NOV. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Tbilisi reinstated the former management of the Rustavi-2 TV station, the focus of an ownership tug-of-war between supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition against supporters of the former government of the UNM party. Earlier this month a court handed control of the station to a pro-government businessman.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – On a visit to Tbilisi, Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, praised Georgia’s contribution to EU-led military peace operations in Africa but also warned the country that it shouldn’t take media freedom for granted.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 9 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Bulgarian manufacturer Euro Games Technology reported positive growth in Georgia, where it expanded its product line to several casinos. EGT, which manufactures slot machines and roulettes, said most of its machines operate at casinos in Batumi, a resort town on theGeorgian Black Sea coast. The company said it grew its market share from 25% in 2014 to 33% this year.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)
NOV. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Inflation in Georgia hit 5.8% for the 12 months to the end of October, the Geostat statistics agency said, the highest rate of price increases since 2011. Geostat said that health care, electricity and various house- hold goods and furnishings had pushed up prices.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
NOV. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s National Wine Agency said exports of wine fell by 43% in Jan-Oct 2015, a consequence of the economic downturn in Russia and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
More positively, exports to Europe and the US increased significantly and, so far this year, Georgia has sold 1.8m bottles of wine to China – an 87% increase.
“China is one of the most strategically important markets for Georgia,” the Agency said in a statement.
Russia remains Georgia’s largest market, although compared to the same period last year, exports have shrunk by 54% to 14.6m bottles. Kazakhstan outpaced Ukraine ranking second, while China jumped to fourth place.
Earlier this year, the Georgian National Wine Agency predicted a 50% fall in exports this year, as economic and political crises bite its most important customers.
Despite the fall in sales, the growth in new markets for Georgian wine should cheer its biggest wine producers — Badagoni, TelianiValley and Tbilvino.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
NOV. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Georgia handed the opposition leaning Rustavi-2 television station back to a pro-government businessman who owned it in 2004- 6, drawing accusations it was clamping down on free speech.
Two days after the ruling hundreds of people took to the streets of Tbilisi to protest against what they say is a crackdown on media freedom, ramping up tension in Georgia’s increasingly polarised society.
Under the court ruling, Kibar Kha- lvashi took back control of 60% of the shares in Rustavi-2, one of the most popular TV channels in Georgia, which he said he was pressured into selling to supporters of the then president Mikheil Saaskashvili.
“I declared at the beginning that it was my battle for justice. I want justice to be restored for everyone that suffered from Saakashvili’s regime,” media quoted Mr Khalvashi as saying. “This applies not only to Rustavi-2, but also to all other personal property that has been lost or confiscated.”
The other 40% of Rustavi2 is held by Panorama ltd. The current owners, two businessmen, have appealed the court’s decision.
The row over ownership of Rus- tavi-2 is just the latest increasingly bitter row between supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition and their opponents, mainly Mr Saakashvilil’s former party — the UNM.
The Georgian Dream coalition, bankrolled by Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, won a parliamentary election in Georgian in 2012 and a presidential election in 2013. Since then public prosecutors have accused various supporters of Mr Saaskashvili of crimes when they were in power, imprisoning them or chasing them out of the country.
The US and European governments have warned the Georgian government of pursuing vendettas.
On Friday, several hundred people again gathered outside the headquarters of the TV station.
“We will not let the so-called new management enter our premises,” Rustavi2’s news anchor Zaal Udu- mashvili told the AFP news agency. “We will defend Rustavi-2 physically, using all available legal means.”
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
NOV. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Stock markets saw commodities-focused companies lose terrain this week, despite a brief surge in oil prices above $50/barrel on Tuesday.
Kazakhstan-focused oil company Roxi Petroleum lost 16% in one week closing at 7.88p, perhaps driven down by technical issues slowing down its drilling operations at the BNG contract area in the western part of the country.
After peaking at 122.4p on Tuesday, mining company KAZ Minerals shares were down 8.5% to 105.7p on Friday. KAZ Minerals used to be called Kazakhmys.
In Toronto, Centerra Gold shares lost 3.5% to 7.15 Canadian dollars, continuing a 3-week slump following debates on the formation of a new government in Kyrgyzstan. The Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan is Centerra’s main asset and the company is a major taxpayer in the country. Centerra has said, though, that production at Centerra would be down this year on earlier forecasts.
A new government has now been formed in Kyrgyzstan, hopefully giving Centerra a stable partner to work with.
Shares in Bank of Georgia were down 4.5% to £19.11 on Friday.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
OCT. 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Armenian Orthodox Church reconsecrated the Cathedral of St George in Tbilisi, considered one of its most important churches in the region. The Cathedral was closed in 2012 for restoration work.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
NOV. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The number of abortions in Georgia increased by three times between 2000 and 2012, new statistics published by Geostat showed. The statistics did also show a dip of 14% from 2012 – 2014. The abortion rate is significant in Georgia because of its generally traditional, church orientated society.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)
NOV. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Keen to boost its imports of gas, Georgian energy minister Kakha Kaladze said that Georgia could buy Iranian gas through either Azerbaijan or Armenia. Mr Kaladze is due in Tehran later this month. Last month he started talking to Russia’s Gazprom about buying more gas, sparking anger from many ordinary Georgians. Georgia and Russia fought a brief war in 2008.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)