Georgia Couldn’t Become a NATO Member & more– 13th July 2023

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 13th of July twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

We start this week's episode with some NATO stuff.

On Tuesday, the 11th, at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, the Heads of State and Governments issued a Communiqué that focused on the primary challenges facing the Alliance. Regarding Georgia, the Communiqué reaffirmed the Allies' commitment to the two thousand and eight Bucharest Summit Decision, which stated that Georgia would become an Alliance member when it completes the Membership Action Plan or MAP, unlike Ukraine, which received a membership prospect without a MAP. The action plan is a set of conditions the country must fulfill to become a member of NATO. On that note, Georgina Dream, or Otsneba Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze, "explained" the difference between Ukraine and Georgia's NATO accession. He said, "Ukraine is in a state of war; Georgia is not. Therefore, a different approach is completely natural." He continued with the usual BS, saying that some foreign forces demanded Georgia join the war against Russia to get NATO membership. This is of course untrue. He nevertheless portrayed valiant Otsneba resisting the western pressure. The biggest news out of Vilnius is that Turkey agreed for Sweden to join.

Speaking of Russia.

On Thursday, the 6th, according to Ekho Kavkaza, the Federal Air Transport Agency of Russia called Ros-aviatsia, granted permission for 284 weekly flights between cities in Russia and Georgia. The agency issued the majority of permits to Russia’s Red Wings Airline, which plans to use all three airports in Georgia: Tbilisi, Kutaisi, and Batumi. However, the government of Georgia hasn't yet given permission for new flights. Currently, Azimuth and Georgian Airways, one Russian and one Georgian airline company, operate the flights.

On Monday the 10th, however, the Red Wings airline, which is on the US sanctions list, was going to make its first flight to Kutaisi International Airport even without Georgian government permission. However, Georgian airline authorities canceled the flight allegedly due to heavy rain, which had flooded Kutaisi Airport.

Moving on to some financial scandals related to Ivanishvili.

On Friday the 7th, Prosecutors charged Giorgi Bachiashvili, a former executive at Bidzina Ivanishvili's Co-Investment Fund, with embezzlement and money laundering. He allegedly stole over eight thousand bitcoin in twenty seventeen, worth about forty million US dollars at the time, and now is worth 200 million US dollars. Tbilisi City Court ordered him to pay a bail of 2,5 million laris, 900,000 US dollars, forbade him to leave the country until the investigation is completed, and ordered him to hand over his Georgian and Russian passports to the investigative agency. The opposition stated that the case revealed Ivanishvili was behind the cryptocurrency business in Georgia, which proves Ivanishvili's business interests in the country, contrary to Otsneba's claims. For those who don’t know Bidzina has for years been minting bitcoin using very heavily subsidized electricity. Moreover, the prosecutors launched an investigation into Bachiashvili because he could have laundered money with Mtkvari Hesi, a hundred million US-dollar Hydropower Plant project in Akhaltsikhe.

More court decisions.

On Friday the 7th, the Tbilisi City Court delivered a verdict on the case of Megi Bakradze, a nurse at the Akhaltsikhe "Imedi" clinic who allegedly died due to an anaphylactic reaction to a Covid-19 vaccine.

Recall that thirty minutes after Bakradze received the vaccine she lost consciousness and was transported to the First University Clinic in Tbilisi. The doctor that received her said she was already in a third stage coma and she passed away the next day. Bakradze had an extremely rare reaction to the shot, that was completely random. Because this tragedy was televised it caused problems with Georgia’s uptake of vaccinations.

The Court found all three medical staff of the clinic guilty of providing false information with personal motives. The Court sentenced two of the defendants to three years and one to two years and six months in prison. The prosecutor's office reported the arrest of two defendants in the courtroom and issued a search for the remaining defendant. Throughout the interrogation process, the defendants asserted that Violeta Inasaridze, the immunization doctor, had administered adrenaline to Megi Bakradze after her health deteriorated. However, the investigation found that the defendant did not provide an adrenaline injection to the victim, and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Speaking of doctors, nurses, and other medical staff.

On Friday the 7th, the Ministry of Health introduced a new package of changes, which involves the establishment of a mandatory minimum salary for nurses, nurses’ assistants, and junior doctors. The Ministry of Health representatives introduced a new initiative during a meeting with clinic leaders. The reform aims to enhance employee motivation and productivity and improve the working conditions and quality of medical services. The first stage of the mandatory minimum hourly wage reform for medical personnel came into force in January twenty twenty-three. The minimum wage for doctors was set at 7 GEL (three US dollars) per hour, at least twelve sixty GEL per month, around 480 US dollars, and for nurses at 4.4 GEL (two dollars) per hour, at least 792 GEL per month, about 300 US dollars.

More healthcare-related news.

On Monday the 10th, Zurab Azarashvili, the Health Minister, announced that Georgia's Ministry of Health will partner with medical institutions in Israel, Spain, and Turkey to offer high-quality cancer treatment to 300 children in Georgia. The program, costing thirty million laris annually, around twelve million US dollars, will provide access to modern, internationally accredited healthcare facilities offering full services, including proton therapy, a radiation therapy that uses protons rather than x-rays. He said parents can select the clinic where a child will receive treatment, and Georgia will cover all associated costs. The proposed tariffs in Turkey and Spain include one companion for the patient. For facilities in Israel, where the treatment is more expensive, the Solidarity Fund, established in twenty fourteen by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to encourage donations for treatment for children with cancer, will cover the remaining costs.

Now, let's talk about the fascist anti-Pride week rally.

On Saturday the 8th, an anti-LGBTQ+ group stormed the Pride Festival – an open-air, private event organized at Lisi Lake, Tbilisi— despite police arresting several instigators. Unable to catch the event participants, they destroyed the stage and stage equipment built for the "Pride Festival," burned part of the equipment, and stole lots of drinks from nearby shops. After the violent attack at the Pride Fest event, Tbilisi Pride organizers released a statement accusing the Ministry of Interior and a pro-Russian fascist movement called Alt-Info, of colluding to harm rights and democracy. President Salome Zourabichvili, the public defender, politicians, and the diplomatic corps condemned the violence and stressed the importance of the Constitutionally granted freedom of expression.

Let's shift our focus to regional news.

On Monday the 10th, Transparency International-Georgia, a watchdog organization, published a study examining the delayed large-scale infrastructure projects in Georgia's Adjara region, like the Batumi bypass road, the Batumi ice rink, and swimming pool, the "Green City in Kobuleti," logistics service centers in Adjara municipalities, among others. The study found that the completion dates for these projects remain uncertain. The organization has urged the government of Adjara and the Department of Roads of Georgia to promptly take action to complete the delayed projects. Furthermore, the watchdog has advised the anti-corruption agency of the State Security Service to investigate the legality of constructing the logistics service centers and the expenses incurred.

We end this week's episode on Georgia's private education.

On Friday the 7th, according to research carried out by Galt & Taggart, private school enrollment accounted for a little over 10% in twenty twenty-two - twenty twenty-three and is anticipated to increase to over 11% in twenty twenty-seven - twenty twenty-eight. The research reveals that private schools generated an average income of 45 hundred laris, about seventeen hundred US dollars per student in twenty twenty-two, up from thirty-two hundred laris or around thirteen hundred US dollars in twenty fifteen. Furthermore, the study highlighted that the top fifteen private schools experienced high profitability margins, even during the pandemic. Specifically, in twenty twenty-one, the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or EBITDA margin, a metric used to evaluate a company's operating performance, was 25%, and the net profit margin was 23%. Note that Galt & Taggart, with it’s Atlas Shrugged name, started by Liberty Bank’s founder Lado Gurganidze is very pro private school in general. Also note that private schools are very modestly regulated and not at all transparent in Georgia.

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

In case you couldn’t listen to our previous update, we have two new shows! These are the Rorshok Multilateral Update, covering the world's major multilateral institutions, and the Ocean’s Update about 70% of Earth's surface covered in salt water. Intrigued? Listen to them in your podcast favorite app. You can also check out the rest of our Country Updates, to see what’s going on in the rest of the world!

Nakhvamdis!

In this week’s Rorshok Georgia Update, Ros-aviatsia, the Russian state aviation regulator, gave permission for 284 weekly flights between Russia and Georgia mainly to Red Wings Air, an internationally sanctioned airline. They plan to use Georgia’s three international airports Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi. Despite there being no information about whether it had been approved by Georgian authorities, it was going to fly last weekend on 10 July but at the last minute the Georgian authorities said it was too rainy so they didn’t fly. Link in the Bio.

In this week’s Rorshok Georgia Update, for many years everybody has said that Bidzina Ivanishvili has been secretly minting bitcoin, making millions, all with free electricity subsidized by the Georgian tax payer. Now it seems that one of his minions Giorgi Bashiashvili stole some, about 200 million dollars worth, or he’s accused of that, interesting to watch the details of this, since it is such clear evidence of Oligarchy, something the EU cares a great deal about. Link in the bio.

In this week’s Rorshok Georgia Update, the ruling party sent in the goon squad to a private Pride vent at Lisi Lake. The police as usual, arrested a few but couldn’t control the knuckle draggers who broke into butkas, stole alcohol and busted up the stage. Everybody understands that the interior ministry coordinated with the Kremlin backed fascists Alt Info to bust up the peaceful event. Link in the Bio.

On Saturday the 8th, an anti-LGBTQ+ group stormed the Pride Festival – an open-air, private event organized at Lisi Lake, Tbilisi— despite police arresting several instigators. Unable to catch the event participants, they destroyed the stage and stage equipment built for the "Pride Festival," burned part of the equipment, and stole lots of drinks from nearby shops. After the violent attack at the Pride Fest event, Tbilisi Pride organizers released a statement accusing the Ministry of Interior and a pro-Russian fascist movement called Alt-Info, of colluding to harm rights and democracy. President Salome Zourabichvili, the public defender, politicians, and the diplomatic corps condemned the violence and stressed the importance of the Constitutionally granted freedom of expression.