Displaced Persons Want to go Back to Occupied Territories& more– 20th July 2023

Gamarjobat from Preston Center ! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 20th of July twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

We start with some international news.

On Friday the 14th, the 58th round of the Geneva International Negotiations failed. These Negotiations are a platform that facilitates talks between the Georgian Government and the authorities in the country's Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tkhinvali/South Ossetia. Recall that separatists expelled people from the occupied territories with the help of Russian troops. The parties were unsuccessfu returning internally displaced people in Georgia to occupied territories in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region. The Foreign Ministry placed the blame on the destructive stance of the Moscow, Sokhumi, and Tskhinvali representatives, since they immediately politicized the topic, derailing the negotiations and annoying everyone, and then they walked out. It looks like no matter how much Georgia tries to appease Moscow with its recent visa-free regime and flights, the Kremlin doesn’t care about what Georgia wants.

Moving on to Georgian-Armenian relations.

On Thursday the 13th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had some exciting news: the agreement "On bilateral visa-free movement of citizens between the Republic of Georgia and the Republic of Armenia" has officially come into force. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, and Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, signed this agreement in January twenty twenty-three. Now, citizens of both nations can freely travel from Georgia to Armenia and vice versa. They will be able to pass through authorized border crossing points designated for international travel using just their biometric identity card.

Some good news on Georgia-Uzbekistan relations.

On Monday the 17th, Abdulla Aripov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, visited Tbilisi. They discussed Georgia's transit potential during their meeting, focusing on the pivotal Middle Corridor - the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which starts from Southeast Asia and China, runs through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and further on to European countries.

Moving on to a scandal regarding Misha.

On Friday the 14th, The Special Penitentiary Service released a video showing a part of the visit of Polish doctors to Misha at Vivamed Clinic in Tbilisi. The video showed one of the Polish doctors clandestinely trying to sneak out some of Misha’s nails and hair wrapped in paper, by hiding them in his shoe. The Penitentiary Service caught him on the spot, and Rati Bregadze, the Justice Minister, asked the Polish government for explanations. The Foreign Ministry summoned Mariusz Pietrzak, the Polish Ambassador to Georgia. The Ambassador said he didn’t know why the Polish doctor did that. Georgian Dream or Otsneba members requested explanations from the United National Movement or Natsebi and said that the incident was shameful. Giorgi Baramidze, a member of the Political Council of Natsebi, said that the doctor had not broken any law. He also said it was strange that the Minister of Justice made a scandal out of the situation.

More on Misha.

Also on Friday the 14th, forty-four Members of the European Parliament addressed a letter to President Zurabishvili, Prime Minister Garibashvili, and Shalva Papuashvili, the Parliamentary Speaker. The MEPs urged them to transfer Misha to one of the European Union member states for medical treatment. In the letter, the MEPs expressed concern after witnessing Saakashvili's health condition during an online court hearing. They underlined the gravity of his condition, emphasizing "the potentially dire consequences and the alarming risk of losing a human life." However, in its comment to the media, Otsneba said that they wouldn’t send Misha abroad for treatment. Garibashvili as always said that the European Court of Human Rights confirmed that the Government has been treating Saakashvili under European standards.

Now, let's move on to some regional news.

On Tuesday, the 18th, The National Environment Agency of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture announced the findings of the studies conducted on Black Sea water samples taken at the beginning of July. The Agency stated that biogenic elements, hard metals, and oil concentrations are within the Agency’s established norms. The Agency measures fifty-nine chemical parameters of the Black Sea water once every ten days at twelve locations. In July, the Agency added three new stations to the nine existing ones at Anaklia-Ganmukhuri territory. This is good news for everyone who wants to enjoy Georgia's sea resorts, as the recent Nova Kakhovka dam destruction in Ukraine caused some concerns about the water quality of the Black Sea.

Some political news from Abkhazia.

On Tuesday the 18th, Raul Khajimba, the former leader of Abkhazia, issued a firm opposition statement to the proposed "Apartment law." The draft of the law, which the incumbent government of Abkhazia is pushing, will allow foreigners to circumvent the ban on purchasing 30,000 apartments on the territory of Abkhazia. The Abkhazians fear Russian citizens buying real estate in Abkhazia, leaving ethnic Abkhazians in the minority.

We have some updates on violence in Sagarejo.

On Friday, the 14th, the Special Investigation Service reported the arrest of a suspect in Sagarejo for assaulting journalists while doing their job. According to the Investigation Service, the suspect assaulted Sulkhan Chkadua, an operator of Formula TV, journalists Natia Tsitelauri from Rustavi 2 and Ia Guliashvili from Mtavari Arkhi while they were covering a story. Otsneba supporters also attacked them and insulted Levan Khabeishvilii and threw stones at him.

Some news from Kutaisi International University.

Also, on Friday the 14th, Kutaisi International University announced the opening of the School of Innovation and Startup Acceleration in cooperation with the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency. This year, more than sixty successful students will participate in the project. Students, with project organizers and mentors, will work during the summer and will pitch their final startups to arbiters. The Summer School of Innovation and Startup Acceleration started at the Kutaisi International University in twenty twenty-one. Over the last two years, about 150 young people took part in the summer school.

Some positive updates from the tourism sector in Georgia.

On Monday, the 17th, the National Tourism Administration reported that Georgia welcomed three million international travelers in the first half of the year. This number indicates a 74% recovery from pre-pandemic data and a 76% growth from last year. The second quarter saw almost two million international travelers, a 74% recovery from pre-pandemic data and a 57% increase fromtwenty twenty-two. With regard to international tourist visits, the country received over two million visits in the first and second quarters of twenty twenty-three, a 91% recovery from twenty nineteen and a 60% increase from twenty twenty-two.

Moving on to financial news.

On Friday the 14th, the IMF delayed the approval of Georgia's Stand-By Arrangement, a 289 million US dollar loan, due to a disagreement over the National Bank of Georgia's management structure changes. In June, the Parliament overrode President Salome Zourabichvili's veto. It adopted the original draft, which introduced the post of a First Vice-President on the Board of Directors of the National Bank. The IMF and the opposition criticized the decision because another executive position controlled by Otsneba would undermine the Board's independence. Recall that in December last year, the IMF approved the first tranche of forty million US dollars, and negotiations for the second tranche are ongoing.

Speaking of the National Bank

On Tuesday, the 18th, the bank reported that Georgia received 930 million laris, 355 million US dollars, in remittances from abroad in June, a 17% decrease year-on-year. Russia is the largest sender, with 130 million US dollars, followed by Italy with 43 million USD, and the United States with 39 million US dollars. Georgia, however, transferred 76 million laris, 30 million US dollars abroad in the same month.

We end this week's show with a Georgian passport rating.

On Wednesday the 19th, the authoritative world passports rating called the Henley Passport Index, reported that in twenty twenty-three the Georgian passport is ranked 48th among 200 passports worldwide. The index is based on data from the International Air Transport Association and ranks passports based on how many countries their holders can enter without a visa. In the first quarter of this year, Georgia was in 50th place with 116 destinations; in the second quarter, the number of destinations increased by one to 117.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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Nakhvamdis!