How Russian Citizens Affect the Georgian Market & more–22nd June 2023

Here’s this from the Rorshok Georgia Update this week.

CRAZY volumes of Russian investment by Russians in Georgia.

1 billion USD in just twenty twenty-two, they bought 2,000 commercial buildings and 13,000 residential buildings and apartments, and that’s just twenty twenty-two. Last year, one and a half million Russians visited Tbilisi, 112,000 have not returned to Russia.

For more, check the link in the bio.

####

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 22nd June twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

From the Rorshok Georgia Update this week.

Reputable international polling firm Edison says 85% of the Georgian population supports the country's membership in NATO and 90% in the European Union. A significant increase since the last poll.

For more, check the link in the bio.

####

From the Rorshok Georgia Update this week.

The EU reported that Otsneba improved in 3/12 of the twelve points. At least in my youth in Texas and by any other standard I have ever heard, that is a failing grade, no matter how polite and European they try to be about it.

For more, check the link in the bio.

We start this episode with a report on Georgia's relations with Russia.

On Thursday, the 15th, the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information or IDFI, a Georgian NGO, found that the presence of Russian citizens in the country led to significant growth in real estate transactions. In Batumi, the share of Russians in real estate transactions increased from 5% to 18% from January to November twenty twenty-two. Russian citizens purchased 15,000 buildings/structures (including 13,000 apartments) and 14,000 plots of land by September twenty twenty-two.

Russian citizens and legal entities held accounts in Georgian commercial banks, with deposits reaching 2.87 billion laris, over 1 billion US dollars by December twenty twenty-two, an increase of 2.16 billion laris, about 800 million US Dollars compared to the previous year. Moreover, the report states that as of September twenty twenty-two,1.46 million Russians visited Georgia, generating 891 million US dollars in income. 112,000 Russian citizens haven't returned to their homeland.

On Tuesday, the 20th, Edison Research, an international research company, conducted a public poll for Formula TV, one of the main media channels in Georgia. The survey asked respondents which political party they would vote for in a hypothetical parliamentary election. The results showed that Otsneba took the lead with 37%, followed by Natsebi with 25%, and the For Georgia party came in third place in the party ranking, with 6%. Also, the survey revealed that 85% of the Georgian population supports the country's membership in NATO and 90% in the European Union.

Some news around the deoligarchization law.

On Wednesday, the 21st, Irakli Kobakhidze, the leader of the Otsneba party, announced that they would consider their European partners' requests and delay the domestic bill's final approval on deoligarchization until December. This bill aims to fulfill one of the twelve requirements for Georgia to qualify for the EU membership candidate status. Kobakhidze stated that European partners, such as Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, personally asked Irakli Gharibashvili, the Prime Minister of Georgia, to postpone the adoption of the deoligarchization law. Also, the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters, last week published a critical opinion on the second draft of Otsneba’s deoligarchization and said the law should not be adopted. .

Regarding the twelve recommendations.

On Wednesday, the 21st, the European Commission issued an interim oral report to the EU Ambassadors in Brussels on the implementation of the EU's twelve conditions for candidacy. According to Euractiv, a media network focusing on EU affairs, Georgia has successfully implemented three out of twelve recommendations: gender equality, considering judgments of the European Court of Justice, and installment of public defenders. However, the report says that Georgia needs to focus on political de-polarisation, judicial reforms, a more systematic approach to de-oligarchisation, and media freedom. The report also states that Georgia has made no progress in terms of media pluralism and highlights the need to protect journalists and media owners.

We have some updates on the Chiatura miner’s strike.

meeting bank obligations for: 3000

Let’s talk about violent attacks against the opposition.

On Saturday the 17th, someone assaulted Zurab Girchi Japaridze, the leader of the Girchi - More Freedom opposition party, in the central municipality of Gori. The attacker admitted in a social media post that he beat Japaridze for "perverting our children, insulting the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Church." Later in the day, a group of approximately fifty to sixty men threw stones and red paint while insulting a hotel that hosted a youth summer camp organized by the Liberal Education Academy, which brings together fifteen-sixteen-year-old students in Borjomi. Vato Shakarishvili, the former member of Otsneba youth wing, who established a "Conservative movement – Georgia Above All," confirmed that members of his movement took part in the incident but denied they threw stones, claiming that they acted "in respect to the right of freedom of expression." The opposition deems the attacks as Otsneba's coordinated violence against the opposition.

More on the opposition.

On Monday, the 19th, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the prison sentence of Nika Gvaramia, co-founder and general director of Mtavari Arkhi TV. The decision came after the court deemed the appeals inadmissible, confirming the Tbilisi Court of Appeal's judgment of November of last year. In response, Gvaramia took to his Facebook page, where he said he would prove the truth and pursue his case in Strasbourg. On Tuesday, the 20th, The US Embassy in Tbilisi issued a statement about the recent decision of the Supreme Court to uphold the prison sentence of Gvaramia, expressing its great worry about Gvaramia's ongoing imprisonment. The US has been raising questions and concerns about this case since the beginning, including the charges' timing and nature, and the sentence. According to the Embassy, many human rights defenders, both internationally and in Georgia, echoed the concerns.

Moving on to some regional news.

On Saturday, the 17th, The European Union, its member states, and financial institutions implemented two major initiatives in Georgia. One aimed to create opportunities to improve the living conditions of people in certain regions and bridge the urban-rural divide, while the other initiative focused on protecting nature, improving waste management, and promoting greener municipalities. These initiatives fall under the Team Europe project, which seeks transformative impact in partner countries worldwide. It builds upon the ongoing "Sustainable Development of Aragvi Protected Landscape" project involving Czech, Austrian, and Slovak institutions starting in twenty eighteen.

Over the weekend, from Saturday the 17th to Sunday the 18th, Kutaisi hosted Gemo Fest, a festival celebrating food and drinks .The Georgian National Tourism Administration, or GNTA, organized the festival, which aimed to promote local cuisine and support entrepreneurs. Local hosts welcomed visitors with street food versions of traditional dishes. The festival featured seventeen producers from the Imereti region at the food court. GNTA Head Maia Omiadze highlighted that the two-day festival included cooking competitions and that this was the third Gemo Fest this year. Previous ones took place in the city of Ambrolauri in the Racha region and the town of Mestia in the north-western Svaneti region. The festival hopes to increase the flow of domestic and international travelers to the different areas of Georgia.

We end this week with infrastructure news.

On Wednesday, the 21st, Irakli Karseladze, the Infrastructure Minister, announced that the first section of the Kakheti Highway, a thirty-five-kilometer Tbilisi-Sagarejo highway, would open this year. The project aims to connect the central part of the eastern Kakheti region to Tbilisi through a four-lane road stretching for a total of fifty-one kilometers and alleviating traffic in populated areas, especially during peak tourist seasons. The state budget will finance a total cost of 527 million laris, about 202 million US dollars. The remaining sections of the highway, a 16.6-kilometer Bakurtsikhe-Tsnori road, will open in twenty twenty-four.

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

You must know by now that we don’t want to have ads in the updates, so we don’t make any money doing them. If you enjoy listening and want to help us out financially, there’s a support link in the show notes. If you can’t help us out financially but still want to support us, please hit the subscribe button and tell your friends about us.

Nakhvamdis!