GEORGIA: Death of the Patriarch & more – 19th Mar 2026

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 12th of March twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

des, beginning his service in: 1977

Next Up. On Thursday, the 12th, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) released a critical report on Georgia’s human rights situation. Twenty-four member states triggered the Moscow Mechanism on January 29th to investigate reports of democratic backsliding, the suppression of opposition and media, and the use of repressive legislation since early twenty twenty-four. The OSCE created this mechanism in ninety ninety-one to investigate serious human rights abuses in member states, even without the host country’s consent. This marks the seventeenth time the OSCE has activated it.

The nearly 200-page report demands the immediate repeal of laws on foreign agents and family values, alongside calls for independent investigations into election irregularities and police violence against pro-European demonstrators. The Georgian government rejected these findings, saying the report is politically motivated.

In related news. On Monday, the 16th, Kotsebi President Mikheil Kavelashvili rejected international calls from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to pardon pro-European demonstrators, who had been imprisoned over a year ago. Kavelashvili dismissed the request, saying that these prisoners show no remorse for their actions, maintain an arrogant disposition, and remain a danger to society.

Authorities denied the delegation access to these prisoners, including Sakharov Prize laureate Mzia Amaghlobeli, co-founder of the independent news outlets Batumelebi and Netgazeti. While the OSCE asked the government to restore political dialogue and accept responsibility for current tensions, Kavelashvili said that the state will keep these individuals in custody to ensure national stability.

Changing topics. On Monday, the 16th, a court sentenced former Deputy Minister of Economy Romeo Mikautadze to ten years in prison for corruption and money laundering. The court also banned him from public office for two years and ordered the state to seize his extensive assets. These include an apartment in Madrid, a house in Tserovani, real estate in Mtskheta, three luxury vehicles, gold bars, coins, and a 15% stake in the Nakhiduri power plant which prosecutors value at 1.5 million Lari, around half a million dollars.

Mikautadze was a close friend and associate of former Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili. He resigned shortly after Gharibashvili left office in early twenty twenty-four. Just last month a court sentenced Gharibashvili to five years for money laundering committed during his premiership. Mikautadze denies all charges and his lawyer plans to appeal.

In other news. On Tuesday, the 17th, authorities conducted a massive overnight operation across the Adjara region, western Georgia, arresting seventy-two people for links to the criminal underworld. This huge number resulted from simultaneous raids in multiple locations, targeting associates of a crime boss known as "Babu." Authorities also charged five others already in prison or abroad. Investigators used wiretaps to reveal how the group held illegal meetings to settle financial disputes through extortion and death threats. During these criminal meetings, the suspects forced citizens to pay massive sums, with some recordings mentioning debts of up to one million dollars.

On Thursday, the 12th, a massive landslide began tearing through the village of Kursebi in western Georgia, forcing 45 families to evacuate. The earth moved slowly at first, which allowed neighbors to wake each other up and escape before the ground swallowed their houses. While no one suffered injuries, the disaster destroyed or heavily damaged dozens of homes and buried local cemeteries and orchards across sixty hectares. Geologists remain on-site to monitor the area, noting that the landslide is entering a stable phase. Displaced residents now stay in nearby hotels while they wait for government rent assistance. Because the disaster destroyed their entire neighborhood, the families are asking officials to resettle them together to keep their community intact.

On Saturday, the 14th, animal protection organizations organized a protest in Tbilisi after authorities failed to return sterilized stray dogs to the neighborhoods they were taken from. This follows a new government pilot program that aims to vaccinate and neuter 9,000 stray dogs in the capital. While no one argues that it's a good initiative, activists say that many dogs simply vanished from the streets. Some animals that did return were brought back with a distemper, a highly contagious and often fatal virus that attacks the lungs and nervous system.

In business. On Thursday, the 12th, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze issued a decree that bans most plastic bottles to reduce environmental waste. Starting 1st of July restaurants and cafes must stop serving drinks in plastic bottles. Next year companies will be forbidden from producing, importing, or selling beverages in plastic bottles entirely.

Business leaders are pushing back, noting that this total ban on plastic bottles is almost unprecedented globally. Temur Chkonia of Coca-Cola Bottlers Georgia argued that building a proper recycling system would benefit the economy more than a flat ban. Critics warn that since glass or aluminum alternatives for larger sizes are rare, popular two-liter bottles may simply vanish from store shelves.

In Business. On Monday, the 16th, major delivery platforms Wolt, Glovo, and Bolt announced they will no longer employ couriers who don’t have permanent residency rights in Georgia. This decision follows recent amendments to the law on labor migration, which set a zero-percent quota for foreign citizens working as couriers, drivers, or tour guides starting 1st of March.

On Thursday, the 12th, the government dropped its plan to ban the import of cars older than six years. Instead, following the pushback from business leaders and citizens it is replacing the ban with a massive hike in the excise tax for those vehicles, which has increased over five-fold.

w you will have to pay almost: 7000

In sports. On Saturday, the 14th, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) exposed widespread cheating in Georgian rugby. A joint investigation with World Rugby, the sport's global governing body, confirmed that six national team players and one staff member broke anti-doping rules. Investigators found five specific cases where people swapped urine samples to hide illegal substances.

The probe also revealed that employees at Georgia’s own anti-doping agency tipped off players about upcoming tests and failed to supervise the sampling process. WADA President Witold Bańka called the situation outrageous and stated that his agency has lost all confidence in Georgia’s national program. While the government says they will work with the Rugby Union to address the issue, WADA is now expanding its investigation into other Georgian sports to see how deep the problem goes.

ght years of leadership since: 1977

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Anything you want to tell us? info@rorshok.com.

Nakhvamdis!