Tag Archives: Georgia

Georgia scraps visa-free entry for Iranians

JULY 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Since January 2011, Iranian businessmen have been flooding into Georgia to set up companies and trade with the world. Although US-led international sanctions have been imposed on Iran, Iranians have been able to enter Georgia and operate there with relative ease.

For a stay of less than 45 days, Iranians didn’t need a visa to enter Georgia. With direct flights between Tbilisi and Tehran starting up again in 2010 after a 10 year gap, Iranian businessmen, and tourists, became an increasingly common sight in Georgia.

That was until July 2, when Georgian officials abruptly ended this arrangement. It had become increasingly irritating for the US, perhaps even embarrassing, that its most staunch supporter in the region was giving Iranians an easy option to bypass sanctions they had imposed.

The US has imposed sanctions on Iran to try and stop it developing a nuclear capability which it says would be used to build a bomb. Iran has denied this and said that it wants to develop nuclear capability for its own civilian energy generation programme.

The Wall Street Journal reported that last year Iranians opened nearly 1,500 companies in Georgia, double the number opened in 2011 and dwarfing the 84 that Iranians opened in 2010.

Two US trade delegations recently visited Tbilisi. Perhaps they conveyed Washington’s irritation.

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(News report from Issue No. 142, published on July 8 2013)

Political fragility in Georgia

JUNE 28 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Georgia arrested several more officials linked to the previous government of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s UNM party. UNM members have said the accusations of corruption are false. The row highlights political instability in Georgia.

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(News report from Issue No. 141, published on July 1 2013)

Georgia cuts interest rate again

JUNE 19 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate to 4% from 4.25% to try to stem falling consumer prices. This is the fourth interest rate cut by Georgia’s central bank this year. Falling consumer prices in Georgia illustrate the economic problems facing the wider region.

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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)

FDI increase in Georgia

JUNE 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Foreign investment in Georgia, an important resource for the country, increased in Q1 2013 to $226m from $181m in Q4 2012, data from the national statistics agency showed. Reuters has previously reported that political fighting between President Mikheil Saakashvili and PM Bidzina Ivanishvili was deterring investors.

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(News report from Issue No. 139, published on June 17 2013)

Afghan bases with Georgian presence shut

JUNE 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Irakli Alasania, Georgia’ defence minister, said the two military bases in Afghanistan where suicide bombers have killed 10 Georgian soldiers in the past month would close. He said the closures would improve security but none of the 1,500 Georgian soldiers would be withdrawn.

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(News report from Issue No. 139, published on June 17 2013)

Ex Georgian PM to run for president

JUNE 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Nino Burjanadze, Georgia’s former parliamentary speaker and once an ally of President Mikheil Saakashvili, said she will run in October’s presidential election. Ms Burjanadze has a high profile and will be a potential threat to candidates put forward by Mr Saakasvhili’s party and by PM Bidzina Ivanishvili.

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(News report from Issue No. 139, published on June 17 2013)

Instability hits investments in Georgia

JUNE 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Political fighting between Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and his main rival PM Bidzina Ivanishvili has dented foreign investment in Georgia, Reuters reported by quoting several foreign businessmen and official statistics.

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(News report from Issue No. 138, published on June 10 2013)

Georgian soldiers killed in Afghanistan

JUNE 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has made joining NATO, the US-led military alliance, one of the cornerstones of his foreign policy.

Mr Saakashvili has vigorously supported NATO’s war in Afghanistan. There was no internal threat to Georgia from Islamic radicals trained by the Taliban, the initial reason for Western armies to march into Afghanistan. Mr Saakashvili’s motive was purely geo-political.

Georgia has 1,600 soldiers in Afghanistan, the highest number of all non-NATO members, stationed mainly in Helmand province, one of the more restless areas. Considering the commitment, Georgian casualties had been relatively light. That, though, has changed.

On June 6, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Georgian military base, killing seven soldiers. This was the largest single loss of life to NATO forces this year. Last month three Georgian soldiers died in a similar attack. Since 2010, 27 Georgian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, according to the website icasualties.org.

The official reaction was one of defiance and Georgia’s defence minister Irakli Alasania broke off a trip to Brussels to visit soldiers in Afghanistan. On the streets of Tbilisi support for the war is still strong too but this may be beginning to change.

(News report from Issue No. 138, published on June 10 2013)

Priests arrested for homophobic violence in Georgia

MAY 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian police arrested and charged two Orthodox priests with leading attacks on a gay rights parade on May 17, media reported. The attacks brought condemnation from Georgia’s Western allies and tarnished the country’s reputation for liberal thinking.

(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)

Tesco to expand in Kazakhstan and the Caucasus

MAY 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Consumer markets in Central Asia and the South Caucasus region are maturing, as Tesco, the British supermarket chain, has realised.

Or at least, consumer markets in some of the region’s countries are maturing.

Tesco’s clothing department, which trades under the brand name F&F, announced that it planned to open various franchise stores across the Middle East, Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Specifically it said that F&F would open a store in Astana, the Kazakh capital by the end of June, to be followed by stores in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.

These will be opened through franchise agreements with Saudi Arabia-based Al Hokair and Dubai-based Futtaim.

The deal and Tesco’s intention to expand across Central Asia and the South Caucasus is important as it acts as further evidence that consumer demand in these markets is changing.

Long associated with the luxury market, Western high street brands have moved into Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, over the past couple of years and now, with the arrival of Tesco, it appears that discount brands are following.

(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)