Tag Archives: Georgia

Georgians protest against hydro

JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Residents of Chuberi, a small village in Georgia’s north-western province of Svaneti, held rallies against the construction of the Nenskra hydropower plant, saying that it would negatively impact their livelihood. Activists said that the power plant will sit in a dangerously seismic region and its construction on the Svaneti river could trigger landslides. The Nenskra plant will cost $1b to build and will be the second largest hydropower plant in the country when it is completed in 2019.

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

Noricum funds new gold project in Georgia

JULY 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Noricum Gold, a London-based miner, said it has raised over £1.1m ($1.4m) to fund a new project at the DavidGaredji gold and copper mine. Noricum partners with Georgia’s Caucasian Mining Group at the Bolnisi copper/gold project in the south of Georgia. Discovered during the Soviet periods, the David Garedji underground basin is located near the Bolnisi project.

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

Inflation in Georgia falls, again

JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s statistics committee Geostat said annualised inflation dropped to 1.1% in June, its lowest since December 2013, piling pressure on the Central Bank which has tried to boost price rises through interest rate cuts. Importantly, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages fell by 2.6%.

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

Kerry flies into Tbilisi to pledge support for Georgia

TBILISI, JULY 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, flew to Tbilisi ahead of a NATO meeting in Warsaw to thank Georgia for its support for US military action in Iraq and Afghanistan and back its territorial integrity.

This was Mr Kerry’s first visit to the South Caucasus as Secretary of State, highlighting how the US’ focus during Barack Obama’s second administration has shifted from Central Asia and the South Caucasus region once it pulled most of its military out of Afghanistan. Instead, Mr Kerry has been embroiled in the collapse of Syria, a resurgent Russia and a war in Ukraine.

Georgia had been hoping for a strong show of support ahead of the NATO summit, the military alliance it has been pushing hard to join.

But Mr Kerry stopped short of openly declaring support for Georgia’s NATO membership and instead promised to support for Georgia’s territorial integrity.

“The United States stands firm in its commitment to Georgia’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders,” he said at a news conference with Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili.

“Russia’s occupation and militarization of parts of Georgia’s territory are unacceptable.”

Russia has recognised the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two breakaway Georgian regions.

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

Comment: US foreign policy in C.Asia & the S.Caucasus

JULY 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — John Kerry’s visit to Georgia on Wednesday was the first visit by a US Secretary of State to the South Caucasus in four years. And, importantly, the visit was tied not to the region as a whole, but to a NATO summit that Mr Kerry will attend in Poland today, July 8.

Mr Kerry has only visited our patch once, in November 2015, when he toured all five Central Asian states.

This compares to the frequent visits of his predecessor and now presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who visited the Central Asia and South Caucasus region four times, perhaps because of a stronger US interest in Afghanistan and the need to show support to South Caucasus countries over their relationship with Russia and Europe.

President Barack Obama’s second term, which started in 2013, has been marked by a slow disengagement from the region. This included giving up the Manas air base near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in mid-2014, once the main jumping off point for forces heading to Afghanistan but not needed once US engagement dropped off. In July 2015, the State Department also awarded jailed Kyrgyzstani human rights defender Azimzhan Askarov a human rights prize, prompting an official complaint from Kyrgyzstan.

The NATO-driven engagement in Georgia also waned, especially after President Mikhail Saakashvili lost power in 2013. Georgia is now possibly the furthest it’s ever been from joining the military alliance.

US diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan have also worsened, after President Ilham Aliyev’s re-election in 2013 and the increasingly harsh crackdown on political opposition and media freedom, including expelling the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from Baku.

And Mr Kerry’s demeanor has also betrayed lack of interest. Soon after his appointment, in Feb. 2013, he referred to Kyrgyzstan as “Kyrzakhstan” at a press conference. Both the US diplomatic attitude and resource allocation show that it is losing ground in Central Asia and the South Caucasus to Russia, China and Iran, who have proved able to pay for the soft power in cash, investing in infrastructure, financial and energy projects.

Next year the State Department plans to allocate around $240m to the region, around 1/3 more than in 2015. Still, more funding does not necessarily mean more engagement.

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

Briefing: Georgia’s EU Association Agreement

JULY 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — >> So, this EU Association Agreement that Georgia officially entered into on July I, is it a big deal? What will it change for Georgia?

>>Yes, it is important. Basically it gives Georgian businesses more access to EU markets. In return for this, the EU has insisted that Georgia improves certain areas of its laws and regulations to bring them more in line with EU standards. This mainly involves technical business issues such as health and safety standards and workers rights but also includes wider issues such as democratic reforms.

You have to keep in mind that this deal was signed two years ago, although it was only officially implemented on July 1, so many of the reforms have been ongoing.

>> I see. Why does Georgia even need to boost its access to EU markets?

>>Georgia needs better access to EU markets simply because they have become more important. It is exporting more and more products to the EU, mainly fruit, wine and water. Georgia had been reliant on former Soviet states as its main trading partner but that dynamic has shifted.

>> And on Georgia’s EU aspirations, do they really think that they can join the EU?

>>They certainly want to. Georgia has pursued an overtly pro-Western agenda since Mikheil Saakashvili was voted into power in 2004. Realistically, Georgia has a long, long way to go before anybody is really going to take their application to join the EU seriously.

What they really want next is a deal of visa liberalisation for Georgians visiting Europe for a short period of time.

The government had been receiving encouraging signs. Unfortunately for them, though, the current EU migration crisis has turned public opinion and pressured governments into restricting any potential free-movement deals.

Earlier this year European politicians warned Georgia, and Ukraine, that visa liberalisation was unlikely.

>> Are any of the other former Soviet countries also going down this road?

>>The three Baltic states became full EU members in 2004. They are also NATO members. Of the rest Ukraine has also signed an Association Agreement with the EU. Armenia was offered a similar deal but instead opted to join the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union, trade bloc that also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

>> And finally Brexit. Where would we be without talking Britain’s vote to leave the EU? Has Brexit change anything for Georgia? Is it relevant?

>>No. As fascinating and mesmerising as Brexit is, it’s not important to Georgia, unless Brexit breaks the entire EU project.

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

Mudslide blocks Russia-Georgia trade routes

JUNE 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A major mudslide has blocked one of the most important trade routes between Georgia and Russia for more than a week, media reported. The mudslide on June 23 at the Upper Lars checkpoint is especially important for Armenia. It is the only major route linking Russia and Armenia. Armenia is largely reliant on goods being imported in from Russia. It has decent relations with Iran to the south but poor relations with neighbours Azerbaijan and Turkey.

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(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)

Georgia’s minister reiterates Saakashvili threat

JUNE 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s justice minister, Tea Tsulukiani, reiterated that former president Mikheil Saakashvili would be arrested if he travelled to Georgia to campaign in a parliamentary election set for October. The Georgian government has put out arrest warrants for Mr Saakashvili connected to various financial crimes when he was in power between 2004 and 2013. Mr Saakashvili is currently governor of the Odessa region in Ukraine. He has said that he would like to return to Georgia ahead of the election.

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(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)

TAV starts construction of new terminal at Georgian Airport

JUNE 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – TAV Airports, a Turkish holding company that operates airports in Georgia, said it has started construction of a new terminal at Tbilisi airport. TAV said the project, which will include a new runway, will be completed by the end of 2017. TAV operates two airports in Georgia, in Tbilisi and Batumi. France’s ParisAeroport owns 38% in TAV, which is also listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

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(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)

200 people protest against drug law in Georgia

TBILISI, JUNE 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Roughly 200 people protested in front of the former parliament building in central Tbilisi against what they said was an excessively draconian and ineffective zero tolerance policy towards drugs.

The protest was one of several organised this year against the drug law in the run-up to a parliamentary election.

In Georgia, possession of even the smallest amount of drugs is considered a criminal offence that could lead to a jail sentence. The law allows police officers to stop people on the street and test them for drug use.

The Georgian Dream coalition takes a conservative approach to society, pulling in support from Georgia’s traditional Orthodox Christian society, but it risks alienating more liberal-minded voters ahead of the election that analysts have said will be hard fought.

Under the slogan ‘Don’t punish us’, demonstrators demanded the decriminalisation of drugs and the allocation of resources instead to social projects and drug rehabilitation schemes.

David Otiashvili, one of the organisers of the protest, said the current legislation was not effective and that it was being used by the police as a tool to impose control over society.

“The legislation is really strict and harsh and it focuses only on punishing people. Georgia is testing 50,000 to 60,000 people per year and it costs us millions and millions. And we know that this drug test does nothing good, there is zero effect,” he said.

The previous government under President Mikheil Saakashvili imposed the zero tolerance rules.

Tea Kordzadze, one of the protesters, said: “What has this repressive drug policy brought to Georgia? The number of drug users has increased.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)