GEORGIA: Visa-Free Travel Suspension Threat & more – 24th April 2025

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 24th of April twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

Last week, we reported that the EU is working on a bill that would make it easier to suspend visa-free travel with non-member countries. Right now, that requires a unanimous decision by all member states, and if the law passes, only a majority vote would be needed.

This news became the major talking point in Georgian politics. The Georgian Dream, or the Kotsebi, sees the bill as a serious threat. Kakhi Kaladze, the Tbilisi Mayor and party secretary, called the threat of visa-free travel suspension a blackmail tactic by the EU, just like the conditions for candidate status. The rest of the party shares his view.

Shalva Papuashvili, the Parliament Speaker, said he doesn’t think the threat will be carried out and tried to downplay the importance of visa-free travel, saying national interests came first.

Gogi Gakharia, former member of the Kotsebi and now an opposition leader, says the ruling party is preparing the public for the real possibility of the suspension of the visa-free travel.

Following the news of Pope Francis’s passing on Monday, the 21st, Georgian politicians were quick to express their condolences.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze wrote on Twitter that Pope Francis left a legacy of peace, compassion, and unity, which he hopes will be continued by his successor.

Bidzina Ivanishvili also made a rare public statement, with words almost identical to Kobakhidze.

President Salome Zourabichvili recalled her visit to the Vatican in an official capacity and her work with Pope Francis on strengthening cultural ties between the two countries.

Since we mentioned Zourabishvili, Russian pranksters recently talked to her on the phone pretending to be Garry Kasparov, a Russian dissident. In the video that the pranksters released, they asked Zurabishvili about the ongoing protests in Georgia, trying to unveil some grand conspiracy theory by the West.

However, the information Zourabishvili provided was nothing new. Pranksters tried to make Zourabishvili say that the only solution to the current situation would be a repeat of Ukraine’s Maidan scenario, letting violence erupt in the streets. But Zourabishvili quickly shut this suggestion down, saying Georgia is a small country and in many aspects different from Ukraine, so there are neither resources, conditions nor desire to have that scenario play out.

Speaking of the ongoing protests, demonstrators are still getting fined for blocking the road on Rustaveli Avenue, where the parliament is located. The fine of 5,000 Lari — about 1,800 dollars — for blocking a road has basically become the regime’s main way to scare people off from joining the protests, since it’s several times higher than the average monthly income in Georgia.

This week, a few protesters said they got text messages saying their cars were fined for blocking the road — but here’s the weird part: they don’t even own a car. When they contacted the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they were told they were fined for blocking the road, but the car part was just a mistake. Turns out the police used the wrong template to send the fine notice.

Before, police had to hand-deliver physical letters of notice, but they now switched to phone messages to save themselves resources and time.

Next up, Salmonella was detected in a large shipment of frozen chicken imported from Germany and Egypt. The contaminated products were discovered during routine border and quarantine control procedures on Thursday, the 17th, at the port in Poti, a city in western Georgia.

Laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of the pathogen in samples taken from a 27,000-kilogram shipment. As a result, the entire batch of chicken was returned to the exporting countries.

In a related inspection, authorities also stopped a shipment of sweet potatoes, where seventy percent of the cargo was found unfit for consumption and subsequently destroyed.

Whether or not the opposition should participate in municipality elections in October remains a hotly contested topic.

On Thursday, 17th, Gigi Ugulava, former mayor of Tbilisi under the United National Movement or the Natsebi, wrote on his Facebook page that regardless of whether the answer is yes or no, the opposition should be united in the decision, otherwise it risks legitimizing the rule of the Kotsebi without getting anything in return.

He proposed conditions under which the opposition could consider participating. This includes releasing all political prisoners, including 3rd president Misha Saakashvili, repealing all repressive laws that were adopted after the protests started, and holding a referendum during municipal elections about setting new parliamentary elections.

On Tuesday, the 22nd, the Ministry of Justice approved a request by the pro-Russian, far-right wing movement Alt-info to register as a party. They also changed their name and are now called the Conservative Movement. They used to have a party under the old name, but the Ministry of Justice cancelled their registration in twenty twenty-one, officially due to problems with their documentation.

Alt-info was known for organizing violent protests against the LGBTQ movement in Georgia, which attempted to organize Pride events several times. One of those protests resulted in the death of a journalist.

In economics, the National Statistics Office has published trade data for the first quarter of the year. In terms of exports, Georgia's top three partners are Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, with over 600 million dollars’ worth of goods exported to these countries between January and March.

Russia remains a crucial market for Georgia; however, exports to Russia have declined by almost twenty percent compared to the same period last year, while imports from Russia have increased by nearly twelve percent.

The US ranks first in imports, with over 650 million dollars’ worth of goods imported to Georgia. Turkey follows in second place with 580 million and Russia comes in third with 510 million.

On a related note, The World Bank expects Georgia’s economy to grow by 5.5% in twenty twenty-five and 5% in twenty twenty-six. It slightly cut this year’s previous forecast by 0.5%. The reason for the change is a drop in money transfers for the second year in a row, mostly due to a 70% decrease in money coming from Russia. It also points out slowing export growth, partly because of weaker demand in the region.

The World Bank report said that while Georgia had boosted its position in twenty twenty-two as a re-export hub, especially for used cars heading to Central Asia and the South Caucasus, that growth is now cooling off. Despite these challenges, the country is still expected to see solid overall growth compared to regional trends.

Zurab Tsereteli, a world-famous, yet polarizing Georgian sculptor and architect known for his massive monuments and long association with Russian political elites, passed away on Tuesday, the 22nd, at the age of ninety-one. His most recognized pieces include the Peter the Great statue in Moscow, and the Saint George statue in Tbilisi’s Freedom Square.

Tsereteli was president of the Russian Academy of Arts for over a decade and was a prominent figure in public art across Russia and Georgia. His work often sparked debate due to its scale and style. Despite criticism, he maintained a consistent presence in the art world that was hard to ignore.

In cultural news, Testament ’22 – Byron Smith’s award-winning photo exhibition opens on the 4th of May in the art gallery Hermit Space. It features images from his 16,000km or 10,000 miles journey across war-torn Ukraine, with his camera capturing the resilience and pain of a nation during Russia’s invasion. Inspired by Ukraine’s poet Taras Shevchenko, the work includes portraits of survivors and essays by Igor Kossov, a journalist of the news outlet Kyiv Independent.

Wanna know more about the event? Link in the show notes!

If you are looking for a Georgian movie to watch, Paste Magazine has recently published Brianna Zigler’s glowing review of Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April Is, which is the director’s second feature. The story follows a rural doctor in Georgia who secretly performs abortions and offers birth control in a deeply conservative society.

According to the review, the film is a critique of how tradition, patriarchy and limited access to healthcare impact women’s lives not only in Georgia, but everywhere in the world.

To read the full review, follow the link in the show notes.

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

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Nakhvamdis!