GEORGIA: Kobakhidze on Macron’s Statements & more – 9th Jan 2025

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 9th of January twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

On Monday, the 6th, France’s President Emmanuel Macron spoke about Russia’s recent aggressive actions during a conference with French ambassadors. He said that Russia’s behavior toward neighboring countries, including Georgia, has become increasingly hostile. Macron criticized Russia for destabilizing Georgia’s election process, leading to electoral fraud. He also talked about Russia's failed attempt to influence elections in Moldova and its turning back on the formal ally Armenia during its war with Azerbaijan.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze commented on those statements, saying that France should instead focus its attention on Russia’s involvement in Ukraine, which the West has abandoned for destruction. He also said that he would not reply to the rest of Macron’s speech about Georgia, calling it lies.

Next up, on Wednesday, the 8th, The Georgian Dream’s or Kotsebi’s political council issued a statement criticizing Western sanctions imposed on Bidzina Ivanishvili and other officials, calling these actions anti-Georgian and undermining public trust in Western institutions. In the statement, the party heavily relied on conspiracy theories about a global war party and deep state networks, saying that these forces aim to drag Georgia into a war with Russia. Kotsebi’s chief politicians continue to say that while Georgia has avoided Ukraine's fate so far, it still faces pressure from the West to open a second front.

According to the Social Service Agency’s statistics, one in three Georgians consider themselves poor. The number of people receiving social assistance increased by almost 7% over the past year, surpassing 690,000. Among them, over 460,000 only receive financial assistance, while almost 230.000 are part of an employment support program, which guarantees social vulnerability status for four years. Meanwhile, the total number of people in Georgia who feel impoverished and have registered for financial support at the Social Service Agency is 1,270,000 or about one-third of the population.

These statistics make the news about foreign aid dropping even more troubling. On Monday, the 6th Germany's Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development confirmed the decision to suspend 237 million euros, which is $245 million dollars in aid to Georgia due to the current government's actions, which have halted the country's EU integration process. Germany will also stop taking on new commitments with Georgia and plans to review future projects. The suspended projects include green hydrogen development, water infrastructure modernization in Batumi, a seaside city in western Georgia , and energy network expansions.

According to the statement, Germany's development policies aimed at furthering Georgia's EU alignment, but the Georgian government is no longer pursuing this. However, ongoing projects benefiting pro-European citizens, like legal consultations and cybersecurity training, will continue.

In other news, on Sunday, the 5th, Lex Fridman’s podcast released a new episode featuring a three-hour interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. During the conversation, Zelensky briefly discussed Georgia's shifting geopolitical alignment, moving away from the West towards Russia, despite its ongoing frozen conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both occupied by Russia.

Zelenskyy explained that Putin’s strategy is to keep the conflicts frozen, knowing that countries with unresolved territorial disputes are excluded from EU and NATO membership. He also highlighted that many young Georgians are seeking better opportunities abroad in Europe, the US, and the UK.

Despite fears that political instability will cause a financial downturn in twenty twenty-five, twenty twenty-four was a positive year for Georgia’s economy. According to preliminary estimates by the National Statistics Office of Georgia, in November twenty twenty-four, the real Gross Domestic Product grew by 7.5% compared to the same period last year, while the average growth rate for the first eleven months of twenty twenty-four was a little bit over 9%.

The National Statistics Office of Georgia also reported that in November, the sectors contributing significantly to growth included professional, scientific, and technical activities, information and communication, transportation, and warehousing. However, the manufacturing sector showed a downward trend.

On Saturday, the 4th, Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the expulsion of twenty-five foreign nationals who participated in pro-European demonstrations in November and December. All of them have been fined for disobeying police orders.

Among them was American citizen Nik Loladze, who was arrested during a protest and fined 2,800 Lari, which is $1,000 dollars. He said that he was threatened and ordered to leave the country within five days. He appealed the decision in court, spending 14,000 Lari, which is $5,000 dollars, on legal services, but admitted that the appeal was unlikely to succeed, because the government had labeled him as a threat to national security. He also received threatening calls and messages urging him to leave. On the 28th of December, he was temporarily detained again at passport control in the airport, likely to intimidate him and dissuade him from ever returning to Georgia.

Andro Chichinadze, a renowned Georgian actor arrested during pro-European demonstrations, had his part cut from a TV ad for Wissol, a Georgian oil company. Chichinadze was detained on the 5th of December and charged with organized group violence, along with several other pro-European demonstrators. If found guilty, he may face four to six years of imprisonment. However, the prosecutor has yet to present any evidence of his wrongdoing.

The company denied any political motives behind their decision, stating they only had the right to use the actor's image until November twenty twenty-four. The actor's mother posted on social media that Wissol representatives contacted her to apologize, but she refused to speak with them, calling their actions shameful. Later on, the company removed the ad from television altogether.

On another note, the traditional New Year's address by Patriarch Ilia II, the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, took a strange turn this year. The address, posted on the Church's official page, was unusually brief—just over a minute long—without close-ups of the Patriarch and with numerous cuts to ecclesiastical imagery.

Shortly after its release, a conspiracy theory emerged saying the video was fake and edited from previous years' addresses. Andria Jaghmaidze, the head of the Church's public relations department, confirmed it on Saturday, the 4th, saying that the video was indeed a montage. However, he clarified that neither he nor his department was responsible.

The identity of the person who decided to publish the video remains unknown. This incident raised further concerns about the health of Ilia II, who is ninety-one years old and unable to move without help.

On Monday, the 6th, Finnish media shared news that the captain and a crew member of the seized oil tanker Eagle S, suspected of damaging the Estlink 2 power cable in the Baltic Sea in December twenty twenty-four, are Georgian nationals. Finnish authorities detained the tanker after the cable was disconnected and telecommunications lines damaged. Investigators found evidence showing that the ship dragged its anchor. The ship is linked to Russia’s shadow fleet. The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that its embassy is in contact with Finnish law enforcement and the crew, but they are not involved in the investigation.

In sports news, Anzor Kavazashvili, the Former USSR national team goalkeeper and Moscow Spartak player, said in an interview with the website RB Sport that it would be great to organize a friendly match between the national teams of Russia and Georgia in twenty twenty-five. According to the report by the Russian propaganda outlet Gazeta.ru, Kavazashvili mentioned that he had sent a letter to Kakhi Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi, and Misha Kavelashvili, the Kotsebi’s President, both of whom used to be professional football players.

Closing this edition with business news, a branch of Syrovarnya, a popular Russian restaurant chain, is planning to open in the center of Tbilisi, at Freedom Square, in the same building as Bidzina Ivanishvili’s luxury hotel, Paragraph Tbilisi. The chain is owned by Russian billionaire Arkady Novikov, who has close ties with Vladimir Putin.

The restaurant will operate under the English name Cheesefarm. Paragraph Tbilisi quickly distanced itself from the Russian-owned business, issuing a statement that the space where the restaurant will open is privately owned and has no connection to the hotel or its management.

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

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Here’s to another year of keeping you on the loop with what's going down in Georgia. Happy twenty twenty-five!

Nakhvamdis!