Tag Archives: Georgia

Georgian State Electrosystem announces deal

FEB. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The state-owned electricity distributor Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE) said it will earn 1m lari (US$400,000) per month for transiting electricity after deals were signed by Russia and Armenia, and Azerbaijan and Turkey, at the beginning of February. A GSE spokesperson told local media this was a “historic event” for Georgia’s energy sector. Georgia has been transforming itself into an important transit country for electricity, oil and gas.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 267, published on Feb. 12 2016)

Inflation increases in Georgia

FEB. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Annualised inflation in Georgia rose to 5.6% at the end of January, the state’s statistics agency said, an increase from 4.9% in December. Inflation increased steadily in Georgia last year hitting 6.3% in November, fuelled by a drop in the value of the Lari currency, until it dropped off slightly. By comparison, in January 2015, annualised inflation had been 1.4%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Stock market: Bank of Georgia, Tethys, Centerra

FEB. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Bank of Georgia shares were up 6.9% this week, closing at £18.14 on Thursday. The bank has followed a downward trend since the beginning of the year, but news of the merger between its corporate banking and investment management departments lifted its shares.

BGEO Group, the holding that owns Bank of Georgia, said it is confident that the move will boost returns and reduce risk.

Tethys Petroleum shares jumped by 19.7% to 2.25p off the back of stable oil prices, leading an upbeat crowd of oil and gas companies involved in the region. Only Nostrum continued the slump.

Among miners, Centerra Gold posted a significant jump of 7.2% to 6.73 Canadian dollars after the Mongolian parliament unblocked negotiations over ownership and licences linked to one of their gold mines in the north of the country.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Georgian PM attends Pres. speech

FEB. 3 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili attended President Giorgi Margvelashvili’s annual state-of-the-nation address to parliament, a sign that relations between the president’s office and the PM’s office are improving. Mr Kvirikashvili’s predecessor, Irakli Garibashvili, had snubbed the speech for the past two years. Mr Kvirikashvili was installed as Georgia’s PM at the end of last year by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the richest and most powerful man in Georgia. Mr Garibashvili had lost popularity and his public rows with Mr Margvelashvili had become a distraction in the build up to what is likely to be a tough fought election at the end of this year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Editorial: Georgia and religion

FEB. 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia looks set to make insulting religion a crime. This new law needs to be treated with extreme care.

It’s vital in a modern, progressive society to keep the principle of free speech sacrosanct and any move to erode this right should be rejected. And it does feel as if Georgian Dream, who know that they are going to be in a very tough, possibly dirty and definitely personal, battle to win a parliamentary election later this year, are playing politics with the issue.

Winning over traditional voters is vital for Georgian Dream. They have previously gone to great lengths to cosy up to the Orthodox Church and its supporters.

By making insulting religion a crime, they are protecting the Church further and should secure more support from the traditional, conservative section of the electorate.

There is a need to protect religion from slurs and insults, but this draconian law is probably not the answer.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Wizz Air to open base in Georgia

FEB. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hungarian low-cost airline company Wizz Air said it will open an operational base at Kutaisi airport in central Georgia. This will be Wizz Air’s first base in the South Caucasus. Wizz Air intends to use Kutaisi as its hub for new regional destinations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Georgia to introduce law that punishes blasphemy

FEB. 2 2016, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin)– Georgia took a major step towards introducing a law that will fine people for insulting religion after Parliament’s committee for human rights said that it supported a bill that criminalises blasphemy.

The bill has divided the country, pitting conservative religious groups who say the law is needed to dampen an increase in hate speech against liberal groups who argue the bill will limit free speech.

The parliamentary human rights committee decided that a law was needed to protect all religions from abuse.

Eka Beselia, head of the committee, said that many European countries already have a similar law.

On the streets of Tbilisi, young Georgians generally thought that the law was unnecessary. Otar Babukhadia, 23, a student said: “I think it’s just a popularity contest for the upcoming elections. It won’t affect anything, it’s just a formality.”

The Orthodox Church, a powerful institution in Georgia, issued a statement which said that it was not behind the proposed new law but that it did support fining people for insulting religion.

“Although there are frequent cases of insults and use of hate speech against the Church and its leader, the adoption of such a bill has not been our initiative – neither now nor previously,” it said.

The ruling Georgian Dream is close to the Orthodox Church and Salome Minesashvili, a political scientist at the Georgian Institute of Politics in Tbilisi, said that by introducing this law, which will protect the Church from criticism, the party aims to shore up support ahead of a parliamentary election in October.

“When democracy-linked values clash with traditions, Georgians expect the government to prioritise traditions at the expense of freedom.” she said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Georgian President walks about in Pankisi George

JAN. 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a PR stunt aimed at knocking down Russian allegations that the radical group IS had set up a training camp in the Pankisi Gorge, Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili travelled to the region with the US and EU ambassadors for a walk-about and to talk to locals. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said in January that the Pankisi Gorge was an IS recruiting ground.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Georgia-Armenia sign military deal

FEB. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia and Armenia signed a defence deal that ministers said should improve training and strategic planning between the two countries. The deal, signed in Yerevan, is probably most important for Armenia which is still officially at war with Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

Georgia’s GDP slows

JAN. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s GDP grew by 2.8% in 2015, down from 4.6% in 2014, the national statistics office said. This was around half predictions at the beginning of the year and was the lowest annual growth rate since 2009, when the Global Financial Crisis dented growth around the world. Georgia’s government has said that it expects growth of around 3% in 2016.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)