Tag Archives: Georgia

Central Asia and South Caucasus welcome Iran

JAN. 16/17 2016, ALMATY/Kazakhstan (The Conway Bulletin) – Countries in the South Caucasus and Central Asia applauded the end of western sanctions against Iran, a move they hope will turn their southern neighbour into a strong trade and diplomatic partner.

But, as well as adding a hopefully vibrant economy on their southern fringe, the reemergence of Iran also presents a major potential downside.

Low commodity and oil prices have been a major contributor to an economic downturn that has shaken the region. Adding Iran’s large oil reserve to the market will further pressure prices which are already hovering around 12-year-lows of $28/barrel, down from $115/barrel in the summer of 2014.

Most countries in the region issued a statement applauding Iran’s return to the international fold.

The Kazakh foreign ministry said: “It is a critically important step in creating a safer world.”

It also said that Iran had signed its first post-sanctions international agreement with Kazakhstan’s Air Astana to open an Almaty-Tehran flight in 2016.

In the South Caucasus, Armenia and Georgia are trying to negotiate gas supply deals with Iran, and Azerbaijan may be able to persuade Tehran to fill part of its TANAP gas pipeline running via Turkey to Europe.

Elham Hassanzadeh, Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said Iran could become an important trade and diplomatic partner for Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

“It will certainly be an easier partner to trade with [than previously],” she told The Conway Bulletin in an interview.

“The cost of doing business with Iran will be significantly lower than that of during the sanctions era while less economic and political restrictions on a given country in the region could be translated into less antagonism and conflict and more collaboration and constructive dialogue.”

She said, though, that energy would be at the forefront of relations. “A good number of Azeri and Turkmen companies are planning to invest in Iran’s oil and gas sector,” Ms Hassanzadeh said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Remittances fall to Georgia

JAN. 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Total remittances to Georgia fell by 25% in 2015 to $1.08b, mainly because of a sharp slowdown in the Russian economy, the Central Bank said. Remittances from Russia fell by 39% to $433m and from Greece (Georgia’s second largest remittance originator) by 42.5% to $118m. A slowdown in Russia’s economy has rippled out across the former Soviet Union.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

BP invests in pipeline, Georgian gov. says

JAN. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — British oil company BP will invest $150m in the renovation of the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline, the Georgian government said. BP did not give further details on the pipeline upgrade. The pipeline runs from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea. Last year, rebels from the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia grabbed a portion of the pipeline.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Low oil prices hurt Georgia

JAN. 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Although not an energy producing country, Georgia is also suffering heavily from the continued low oil prices, PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili said during a speech at the Davos Economic Forum. He said that as an oil trading nation, investment linked to energy has dried up over the past year. Mr Kvirikashvili again said that the government was looking into a 0% tax scheme on reinvested profits.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Two Georgians die fighting IS

JAN. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Two Georgian nationals from the Pankisi Gorge in the north of the country have died in Syria fighting for the Islamic radical group IS, media reported quoting intelligence services. The Pankisi Gorge is a predominantly Muslim enclave. Georgia’s security forces have said that at least 50 men from the Pankisi Gorge have joined IS in Syria.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 264, published on Jan. 22 2016)

Georgian security arrests men with radioactive substance

JAN. 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian security forces arrested three men for stealing Cesium-137, media reported, a highly radioactive substance that can be used to create a so-called dirty bomb. Reports gave little information on the arrests other than appearing to confirm that all three men were Georgian nationals. Security forces have previously arrested people in Tbilisi for stealing and trying to sell Cesium-137.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Georgian President approves redistricting

JAN. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili signed into law a redistricting of constitutional boundaries, part of a move in Georgia to do away with so-called majoritarian seats in parliament. Of Georgia’s 150-seat parliament, 103 are made up of majoritarian, although the size of these seats varies from 9,000 to 150,000 people. The redistricting is the first step in a process designed to even out this imbalance.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Georgian company to build new Tbilisi hotel

JAN. 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian company Bloc Invest and Partnership Fund, a government operated business fund, will jointly build a three-star Radisson hotel in central Tbilisi. The construction of the $25m hotel will begin in the summer of 2016 and is planned to be completed in 2017. The new hotel will be built in the place of the Hotel Tori, a four-star hotel in the centre of the city. Major hotel chains have been piling into Tbilisi in the last few years.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Georgia opens Tech Park in bid to create Silicon Valley of S.Caucasus

TBILISI, JAN. 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a push to build the Silicon Valley of the South Caucasus, Georgia opened its new Tech Park in Tbilisi.

The project, backed by the government, aims to support young innovative entrepreneurs by offering free office and workshop space for three months and access to what has been dubbed the “Fab Lab” with the latest cutting-edge tech tools such as 3D printers and a laser cutter.

Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili said that developing the country’s entrepreneurial base was key to helping Georgia through its current economic slump.

“This is a direct investment in the future of Georgia,” media quoted Mr Kvirikashvili as saying at the opening of the site.

Tech Park, which covers roughly the area of two football pitches, took one year to build and cost 5m lari ($2m).

The concept behind Tech Park Georgia is that well-worn idea of casual interaction where employees from different companies, back- grounds and disciplines can mingle easily in learning centres, company offices, shared spaces and recreational areas.

Mariam Lashkhi of the Georgian government’s Innovation and Technology Agency explained.

“We first had to build the community, so we held hackathons, to see who is out there and to bring people together. We were amazed with the projects the young people came up with. Several startups were created after the hackathons, which are now joining the Tech Park,” she said.

Boris Kiknadze has just moved his two companies, the charity crowd- funding platform WeHelp and the online advertising firm and Wifisher, to the Tech Park.

“I really like that it brings together a collective of people, programmers, developers, business managers,” he said.

“And it’s a really nice place to hang out, where you can create new things, and build a better future.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)

Georgia and Russia still talk gas

JAN. 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Gazprom and the Georgian government are still in talks over supplying more gas to Georgia, media reported quoting energy minister Kakha Kaladze. Georgia wants to increase gas supplies from Russia, a sensitive issue as the two countries had been enemies until recently. Georgia has risked irritating its neighbour and main gas supplier Azerbaijan by holding negotiations to buy more gas from Russia and Iran.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 263, published on Jan. 15 2016)