Category Archives: Uncategorised

Georgians rally against harsh marijuana laws

TBILISI/GEORGIA, JUNE 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — To David Gabunia, a well-known Georgian musician, it just doesn’t make sense.

“When you cut down gorgeous big old trees, they let you get away with it,” he said referring to a tree cutting programme by Tbilisi city council. “But when you take a small weed and smoke it, they’ll put you in jail for many years.”

And he’s not alone in pondering this apparent quandary.

Several thousand people across Georgia joined demonstrations and signed online petitions on June 2 calling for the government to reduce harsh laws governing marijuana use.

The largest protest was in Tbilisi, where several hundred people attended a protest in the centre of the city.

Georgia has a zero tolerance drug policy. Drug use is an administrative offence with fines up to 500 lari ($225) for first time offenders and a criminal offence with one year imprisonment for repeat offenders. Carrying small quantities of illegal substances, such as marijuana, can mean prison sentences of between 11 and 20 years, comparable to rape, human trafficking and murder.

Marijuana grows naturally in Georgia, and the Abkhazia version, from the west of the country, is particularly highly thought of. But in the dark days of 1990s post-independent Georgia, society’s view of drugs and their users changed and a zero tolerance policy was introduced.

Since 2013, though, rallies have been organised asking the government to rethink its policies on marijuana. But not everyone is convinced. The powerful Georgian Orthodox Church is staunchly against marijuana and PM Irakli Garibashili also said a couple of days after the rallies that decriminalisation would have disastrous consequences.

“This is an issue of principle, and we are obliged to realise its deplorable consequences. I am personally completely, categorically against it,” he said on his Facebook page.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Chinese vice-president to visit Armenia

JUNE 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Chen Changzhi, vice-president of China’s influential National People’s Congress, met Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan highlighting China’s growing interest in Armenia and the wider South Caucasus region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Georgian Poti Port to increase in size

JUNE 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – APM Terminals plans to increase the size and depth of its port at Poti, on Georgia’s Black Sea coast, media quoted its deputy managing director Joseph Crowley as saying at a conference. Mr Crowley said APM wanted to add two more deep-water berths to the port, boosting its capacity.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Turkmenistan boosts transport

JUNE 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan increased the amount of cargo and people it transported around the country, the government said. It’s not possible to independently verify the numbers but Turkmenistan has made several high profile announcements over the past months about boosting its transport sector.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Turkmen GDP officially stays steady

JUNE 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Official Turkmen websites reported another rise in GDP, throwing into serious doubt the authenticity of official economic statistics. The official turkmenistan.ru said GDP had registered a year-on- year increase in the first five months of the year of 9.5% despite a currency devaluation and low global energy prices.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

IMF forecasts Azerbaijan’s economy

JUNE 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The IMF changed its forecast for Azerbaijan’s economy this year to reflect improved conditions, media reported. Reports quoted the IMF mission chief in Baku, Raja Almarzogi, as saying the IMF had increased its economic growth forecast in 2015 to 1.8% from 0.6%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Azerbaijanis demonstrated outside the British embassy

JUNE 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Dozens of young Azerbaijanis demonstrated outside the British embassy in Baku against what they described as double standards over criticism from London-based newspaper and human rights organisations of the European Games.

The protesters waved Azerbaijani flags and shouted: “England, avoid double standards!” according to media reports.

The protests appeared to be sanctioned by the authorities, perhaps as a counter demonstration to deflect from criticism generated by Azerbaijan’s crackdown on opposition activists and journalists.

London has become the main centre of criticism of Azerbaijan.

A group called Platform London published a book earlier this week titled: “All that Glitters Sport, BP and Repression in Azerbaijan”. BP is a major foriegn investor in Azerbaijan and is sponsoring the Games.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Uzbek car-maker offers discount to boost sales

JUNE 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek-US joint car-maker General Motors Uzbekistan said it would discount two of its models by 15% until the end of 2015, an admission of sorts that its needs to boost sales to counter a falling market linked to economic turmoil in Russia.

Customers, though, can only claim the 15% discount on Lacetti and Cobalt cars by paying in US dollars with international debit and credit cards.

The car plant in the eastern town of Andijan is critical for jobs in the surrounding region and also an important barometer of Uzbek industry.

Most of its sales are made in Russia and also in neighbouring Kazakhstan but the fall in oil prices has hit the region and badly dented demand for cars.

In March, the plant sold 1,757 cars compared to 4,604 cars in the same month a year earlier, the Association of European Businesses, an industry lobby group, said.

As well as driving up car sales (pun intended), the government may also be looking to bolster US dollar flows in its economy.

Information leaking out of Uzbekistan on the state of the economy is light but it does appear to show that the slowdown in the Russian economy is having a major impact on Uzbekistan. Remittances are hugely important in Uzbekistan. They rely on a strong Russian economy. Economists have estimated that these will fall by 40% this year. Global gas prices, another important foreign currency earner for Uzbekistan, are also low.

By imposing a dollar payment scheme on car buyers, the Uzbek government may be trying to get hard currency flowing through the system once again as well as boosting sales at its flagship industrial asset.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Soldier dies in Georgian army

JUNE 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Ramaz Davitaia, a corporal in the Georgian army, died at a military hospital in Georgia three years after being badly injured in Afghanistan. Davitaia is the 30th Georgian solider to die supporting the NATO operation in Afghanistan. Georgia wants to join NATO and has been an enthusiastic supporter of US- led operations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Saudi prince visits Georgian city

JUNE 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud visited Tbilisi and met separately with both PM Irakli Garibashvili and President Giorgi Margvelshvili. Prince Al-Waleed is a billionaire investor. Georgia has said it wants to boost foreign direct investment.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)