relations between Georgia and its rebel regions.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

China wants to build bank in Georgia

JULY 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Chinese holding company Hualing wants to build the third largest bank in Georgia by merging Basisbank, of which it owns 90%, and Bank Republic, which it is looking to buy. France’s Societe Generale owns a 93.6% stake in Bank Republic and the EBRD owns the rest. If the agreement with Hualing goes through, Societe Generale will own an 8% stake in the merged bank and the EBRD will own a 3.9%. In recent months,Hualing has also heavily invested in Georgia’s construction sector.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)