June 26 - July 2, 2015

WEEKLY PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY www.georgiatoday.ge Price: GEL 2.50 Georgia Today 24 p., Travel Today 4 p. ISSUE No.772 Georgian President Meets UK Travel PM Cameron and US Senator McCain at Slovakia Conference Today

IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE

THE BRUTAL REVOLUTION P.4 When Fiction Meets BUSINESS HEADLINES Reality: Georgian Artists Refused Make Your Visas Business Look GOOD Georgia Today meets the New Collective theatre on the WEB P.11 President Giorgi Margvelashvili addressed top EU and US group, among 20 groups representatives on the importance of Georgia’s geopolitical chosen from 300 to take part role and the significance of securing EaP countries. in the Flare Festival...but P.17 P.2 rejected for British visas.

Armenian Tbilisi Zoo Electricity Receives Message of Confidence from Protests the EU Association Stir Russian of Zoos and Aquaria P.15 FLIGHT SCHEDULE Concerns of Georgia Today analyses the Georgian Exports – another Yerevan protests and the Untapped Potential P.4 ‘Maidan’ Kremlin’s response. An in-depth analysis by P.12 Galt&Taggart. P.6 2 JUNE 26 - JULY 2 POLITICS U.S. State Department Commends Georgian President Meets UK PM Cameron and Georgia’s Efforts to Fight Terrorism US Senator McCain at Slovakia Conference By Steven Jones Abkhazia’s coastline,” notes the report. By Steven Jones Some regional cooperation between The U.S. Department of State has re- the neighbouring countries of Georgia Georgian President Giorgi Margve- leased a report concerning Georgia’s ef- was also mentioned in the report in terms lashvili visited the Slovakian capital forts in combating terrorism. of sharing cross-border terrorism-related city of Bratislava to participate in the “In 2014, Georgia continued its robust information with its neighbours Turkey, annual Global Security Forum held on engagement with the United States across Armenia, and Azerbaijan – through po- June 19-21. a range of counterterrorism-related issues lice attaches and working-level interac- President Margvelashvili, during the and remained a strong U.S. counter- tion at border crossings. visit, held meetings with leaders of Eu- terrorism partner. However, there are con- As for international cooperation, the ropean countries, US Senators and par- tinuing concerns about Georgia as a tran- report mentions Georgia’s active engage- ticipated in the Georgian-Slovak Busi- sit and source country for international ment on counterterrorism issues at the ness Forum. terrorism,” the report says. international, regional, and bilateral lev- “We managed to raise the Georgian “Media reported that, as of December, els, and its participation in regional or- issue. World leaders held in-depth dis- between 50 and 100 Georgian nationals ganisations such as the Council of Eu- cussion about our country’s security from the Muslim-majority regions of rope Convention on the Suppression of guarantees,” noted the president add- Adjara and the Pankisi Gorge were fight- Terrorism and the Organisation of Black ing: “We had the opportunity to discuss ing in Syria and Iraq for either al-Qa’ida Sea Economic Cooperation, and the security issues with the leaders of affiliates or the Islamic State in Iraq and GUAM including Organisation for De- NATO founding countries, such as the that it will turn into a big problem,” he were emphasized at the meeting.” the Levant (ISIL), including senior ISIL mocracy and Economic Development. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom warned. As Georgia is the largest non-NATO commander Tarkhan Batirashvili (aka “In 2014, Georgian law enforcement and the United States Senators. We also Margvelashvili also held a bilateral member in terms of contribution to the Omar al-Shishani)”. The report reads. officials participated in counterterrorism- talked to new members of the alliance.” meeting with the British Prime Minis- international peace keeping missions “Given Georgia’s geographic location, related training and capacity-building The Georgian President addressed ter David Cameron. including Afghanistan, Margvelashvili violent Islamist extremists continued to exercises with the Governments of Tur- participants of the forum at the session According to the Presidential Admin- and Cameron discussed the security en- transit through the country between the key, the UK, Israel, and Slovakia, as well dedicated to security concerns in the istration, Cameron expressed his condo- vironment in the region and worldwide. Russian Federation’s North Caucasus and as with the George Marshall Center in Eastern Partnership countries: “Fluctua- lences to the people of Georgia affected Along with the British PM, Syria and Iraq,” it continued. Germany, the OSCE, and the UN,” adds tion Zone: EU Neighborhood Strategy”. by the flood tragedy of June 13. Margvelashvili also met with the US The U.S. State Department underlined the report. He focused on the situation in the The Administration also claimed the Senator John McCain attending the the continued efforts of Georgia to en- There were other important aspects occupied territories, the importance of sides discussed close political and eco- GLOBSEC forum. hance its counterterrorism legislation in covered in the report such as integration Georgia’s geopolitical role for Europe nomic co-operation and perspectives Focusing on successful cooperation 2014: “In April, the Georgian govern- of different religious and ethnic groups: and the significance of security of East- between the two countries: “The Presi- within the Georgia-US Charter, issues ment amended the Criminal Code to “the Muslim-majority Adjara region al- ern Partnership countries for the safety dent of Georgia thanked the British PM of global security and the importance criminalise participation in international ready enjoys significant autonomy, and of Europe, paying special attention to for supporting Georgia’s European and of Georgia’s participation in NATO-led terrorism, recruitment for membership in legislation passed in February gives more the threats in the region and Russia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, the country’s coalitions were underlined at the meet- a terrorist organisation, and failing to autonomy to municipalities and villages, neighbourhood policy. sovereignty and territorial integrity, as ing. According to McCain, the United hinder a terrorist incident.” including in the Muslim-majority Pankisi “Russian politicians send a clear well as non-recognition of the occupied States appreciates Georgia’s contribu- The report also acknowledges Gorge.” message about their attitude to neighbo- territories.” tion to international missions. Georgia’s hard work towards strengthen- In addition, the Georgian gover- uring countries. They regard the coun- Cameron is said to have pledged The Georgian President thanked ing its overall border security, in part due nment’s willingness to make amend- tries as their “territorial property” support in the implementation of the John McCain for supporting Georgia’s to its goal to attain visa-free travel to the ments to the Criminal Code and other where they are authorised to use mili- NATO substantial package and Euro- territorial integrity, sovereignty and EU. “However, Tbilisi’s lack of control relevant legislation related to terrorism tary force,” the President noted, add- pean integration: “The position of the non-recognition policy, as well as its over its Russian-occupied territories of (to fully implement UN Security Coun- ing that such a policy brings nothing United Kingdom over inadmissibility European and North Atlantic integra- South Ossetia and Abkhazia, harsh ter- cil Resolution 2178) was emphasised: positive to either Russia or the region. of the so-called “contracts” between the tion process and officially invited him rain, and a continuing tense relationship “The country would benefit from addi- “If there is any tension in Russia’s Russian Federation and the occupation for the annual Ambassadorial due to be with Moscow limited the country’s abil- tional legislation to allow for the creation neighboring countries, we may think regimes of Abkhazia and South Ossetia held in September in Tbilisi. ity to secure its northern border but with of a means to identify and sanction indi- significant U.S. support, the Georgian viduals who are not included on UN sanc- Coast Guard is now better equipped to tions list and to improve the Georgian EU Extends Sanctions against Russia patrol the country’s maritime borders, government’s ability to prosecute terror- The European Union’s Foreign Af- with the exception of Russian-occupied ism cases.” fairs Council decided to extend the eco- nomic restrictive measures against Rus- sia by six months on June 22. “The European Union has extended economic sanctions against Russia up to January 31, 2016 with a view to com- plete implementation of the Minsk agreement,” said Susanne Kiefer, Press officer for the Foreign Affairs Council. The decision was made without dis- cussion and Kiefer announced it before to the events in Ukraine and the reunifi- the EU will be made promptly. “It is nec- all 28 EU countries Foreign Ministers cation of Crimea with Russia on August essary to carry out some bureaucratic pro- arrived in Luxembourg. 1, 2014. Later, the sanctions were ex- cedures to document those decisions, but The EU summit adopted a political dec- panded. Russia imposed a package of we expect that the elaboration will be laration to extend economic sanctions response sanctions against the U.S., completed very quickly,” noted Peskov. against Russia for six months in March this Australia, Canada, the European Union “Russia was not the initiator, but in year, linking the lifting of sanctions with and Norway on August 7, 2014. this case of the extension of the sanc- the compliance of the Minsk agreements Regarding the latest extension, tions, we will act on a reciprocity prin- for the period until the end of the year. Dmitry Peskov, Press Spokesman for the ciple,” he added. It is expected that the Sanctions were first imposed by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, list of goods to which the embargo will EU against the Russian Federation due stated that retaliatory sanctions against last remains virtually unchanged. WikiLeaks Reveals American Spying on French Governmental Officials By Zviad Adzinbaia contain the ”selectors” from the target Palestine and a dispute between the list, detailing the cell phone numbers of French and US governments over US WikiLeaks, the notorious whistleblo- numerous officials in the Elysee up to and spying on France were also leaked. wing website, on June 23, began publish- including the direct cell phone of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange ing “Espionnage Élysée”, a collection President,” it continues. said: “The French people have a right to of intelligence reports and technical According to a media source, this lat- know that their elected government is sub- documents from the US National Secu- est ‘leak’ includes a top secret cache of ject to hostile surveillance from a supposed rity Agency (NSA) concerning targeting documents of intelligence, summaries of ally. We are proud of our work with lead- and signals intelligence intercepts of the conversations between French govern- ing French publishers Liberation and communications of high-level officials ment officials concerning some of the Mediapart to bring this story to light. from successive French governments most pressing issues facing France and French readers can expect more timely and over the last ten years. the international community, the global important revelations in the near future.” “The top secret documents derive financial crisis, the Greek debt crisis, the The website says the recent publica- from directly targeted NSA surveillance leadership and the future of the European tion provides much greater insight into of the communications of French Union. American practices with its allies, includ- Presidents Francois Hollande (2012– The relationship between the ing the actual content of intelligence de- present), Nicolas Sarkozy (2007–2012), Hollande administration and the German rived from the intercepts, showing that and Jacques Chirac (1995–2007), as well government of Angela Merkel, French the US has allegedly been listening in to HAVE YOUR HAIR CUT AT OUR SALON as French cabinet ministers and the efforts to determine the make-up of the the phone calls of French leaders and AND GET HAIR DIAGNOSTIC AS A GIFT! French Ambassador to the United States,” executive staff of the United Nations, ministers for political, economic and dip- says the website. “The documents also French involvement in the conflict in lomatic intelligence.

4 JUNE 26 - JULY 2 SOCIETY

The ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI, www.iset-pi.ge) is an independent think-tank associated with the International School of Economics at TSU (ISET). Our blog carries economic analysis of current events and policies in Georgia and the South Caucasus region ranging from agriculture, to economic growth, energy, labor markets and the nexus of economics, culture and religion. Thought-provoking and fun to read, our blog posts are written by international faculty teaching at ISET and recent graduates representing the new generation of Georgian, Azerbaijani and Armenian economists. THE BRUTAL REVOLUTION When offered the ISET director job JUSTIFIED 2003, Georgia can gain from relaxing back in March 2007, I did not think While the fear of missing a payment many rules and regulations that were a twice. Everything I’ve read about Geor- deadline remained a source of stress, my good fit for the early days of the brutal gia until then was incredibly positive. state of bewilderment with Georgia’s bru- revolution. For example, giving custom- Livable, hospitable, beautiful, corrup- tal enforcement system was greatly ers a few weeks to settle their bills (while tion free, etc. etc. The latter part sounded helped by watching Power Trip, a must- charging penalties and interest rate!) will particularly promising given that during see documentary by Paul Devlin telling not spawn a culture of non-payment as my last days in Moscow (I lived and the story of an American company try- long as the new rules are clearly com- worked in Moscow from 1993 till 2007) ing – and failing – to resolve the electric- municated and enforced. Moreover, such I had my brand new BMW motorbike ity crisis in Tbilisi. ‘normalization’ will only do good for stolen in broad daylight by a local po- Having bought the city’s bankrupt Georgian utility companies (and, most lice officer (sic!) who knew that I am state-own distribution system in 2000, the Tbilisi Public Service Hall, a prominent symbol of Georgia’s reforms certainly, their customers). Likewise, al- about to leave the country and probably company invested to the tune of 100mln store trust in state institutions. remains extremely low despite the great lowing bureaucrats to take quality and thought that there would be no use for USD in new equipment hoping to stabi- First, they created an effective repres- difficulties experienced by Georgian providers’ reputation into account when motorbikes on Georgia’s terrible roads. lize electricity supply – marred, until sion machine to convict mafia bosses, households (and businesses) in the wake conducting public tenders will result in (Actually, it was an off-road bike, but then, by frequent blackouts. Yet, while gangsters, petty criminals and drug deal- of Lari devaluation. And then, of course, much better procurement decisions with- never mind – all he really cared about perhaps sensible under normal circum- ers, pushing crime out of Georgia’s bor- there are the smiling and professional out necessarily resulting in favoritism was his own impunity). stances, the company’s business plan col- ders and bringing the country’s prison patroli police and street level bureaucrats and/or waste of public funds. My first encounter with a Georgian lapsed for one simple reason: Georgian population to world record levels (per that have become symbols of Georgia’s Ironically, when I complained about traffic police (“patroli”) officer lived up customers were not used to pay for elec- capita). To perform this task, the criminal new statehood. excessive rigidity in Georgia’s public pro- to my (very high) expectations. The guy tricity, preferring, instead, to steal. And, justice system was reengineered to pre- curement system (very low thresholds for spoke English, was polite, professional, crucially, enforcement turned out to be sume guilt – not innocence, – subjecting TAKING BRUTALITY OUT OF holding tenders, exclusive reliance on and helpful. He even looked good in his prohibitively expensive – and politically its victims to lengthy pre-trial detention THE SYSTEM price competitiveness) to Kakha American-style uniform! impossible – in a context in which citi- periods and masterfully using the plea Dizzy from success and global fame, Bendukidze, a chief architect of Georgia’s As a matter of fact, in contrast with zens have been for years pretending to bargaining mechanism and pliant courts Georgia’s revolutionaries did not realize, reforms, his characteristically humorous everything I knew about the post-Soviet be paying for public services that the to extract confessions and money. at least not in time, that the brutal system response was that “our rules were designed bureaucracy, “professional, polite and (failed) Georgian “state” has been pre- Second, they stripped the Georgian they created had to be gradually dis- to make it impossible for public institu- helpful” applied equally well to every tending to provide. state of any imaginary functions it pre- mantled, giving way to a more ‘normal’ tions and state owned enterprises to func- single representative of the state I had to Additional reading helped me under- tended to be performing, using massive set of institutions. The result was a pain- tion. Everything should go private.” deal with in Georgia – the border police, stand that, until 2003, Georgia had been layoffs to reduce and renew state bureau- ful political defeat in October 2012, pub- Whether Kakha was joking or not, ex- customs and ministry of education offi- trapped in a vicious circle of pretense that cracy (including, famously, the entire the lic disgrace, forced emigration (and new cessively rigid public administration rules cials. encompassed all aspects of citizen-state traffic police force), slashing taxes, regu- political careers!) for some, and prison are a curse not only for the public sector, It all seemed to be too good to be true. relations. Existing in name only, the lations and whole agencies in charge of terms for others. but also for Georgian businesses and And, indeed, in mid-June, I experienced “state” pretended to provide law & or- their “enforcement”. Riding to power on a wave of popu- households. One of the main complaints my first (slight) disappointment with the der, public infrastructure and utilities, Third, they created a corruption proof lar protests against legal abuses by the by the Georgian business community “system” when power supply to our house insurance for health and old-age disabil- public administration system reducing the Saakashvili administration, the Georgian nowadays is the manner in which busi- was unexpectedly cut. As it turned out, we ity. Georgian “citizens” paid in kind – by bureaucrat to a robot undertaking simple Dream coalition government quickly nesses are audited by the Georgian Rev- missed the payment deadline by about a pretending to contribute to health and automatic routines with very little room acted to reset Georgia’s brutal justice sys- enue Service. For fear of mistakes (that day, which was reason enough for the elec- social insurance, evading taxes and brib- for discretion or judgment. In stark con- tem. Some of the very first steps it took would not be tolerated), tax police takes tricity company to disconnect us from the ing off “public servants”. trast to the jolly corruption era days, the included a massive amnesty to reduce months to complete an audit, effectively grid. With no prior notice, on a Friday, with The reality was that anyone living and greatest challenge for Georgia’s public prison population to more ‘normal’ lev- paralyzing the business in question. Any the temperatures hovering around high trying to do business in Georgia had no- institutions (including, alas, state univer- els, limiting the use of pre-trial detention findings result in the maximum allowable 30s, and no ability (or desire) on the part body to rely on other than themselves, sities) was now to find somebody willing and plea bargaining mechanisms by the penalties. “Look,” a Georgian tax auditor of the company to restore electricity sup- informal social networks and … the to take responsibility. With the legal re- prosecution (thus restoring the ‘presump- would typically say, “I know you don’t ply until after the weekend. mafia. People did not pay taxes and did pression system operating in full swing, tion of innocence’ principle); and, last but owe as much in taxes, but this is what I The brutality of it all was certainly no not expect to receive any government applying a signature has become the Geor- not least, granting greater independence have to do. We have a very good tax arbi- fun. But, as an economist, I was also services in return. They learned to pro- gian bureaucrat’s nightmare. to the judiciary. tration system. They should be able to help. puzzled: disconnection should be a vide for all their needs, including secu- The brutal strategy of “zero tolerance” What is being less well understood by Sorry about that, but in the meantime I ‘weapon of last resort’, not the first step rity of own life and property, contract and ruthlessness in the pursuit of freedom the Georgian policymakers is that the have to freeze your bank account”. in dealing with an absent-minded client enforcement, heating and electricity. and decency was a key factor in the Rose country’s public administration system Forcing public institutions to buy the who had never before missed a payment. Breaking out of this vicious circle re- Revolution’s success – in just a few years and its ‘spirit’ are also in urgent need of cheapest services (regardless of their The electricity company, I thought, could quired no less than a brutal revolution. In – to break out of the vicious circle of crime resetting. So far, suggestions to ‘soften’ quality), cutting electricity supply when- actually profit from the late-to-pay cus- state affairs and in people’s minds. and corruption. And what a great success the system – by creating greater space for ever a client is late to pay, and forcing tomers by continuing to sell electricity it was! The young Georgian generation – judgment and tolerating mistakes – have businesses to go through a lengthy tax while charging penalties and interest rate “DIZZY FROM SUCCESS”? for instance, ISET students – does not been rejected for fear of reopening the arbitration process (while having their to the amount of overdue payments. With United by a clear vision and knowing know how to give or take bribes; their door for corruption, tax evasion and/or a accounts frozen) are extremely costly and the nuclear “disconnection” option re- that the broad popular mandate they have older siblings and parents are now used to culture of non-payment. inefficient ways of conducting public ad- maining on the table, the client would enjoyed in 2003 will not last forever, paying their taxes and bills in full and on But are such fears really justified in ministration. Georgia should be able to have no choice but pay. Maybe late, but Georgia’s revolutionaries gained their time. No Georgian in his/her own mind today’s context? do better. And, thanks to its brutal revo- in full. place in history by taking unprecedented would ever miss a payment. Even the share Given the tremendous and irreversible lution, it can afford doing so! BRUTALITY EXPLAINED AND steps to break the criminal gangs and re- of bad loans in Georgia’s banking system cultural change it has gone through since

Tel: (995 32) 2 45 08 08 10 Galaktion Street E-mail: [email protected]

6 JUNE 26 - JULY 2 ECONOMY

The Galt & Taggart Research team comprises Georgian and Azerbaijani finance and economic experts who have broad experience of covering the macro and corporate sectors of the two countries. Our current product offering includes Georgian and Azerbaijan macroeconomic research, Georgian sector research, and fixed income corporate research. For free access to Galt & Taggart Research, please visit gtresearch.ge or contact us at [email protected]. GeorGeorgiangian ExporExportsts –– UntaUntappedpped PPotentialotential

By Eva Bochorishvili RE-EXPORTS VS. GEORGIA THE RUSSIAN MARKET provides a positive example, as the gov- velopment in the country. Our exper- ORIGINATED EXPORTS Another big change in Georgian ex- ernment acknowledged its mistake and tise is leveraged through Galt & Galt & Taggart Research is To understand Georgian export per- ports has been a reorientation from the reversed course through the latest Taggart’s 5 core activities: investment partnering with Georgia Today on a bi- formance, it is essential to decompose Russian market after the 2006 embargo, amendment. Third, it is essential to banking, asset management, wealth monthly column which will provide the export commodity structure. Over which caused the share of exports to stick to the floating exchange rate re- management, brokerage, and research. analysis of the latest macroeconomic the past decade, used car exports to Russia in total exports to decrease from gime. Letting the Lari depreciate We are committed to the pursuit of developments in the country and its neighbouring Azerbaijan and Armenia 18% in 2005 to 8% in 2006 and 2% in against the dollar starting from Novem- our clients’ best interests and approach various business sectors, along with re- (as well as Kazakhstan until 2012) 2008-2012. The embargo forced Geor- ber 2014 allowed the exchange rate to every transaction with the aim of se- ports on the latest financial results of made up a considerable part of Geor- gian producers to redirect exports to absorb most of the shocks and relieve curing them the best possible outcome. Georgian Eurobond issuers. This gian exports. Re-exports, dominated by other CIS countries, the EU, and the week’s topic: the untapped potential of used cars, increased 18 times to US$ Middle East. Exports to Russia picked Georgian exports. 1.1bn in 2013 from 2004 and their share up in 2013 as Russia opened its bor- Growth in Georgian merchandise picked up from about 10% in 2004 to ders to Georgian products, but ac- exports has averaged about 20% over almost 40% of total exports. In the same counted for only 6 percentage points the past decade, but its share to GDP period, exports originated in Georgia in the 22% total export growth in 2013. has not increased significantly. The increased just threefold to US$ 1.8bn. Even without Russia, Georgian exports share of services exports to GDP, on In 2012-2013 re-export growth consid- have more than tripled since 2005 to the other hand, has almost doubled, erably overtook Georgia originated ex- US$ 2.9bn in 2013. With the recent driven by growth in tourism and trans- port growth, despite the reopening of economic turbulence in Russia, the ex- port receipts. While Georgia has expe- the Russian market in 2013. Yet the posure to the Russian market (wine, rienced impressive growth over the last 1.6% y/y drop in Georgia’s exports in mineral water and agricultural prod- decade, with the exception of the years 2014 was solely attributed to a decline ucts) is once again receding. In 5M15, affected by the global crisis and the in re-exports (as Azerbaijan introduced Russia’s share in total Georgian exports post-election related uncertainty, the restrictions on used car imports in April went down by 2.8 percentage points to share of exports to GDP remained sig- 2014), as Georgia originated export 6.4%, compared to the same period last nificantly lower than in peer countries. growth slowed but remained positive. year. During 2005-2013 Georgian goods ex- The re-exported used cars are imported EXPORTS TO THE EU AND OTHER COUNTRIES Exports to the European Union and Turkey offer significant upside poten- pressures on the real economy. The Our regional focus allows us to provide tial. The share of Georgian exports to depreciation prevented exports from in-depth services and insightful solu- the EU in total exports has remained becoming too expensive, as Georgia’s tions to our domestic and international relatively flat at about 20% over the trading partners’ currencies experi- clients. Our team consists of over 20 past decade. This low share suggests enced sizable depreciation as well. The talented professionals with extensive that the EU market is untapped and the resulting depreciation of the real effec- experience in the industry, while our free trade agreement, which went into tive exchange rate may even encour- senior professionals are exclusively effect in September 2014, will support age Georgian producers to compete dedicated to each client. export growth. A study by the EU sug- with imports and the ensuing profitabil- Galt & Taggart is a wholly owned gests that the DCFTA may increase ity could encourage the production of subsidiary of Bank of Georgia which Georgian exports 9-12%. 5M15 trade new export goods. has a unique insight into the regional outcomes indicate that the EU market market and a solid international inves- for Georgia’s products remained stable — tor base. With its institutional backing, compared to the CIS markets. The share Galt & Taggart has established it- Galt & Taggart is well positioned to of exports to Turkey decreased to 8.4% self as the leading investment banking assist investors in exploring investment in 2014 from 18.3% in 2004, indicat- and investment management services opportunities and to offer local and re- ing that Georgia has the potential to company in Georgia. The company is gional companies greater access to both increase export flows to its immediate at the forefront of capital markets de- equity and debt capital markets. neighbour as well. The share of Geor- gian exports going to USA, China and port share to GDP averaged 21%, while from various countries and minor re- Canada has increased moderately over the same figure was 75% in the Slovak pairs are performed in Georgia. Such the past decade and, as shares are still Republic, 53% in the Czech Republic, renovation activities, as well as the low, there is further room for expan- 52% in Lithuania, and 33% in Latvia. transport and logistics for these goods, sion. During the same period, imports ex- do create some local value added. Such panded at a faster rate, especially dur- value creation was made possible by GOING FORWARD ing the boom years of 2003-2007, fu- the implemented reforms, which helped Looking at Georgia’s export perfor- eled by large capital inflows and credit Georgia become a regional marketplace mance, a key question is how to take growth. While Georgian exports in- for cars. While recent regional eco- advantage of global markets and ex- creased 4x in nominal terms to US$ nomic troubles significantly weighed pand exports. First, the trade enhanc- 2.9bn in 2014 from 2004, employment- on car re-exports, Georgia’s functional ing reforms to be implemented under generating processed product exports hub economy, with developed logistics the EU DCFTA can be particularly im- remained secondary, as commodity and transport infrastructure, has helped portant for producing high quality prod- structure was dominated by used cars shore up opportunities for new re-ex- ucts and increasing Georgian exports. and resource based metals and miner- port commodities, like copper and Second, attracting FDI in export gen- als. Though there have been significant pharmaceuticals, since 2013. Though erating sectors is vital, as Georgia lacks changes in Georgian export structure re-exports of used cars decreased 63% capital and knowledge to produce and and diversification of destination mar- y/y, re-exports of copper and pharma- export more sophisticated commodi- kets in recent years, Georgia has not ceuticals increased 19% y/y and 297% ties. To that end, continued improve- yet demonstrated success in tapping y/y, respectively, in 4M15. Given these ment of the business environment and international markets, despite remark- trends, it is likely that re-exports will the economy’s competitiveness is es- able improvements in the business en- continue to fuel Georgia’s export sential. Policy makers have to be ex- vironment, progress in trade growth and government policies should tremely cautious when considering new liberalisation, enhancement of trade-re- be aimed at further enhancing the plat- regulations on the business sector with lated infrastructure and streamlining of form for current and potential trade potentially harmful effects. In this re- customs procedures since 2004. partners. gard, the 2014 tightening of visa rules

8 JUNE 26 - JULY 2 SOCIETY Disaster Risk Reduction By Katie Ruth Davies am very satisfied with the training. The together to make a rope and try to get children have learnt it well, thanks to out safely however you can- this should While many Tbilisians and Akhalda- ASB and the work of the care-givers be your last option, however! bans dealt with the reality of the recent here. It is highly necessary and impor- Earthquake landslide and flood close-at-hand, I was tant knowledge which they will carry Rule #1- Get undercover, cover your forced to watch the events happen via for the rest of their lives. head! Typical earth tremors last mere social media from a seminar in Batumi. seconds, which doesn’t leave much time I, like many of my colleagues there, QUICK DRR FACTS - WHAT YOU to react. Most of the people at the sem- worried about family and friends and NEED TO KNOW inar with me followed their base instinct spent the best part of Sunday with one Landslide and ran for the door at the first simulat- ear, one eye and most fingers on my Rule #1- Get away fast! Run on foot ed tremor. DO NOT RUN! If you are mobile as I checked regularly on my kids at a right angle to the oncoming flow (do inside, get immediately under the near- and husband and also organized journal- not stay in its path trying to outrun it- est table or bed and cover your head- ists to keep you, Dear Readers, up-to- you most likely won’t be able to)! your head and spine should be under date with the latest news. Avalanche cover. Once the initial tremors have My other ear and eye were very ap- Rule #1- Get down! If you’re in a passed you may have a 6-7 minute win- propriately placed, as the theme of the building, get in a corner, up-end a table in dow with which to move. If you know one-day seminar, run by the Arbeiter front of you, crouch down, cover your that outside your building is a big open Samariter Bund (ASB) in Georgia was head and be ready for the impact. If you’re space and you can make it there within Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). in the open, turn your back to the on- this 6-7 minute timeframe, cover your The DRR training was, this time, for coming snow and curl into an embryo head with your handbag or a cushion (or awareness-raising amongst media repre- position. Let the avalanche roll you. If any other thick object) and walk quick- sentatives from Georgian television, ra- you then find yourself buried and don’t ly and calmly out of the building and dio and print media. However, the usual know which way is up, spit. The water move as far away from the building as training is focused on the younger gen- will fall thanks to gravity and you’ll know possible. If not (such as when you are eration with ASB currently having pro- which way to start digging your way out! higher up than three floors), stay put vided training and training materials Flood under that table or bed until you are sure (flashcards, speakerphones, hardhats Rule #1- Get out, get high! If you get the earthquake risk has passed. and other equipment) to 344 kindergar- an advance flood warning, turn off the Emergency Bag tens in four regions of Georgia at high- electrics and gas and move as much as Rule #1- Keep it close! An emergen- risk from natural disasters (Svaneti- you can (TVs, rugs, valuables) onto up- cy bag should typically contain: Samegrelo, Adjara, Samtshke-Javaheti per floors. Put sandbags in front of your · A first aid kit (ready prepared, such and Tbilisi). One of these kindergartens house to limit or prevent water impact. as those you can buy at a pharmacy in a is Khobi Kindergarten No.2, to which If you have no warning, forget the valu- small zip-case) my colleagues and I were taken to watch ables, get on the roof and call the emer- · Water (half a litre or more) the well-trained children show us how gency services (112), then wait. · Dry food, such as crackers (keep an they would react during an earthquake, Fire eye on the expiry date and replace as one of a number of natural disaster types Rule #1- Get down, wait for the emer- necessary) that can befall Georgia throughout the gency services (112)! There’s more ox- · Torch and batteries typical year. ygen close to the floor so if the room is · Whistle, for attracting attention According to statistical analysis of filling with smoke, get down on your more easily than shouting 2005-2012, on average: hands and knees. If you can cover your · Rope · 20-25 cases of flooding are regis- up this project in May 2014 and the DRR, and got the children of Khobi kin- mouth and nose with a damp cloth, even · Small portable radio and batteries- tered each year in Georgia. first phase is due to end in December dergarten to demonstrate an earthquake better. If the fire is outside the door, do for keeping up-to-date on rescue opera- · A serious storm happens 5-8 times this year. Our project is principally fo- and fire simulation, in order to increase not open the door. Try to fill the space tions a year. cused on kindergarten readiness in the the spread of awareness through the under the door with (damp) cloth to limit Singing with smiling, unafraid faces, · 15-20 cases of landslides are regis- face of natural disasters. We give train- media representatives who attended. the smoke coming in. Go to the window the children of Khobi kindergarten No.2 tered annually. ings in first aid and DRR to care-givers Children learn best through play, and and, if you know the emergency servic- showed their audience how they will There are 50,000 landslide-prone ar- and teachers who then adapt the materi- the kindergarten teachers seemed to have es (112) are coming, wait. Do not open handle the next earthquake: calmly and eas identified in Georgia. The danger als and pass the knowledge on to the this idea clearly in their minds. Using the window unless you are uncertain orderly and with every care not just for zones include up to 2000 settled loca- children. We created flashcards to guide ASB flashcards and other material as the whether the emergency services (112) themselves, but for those around them. tions with more than 200,000 dwellers. them. As part of the project in each kin- basis of their teaching, they are free to are coming as the in-rush of air can cause The message of their song as they de- The total area of land damaged by land- dergarten we created committees who adapt to suit the purpose- with games, the fire to increase. If you are higher up scended into the playground with cush- slides exceeds 1.5 million hectares. will ensure the safety of the kindergar- songs and puppets. than the third floor, you should not try ions held over their heads: Prevention, Teona Julukhadze, ASB Disaster Risk tens after the ASB project finishes. We Nargiza Tugushi, Director of the to jump. If you have no other choice and protection, and help each other! It was Reduction Program Coordinator: We set ran this weekend’s one day seminar on Number Two Kindergarten of Khobi: I are three floors up or lower, tie cloth an example to us all. Tap water in Tbilisi-safe or not? Stronger Clinical Governance for Better Maternal By Nino Melikishvili cal Director of GWP. Health Outcomes: Beyond the Numbers GWP is carrying out double chlori- After it became known that existing nation of water for prophylactic pur- On June 23rd – 25th, UNFPA Re- sewage pipelines into the River Vere (lo- poses. GWP also announced on their gional Office for Eastern Europe and cation of the June 13 tragedy) had been website that they are going to build a Central Asia (EECARO) in close co- damaged by the flood, people in Tbilisi temporary mini-purification device, operation with the Ministry of Labour, started to ask for information about the through which sewage entering the Vere Health and Social Affairs of Georgia safety of their tap water. river will be eliminated. holds the Sub-Regional Workshop for Georgian Water and Power (GWP) Later, the question was raised as to the South Caucasus and Turkey Clus- confirmed that the local tap water is safe whether or not the central government ter: Stronger Clinical governance for and reassured people that there is no and Tbilisi City Hall were informed Better Maternal Health Outcomes: reason to panic. GWP once again re- about the polluted water, considering the Beyond the Numbers. minded people that Tbilisi is supplied fact that hundreds of volunteers are The workshop gathered the repre- with drinking water from the Aragvi working in this area. As it turned out, sentatives of Ministries of Health, the Gorge; water provided for Tbilisi citi- neither the volunteers nor the ministers health care planners and managers, zens is not connected to the River Vere knew about this fact. health professionals and Representa- in any way. GWP also confirmed that a According to GWP, sewage discharge tives of professional societies from wastewater discharge in the Vere river does not occur in the vicinity where the Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Tur- had been agreed to by both local and volunteers were working. key UNFPA Country offices’ staff and central government. Officials say that once the cleanup the representatives from the UNFPA UNFPA sub-regional workshop for the South Caucasus and Turkey, "Stronger Clinical “The tap water is absolutely clean- efforts are completed, the orig- governance for Better Maternal Health Outcomes: Beyond the Numbers." Regional office. you are not getting water from the River inal sewage collector will be The major objectives of the work- view maternal deaths and complications, cance to elaborate/adapt, implement and Vere,” said Omar Gotsiridze, Techni- fully restored. Reconstruc- shop are to introduce the World Health for systemic improvements and monitor audit methodology for mater- tion of the damaged roads Organization (WHO) Beyond the strengthening of maternal and perinatal nal mortality and morbidity. and sewage system Numbers (BTN) tools and methodol- care. Notably, the majority of mortality will take 30 days. ogy, to share experiences among coun- Maternal and newborn health is one cases can be averted with proper medi- tries with different levels of knowl- of the most significant indicators of a cal intervention. WHO innovative meth- edge and introduction of BTN ap- state’s welfare and public health care. odology - ‘Expanding Beyond the Num- proaches, and to elaborate the detailed Despite the progress achieved in the last bers: maternal mortality and morbidity action plan for BtN implementation. decade in Georgia, the maternal mortali- case reviews envisages introducing clin- It’s worth mentioning that WHO/UN- ty rate still remains one of the highest in ical audit as a tool for quality monitor- FPA has assisted introduction of this Europe. Taking into consideration the ing and timely detection of pregnancy approach in 14 European countries, national priorities, and also for ensuring related risks to ensure safe motherhood and has significantly contributed to the sustainable development of the health in Georgia and other countries in the re- creation a surveillance system to re- care system, it is of the utmost signifi- gion.

10 JUNE 26 - JULY 2 SOCIETY Believe’s Annual Charity Gala Raises over GEL 100,000 Silver Sponsor: MSC Georgia, SAT- NO Company Bronze sponsor: Barwil Georgia, Rostovi Georgian Community Corporate Table Sponsors: Hilton Batumi, Gvinadze & Partners, CMA CGM, Caucasus Metal Terminal, Geor- gian Service Group, Aldagi BCI, GPI Holding. The night also included raffles spon- sored by: Hilton Batumi, Radisson Ba- tumi, Georgia Palace Hotel, KARACA Georgia, Divine Beauty House, Cruise Hotel & Restaurant, Sheraton Batumi, Tako Dvalishvili, Barambo, Medi Call, Kikidu and others. In conjunction with the Gala, Believe Foundation also hosted a live auction of various artworks, donated by prominent Georgian and foreign artists, support- ers, and patrons to help the charity con- tinue its work supporting children with disabilities and socially vulnerable fam- ilies in Poti. Auctioneer-extraordinaire Mr. Cliff Isaak, Honorary Consul of Canada in Georgia, conducted the Char- ity Auction. Auction artworks, jewelry and sports memorabilia were donated by: Nino Chakvetadze, Zaza Pachulia, Gigisha Pachkoria, Tamar Gugunava, Sopho Gongliashvili, Gia Baratashvili, Nadiya Spiller, Tornike Matitaishvili, Grigol Ghvania, Kakhaber Baramia, Badri Va- dachkoria, Guranda Kupreishvili, Irakli Kekelia, Irakli Totibadze, Nonna Naz- arova, Sarah Watterson, Amiran Kupra- On June 20th the business commu- with special needs. BELIEVE Founda- The evening featured a live perfor- Our sincere thanks go to each and va and Zarapxana Jewelry. nity of Poti and those who support the tion is a non-profit, non-political mance by The Fourth Season and our every one of those who donated and Believe Foundation proudly ac- region came together to support Be- organization which provides aid and special guest was the incredible singer supported the event: knowledges its major sponsors: Bank of lieve’s annual Charity Gala event and support to children with disabilities in Vaja Mania who performed for the ben- Gold Sponsor: Bank of Georgia, Georgia, Kulevi Oil Terminal and help children with special needs as well Poti, Georgia. efit of the Believe Foundation. PACE Georgia, Kulevi Oil Terminal PACE Georgia. as socially vulnerable families. The spe- The event gathered more than 200 cial one-night benefit gala took place participants from various local and in- at 7pm at the newly opened Hilton Ba- ternational companies and included: din- tumi Hotel, located at 40, Rustaveli ner by Ioannis Kritikos - the chef of Street, Batumi, Georgia. Hilton Batumi, refreshments generous- The foundation raised over GEL ly donated by Coca Cola Bottling Com- 100,000 and the event was a great pany Georgia and ice-cream donated by success. Funds raised will support the Barambo. The guests also enjoyed a de- organisation’s mission of supporting licious cake from Torti Gerotskoy, the socially vulnerable families and children well-known Tbilisi-based baker. JUNE 26 - JULY 2

TBC Bank $7.4 million Obtains USD Investment 10 Million Loan Capital for from BSTDB SPAR Georgia P.13 Business P.13

Innovation Laboratory Two New to be Established Destinations for Make Your Business in Georgia Georgian Airways Look GOOD on the WEB Georgian Airways, formerly known as Airzena, has launched two new flight routes to Yerevan and Odessa, reports the Ministry of Economy and Sus- tainable Development. Flights to Yerevan are scheduled to start from June 29 four times a week, while Odessa will be served once a week from July 1. Established in September 1994 as Airzena, the company has been operating business and charter flights for over 20 years, while scheduled passen- ger services were added three years later. In 1999, Airzena merged with Air Georgia and formed Airze- na Georgian Airlines, while in 2004 it adopted its Signing ceremony to create Innovative Laboratory. current name. From April 2013, Georgian Airways has had With the objective of giving practical knowl- code share agreements with Austrian Airlines for edge to youngsters, the Innovation and Technolo- flights via Vienna and KLM for flights via Amster- gy Agency, Vladimir Komarov Physics and Math- dam. ematics Public School and Potters Digital Agency Currently, the company offers flights to Mos- has signed a memorandum to create an innovation cow, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, St. Pe- laboratory in Georgia. tersburg, Samara, Vladikavkaz and Novosibirsk, According to the parties, youngsters who will together with domestic flights to Batumi and Kutai- attend the laboratory, will gain sufficient knowl- si. GoodWeb designs. edge to work in highly paid positions after gradu- ating from school or even start their own high-tech By Beqa Kirtava are becoming digital, or more specifically, the world businesses. is becoming digital. Therefore, the importance of The Innovation Lab entails collaboration be- If you are reading this article in the newspaper, looking great on the web cannot be exaggerated. tween the company and educational institutions. we can almost guarantee that in about 25 years you Unfortunately, even today, having a state-of-the- Equipped with the latest technologies, the lab en- won’t be. A couple of decades from now you’ll art website in Georgia is associated with signifi- ables students to create and develop innovative probably have forgotten what it feels like to flick cant wealth. That said, a company named Good- projects such as innovative mobile applications, through pages, as you’ll be scrolling down the arti- Web is here to shatter that anecdata and turn your smart watches and software for other accessories. cles of Georgia Today on your e-reader, while try- business into a digital tour de force. In addition, the laboratory will host workshops, ing to get rid of the flashy advertisements and “sub- master classes, trainings and youth competitions. Georgian Airways now flies to Yerevan and Odessa scribe to us” pop-ups. Why? Because businesses Continued on p.12 12 JUNE 26 - JULY 2 BUSINESS Make Your Business Look GOOD on the WEB Continued from p.11 vices to their needs? isting service packages and those A: We tailor our services to the users who became our clients be- To talk about the enterprise, its needs of any type of customer. fore the aforementioned update aims and future plans, Georgia However, because of the existing happened were nonetheless pro- Today exclusively interviewed situation, we mostly aim to sup- vided with mobile and tablet GoodWeb’s Director of Sales and port small and middle-sized busi- friendly websites. Marketing, Sergo Avsajanishvili. nesses. Q: Lately, issues regarding HotelHotelHotelHotel Q: Firstly, please give our Each and every one of our cli- cyber-security have become in- readers some general informa- ents is provided with individual creasingly buzz worthy in Geor- tion about the company. How manager service, which enables us gia. Do you ensure that the web- SympatiaSympatiaSympatiaSympatia did the idea of creating Good- to approach issues from the right sites of your clients are protect- Web emerge? Sergo Avsajanishvili, GoodWeb angle and modify our offers so that ed? A: GoodWeb is an internet Director of Sales and Marketing they meet customers’ expecta- A: Absolutely. We ensure max- marketing company, which strives tive panels that are often offered tions. The consumer chooses one imum safety of our clients’ web- to effectively create and develop for use. of the existing webpage designs sites. We provide both hardware websites, while also solving nu- This is exactly how the idea of and then our team performs the and software security systems as merous PR-related issues, using creating GoodWeb emerged; as- initial setup, after which the afore- well as server protection. every single internet marketing piring to support small and mid- mentioned person is able to make The hardware section includes method available. dle sized businesses, boost their any type of alteration, including a special firewall and high-quali- Our company’s strategic devel- status and solve their economic design change, content modifica- ty monitoring system, which helps opment of complex promotion issues. tion and editing/adding photo-vid- us to quickly and effectively as- aims in three major directions: Q: Please give us a quick eo material. sess critical situations and keep an * Sales increase overview of the services Good- Q: What would you say your eye on the traffic flow. Moreover, 4, V. Daraselia Str. * Business reputation boost Web offers its clients. main advantage is over the com- our servers are constantly scanned, Tbilisi, Georgia * Brand popularization A: Firstly, it has to be noted that petition? monitored and updated, which It’s common knowledge that our clients are provided with a full A: Today there are quite a lot ensures further credibility and en- Tel: (995 32) 2 99 55 88, 2 37 05 90 businesses which have their own array of web services. We are able of web developing companies on ables our team to instantly fix any Tel./Fax: (995 32) 2 37 62 63 websites boast constantly increas- to bring any business into the dig- the Georgian market, but Good- shortcomings. As for the program Hotel’s network www.sympatia.ge ing sales figures and, more impor- ital world in the shortest amount Web stands out from the crowd code, it is written to provide top- “Sympatia” E-mail: [email protected] tantly, are accessible to their cli- of time possible, as we value our with its flexibility and exquisite most security and productivity. All ents 24/7. clients’ time very much. service. Our company doesn’t pro- the updates are also thoroughly According to numerous stud- We provide: vide businesses with just the ini- tested to avoid any drawbacks. ies, mostly large-scale Georgian * A professional website in 1 day tial setup of websites; we offer a Q: Lastly, what are your fu- businesses are well-represented on * Design/Change of design full range of services which in- ture plans? What new services the World Wide Web. Reasons * Corporate email service cludes every important aspect of will GoodWeb offer in the near why small and middle sized en- * Unlimited traffic internet marketing. Our three main future? Car Rent terprises tend to avoid going digi- * Mobile and tablet versions of the features which set GoodWeb apart A: Our main goal is to help tal varies, however, there are sev- webpage from the competition are: every single business in Georgia Tel: 599 16 16 70 eral distinguishable factors: * Free sub domain (your- * Time to take their work to a whole new · Price – developing a personal name.gweb.ge) * Price level and, with GoodWeb’s servic- website usually costs over 1000 * SEO (search engine optimiza- * Quality es, make it accessible, distinguish- GEL; tion) Furthermore, all our clients are able and inimitable. from 35 euro per day · Time – the design and develop- * Technical support automatically rendered with the We plan to make our service ment process is very time-consum- * Software support latest upgrades that our packages even more large-scale and provide ing; * Web hosting undergo. For instance, research our customers with new packag- Tours to all direc- · Lack of IT knowledge, which is Q: Do you only provide web- has shown that 85% of internet es, upgrades and offers. We aim crucial for correct planning of both sites for small and middle sized users often access the web from to please our consumers as much tions of Georgia website functionality and techni- businesses or do you also work their smartphones and tablets, thus as we can and will instantly pro- (with driver and cal aims; with large corporations? If you we have added mobile and tablet- vide them with any interesting · Not quite hassle-free administra- do, how do you adjust your ser- compatibility features to our ex- news regarding new projects. Guide) for 4 per- son from 40 euro. OP-ED Nissan pathfinder – 2004, 4X4, AT Armenian Electricity Protests Stir Russian Concerns of another ‘Maidan’ By Zaza Jgharkava Eurasian Union. This is clear to any observer. Even before joining A wave of protests are sweep- the Union, the political establish- ing across Georgia’s neighbour Ar- ment of Armenia demanded that menia. Unlike Georgia, where pro- Moscow resolve the issue of trans- Mercedes-Benz Viano – 2004 Toyota RAV 4 – 2000, test rallies are part of political life, port corridors with Armenia’s 4X4, AT this has been a surprising devel- neighbors to ensure minimisation opment in its southern neighbour. of tariff policies. During the en- This is why photos of protests in tire period before Moscow tried to Armenia that had spread a few drag Yerevan to the Union, Arme- days ago was like a thunder in a nia’s government kept setting the clear sky. In the capital Yerevan precondition to Moscow that if it and the city of Gyumri, people where speculation has mounted lessons. Armenians believed Mos- wanted Armenia to join the Cus- protested against the increase of about a potential repeat of Kyiv’s cow like silly ones and joined the toms Union, Moscow should at electricity prices. Despite the so- Maidan. Stepan Grigoryan, head Eurasian Union. I say this with least ensure open communications cial nature of the protests, every of the Globalisation and Regional pain. Recent events made me cer- between Armenia and Russia and observer agrees that the protest Research Center, believes that if tain that the old political elite of restore the railway link to trans- goes beyond social issues and ral- the Sargsyan government does not Armenia should be replaced with port Armenian cargoes to Russia ly participants on Freedom Square concede, it will be confronted Ar- the new one. The new generation and vice versa. in Yerevan are actually protesting menian ‘Maidan’. is coming that will definitely Back then, Armenian Security against political injustice more “The experience of post-Sovi- change it,” Grigoryan told Inter- Council Secretary Arthur Bagh- than social injustice. et space countries shows that it is pressnews. dasaryan, when speaking about the Based on short news pieces very hard to change the govern- The Kremlin responded to the possible railway revival had un- coming from the capital of Arme- ment through elections. It is good protest rallies in Yerevan with wittingly also raised the issue of nia, policemen are not vehement- that in Georgia it took place. The press secretary of President Putin, the railway in Abkhazia. Special ly opposed to the demands of the fact is that in post-Soviet countries Dmitry Peskov stating that the representative of the Georgian rally participants which could cre- the governments do not change if Russian government did not wish Prime Minister in negotiations ate fertile ground for expansion of serious changes do not occur. I re- to speculate with Yerevan. “We are with Russia Zurab Abashidze has the protests. Whether we are on the peat, if the government has made not making forecasts,” was the pointed out several times that he verge of a serious crisis is not clear. mistakes in relations with the brief response of the main voice has been discussing this issue with Regular citizens in Armenia pose youth and the society as a whole, of President Putin. However, Pes- his colleague Karasin. the question of how beneficial it I do not exclude Armenian Maid- kov pointed out the wishes of the The date of the next meeting is for them to be under Russia’s an similar to the Ukrainian Maid- Kremlin for the Armenian people. of Karasin and Abashidze is ap- influence when fuel, gas and elec- an. I do not agree with President “We wish the brother Armenian proaching and the Russian side tricity, the biggest exporter of Putin in many things, including nation peace and quick resolution says the talks in Prague will touch which in the region is Russia, is issues of Ukraine and Georgia. But of the existing disagreement. We upon the restoration of the railway still expensive. Ultimately, they now I say – good job! It gave a hope that all questions will be an- route between Tbilisi and Sokhu- are worried about the extent to good lesson to Armenians. If the swered according to the laws of mi and it will be interesting to see which they rely on Russia. The government is naïve and not de- Armenia,” Peskov said. just how much events in Yerevan growth of such opinion is visible veloped enough, it seems that it is The protest is also related to between now and then will impact in the Armenian online media even necessary to give them such Armenia’s integration into the on the talks. BUSINESS JUNE 26 - JULY 2 13 TBC Bank Obtains USD 10 Million $7.4 million Investment Loan from BSTDB Capital for SPAR Georgia TBC Bank and the Black Sea Trade and De- tating small business development as a backbone velopment Bank (BSTDB) have signed a USD 10 of the market economy will remain our strategic By Nino Melikishvili million loan agreement. This transaction repre- priority in Georgia and other countries of the Black sents the renewal of the small and medium-sized Sea region in the years to come”, said Ihsan Ugur Dutch Development Bank FMO and official lic- enterprises (SME) financing agreement between Delikanli, BSTDB President. ensee of global retail brand SPAR in Georgia signed the organizations first signed in 2003. The three About the Black Sea Trade and Development an investment agreement for $7.4 million capital year facility will be dedicated to financing SMEs Bank (BSTDB) financing which is to be allocated towards develop- in Georgia. The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank ment of SPAR Georgia, rebranding, and opening “We are pleased to continue our successful (BSTDB) is an international financial institution new stores. relationship with BSTDB, TBC Bank’s long- established by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bul- SPAR is a Dutch multinational retail chain and standing partner. The renewed SME loan will al- garia, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Rus- franchise with approximately 12,500 stores in 35 low us to continue financing our clients’ small and sia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The BSTDB headquar- countries around the world, including Georgia. It medium businesses, one of the most important ters are in Thessaloniki, Greece. BSTDB supports was founded in the Netherlands in 1932 and since and fast expanding sectors in the country,” com- economic development and regional cooperation then has become one of the world’s largest retail mented Vakhtang Butskhrikidze, Chief Executive by providing loans, credit lines, equity chain. Officer of TBC Bank. and guarantees for projects and trade financing in On the 19th of June, the new development “We are pleased to enhance our partnership the public and private sectors in its member coun- project was signed by Giorgi Chubinishvili, Man- with TBC Bank, which has already lasted for tries. The authorized capital of the Bank is EUR aging Director of SPAR Georgia, and Joritt Dinge- twelve years. This third SME loan agreement dem- 3.45 billion. BSTDB is rated long-term “A-” by mans, Senior Investment Officer of FMO. onstrates BSTDB’s consistent support for the Standard and Poor’s and “A2” by Moody’s. For “This investment by FMO will improve our Georgian economy and its banking sector. Facili- information on BSTDB, visit www.bstdb.org. ability to fulfill an obligation given to SPAR Inter- national with regards to opening 40 new stores with- nancial institutions. in the next two years,” said Chubinishvili. “We are very proud to know that SPAR Georgia FMO has been investing in the private sector in had chosen a strong and effective path to progress developing countries and emerging markets for more on the retail market. This consequently led to us than 45 years with the intention of supporting sus- attracting an authoritative institute, such as the tainable private sector development. It offers capi- Dutch Development Bank,” Chubinishvili conclud- tal and knowledge to companies, projects and fi- ed with pride. Students Prospering from USAID/ Greek Airline Ellinair Opens REAP Internship Progam Tbilisi to Thessaloniki Route

On June 30, Greek airline company Ellinair will set off on its first flight from Tbilisi Interna- tional Airport on route to Thessaloniki. Direct flights from Thessaloniki to Tbilisi will be avail- able once a week on Tuesdays on a Avro-RJ85 aircraft. Ellinair was founded in 2013 and currently flies to 30 different destinations.

Students from universities in REAP’s Tbilisi, Telavi, and Kutaisi offices. By Zviad Adzinbaia versity graduate, who is currently employed by MES Training Center. “Agriculture is changing, and with it, a revised REAP has closely cooperated with Akaki set of skills is needed to address new challenges and Tsereteli Kutaisi State University and Shota stimulate its development,” believes USAID’s Re- Rustaveli Batumi State University to help educa- storing Efficiency in Agricultural Production tors align the curriculum with business needs in (REAP) program. their agrarian undergraduate programs. REAP pro- USAID’s REAP operates a robust internship vided these universities with technical training man- program to engage students and provide them with uals in Georgian and trained university professors practical learning experiences. to teach postharvest handling and refrigeration REAP has provided a 6-month internship op- courses. These courses are being offered to more Four stars Hotel ZP Palace is an ideal portunity to 34 students from 11 universities in than 500 students. REAP’s Tbilisi, Telavi, and Kutaisi offices. The The project assists industry-university partner- combination of style, high level service interns have been involved in a variety of REAP ships by facilitating agreements between its grant program areas and have had the opportunity to recipients and academia. These have been signed with and Georgian hospitality. directly interact with businesses and act as consult- Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and 3 ZP Palace offers to its guest standard rooms with one or two beds, half- lux ants under close mentorship of REAP specialists. grantee enterprises to enable students to get on-the- CNFA, local consulting companies, and the public job training and participate in real-life research. or lux rooms equipped with air conditioning, TV, free WI-FI, mini bar and sector have employed some of these students, while “Thanks to REAP I have an opportunity to do safes. Spa service is also available at the hotel. others have pursued their graduate studies. research for my undergraduate thesis at CAMPA,” Another important area of REAP’s internship stated Nino Bukhraidze of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi program is improving students’ and agriculture fac- State University ulties’ awareness of modern agricultural technolo- The USAID-supported REAP program is an gies through their participation in REAP- arranged integrated enterprise development designed to in- field days and practical training sessions led by crease incomes and rural employment by launching highly qualified local and international practitio- successful agribusinesses and promoting increased ners. 75 students from the Agricultural University, investment in Georgia’s agriculture sector. REAP’s Georgian Technical University, ISET, and VET investment has been in four priority directions: farm Opizari attended these events and were able to ob- service centers, primary producers, postharvest and serve in practice what they learned in classrooms. processing facilities, and information service pro- “Through my six months working at REAP, I viders. REAP supports all investments with tech- have gained valuable experience that helped me be nical assistance to improve their business and tech- selected for an exchange program at the University nical skills that lead to increased sales, enhanced Contact Information of Lodz, Poland,” said Levan Kurdadze, a Cauca- competitiveness, and ultimately improved sustain- 44 Marjanishvili str. Tbilisi, Georgia sus International University student. ability. Phone: + (995 32) 2 25 90 25 “We can be taught theory all day long, but it is REAP’s leadership says the organization will Fax: + (995 32) 2 25 90 25 putting that theory into practice that fuels creative continue its efforts to integrate more young people Email: [email protected] thinking and new ideas... Thanks REAP,” said Mar- in to the labor market and give them new profes- iam Mtsituridze, former REAP intern, Tartu Uni- sional opportunities as they leave university. 14 JUNE 26 - JULY 2 BUSINESS Escape the Heat at the Krtsanisi Residence Pool

The Krtsanisi Residence swimming pool was first opened in 2011. The 21 metre-long pool sits in a unique envi- ronment in which to pleasantly spend those hot summer days without having to leave the city. Next to the pool you will find a bar serving a variety of delicious dishes and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The high quality service, special micro- climate and clean fresh air combine to offer you an opportunity that you will find nowhere else in Tbilisi. The depth of the pool is 1.30 - 1.90 metres, length 21 metres and width 7 m.

Working hours: Monday-Friday 9:00-19:00 Weekends 9:00-17:00

A corporate discount is available for a minimum of 10 users and includes towels, poolside loungers and use of the gym facilities. A gym instructor costs 20 GEL per session or 100 GEL for a month of sessions (weekdays only). Aqua-aerobics classes are also avail- able 45 minutes five times a week (weekdays) from 10am. Cost per month: 150 GEL. After working hours, the pool area is available for both private and corpo- rate events. You can find the pool at Krtsanisi 49, in the former governmental residence area, next to the British and French em- bassies. SOCIETY JUNE 26 - JULY 2 15

The Story Behind the Picture Tbilisi Zoo Receives Message of Confidence from the EAZA To Whom it May Concern: Tbilisi Zoo became a Candidate for Membership of the European Associa- tion of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) in October 2010. The Candidate for Membership programme is an initia- tive of EAZA, and is aimed at work- ing together with approved zoos in de- veloping economies in Eastern Europe to raise their standards of animal care, business practice, health and safety, education, conservation and research. by any zoological institution. Candidate for membership institutions EAZA strongly believes that well- work with an EAZA appointed men- run zoos and aquariums contribute tor, usually an experienced director of greatly to the task of providing infor- a western European zoo, to reach the mation and experience to help people stringent standards expected of a full understand the human relationship member of the Association. with nature, and to act upon this un- During its period as a Candidate for derstanding to protect the environment Membership, Tbilisi Zoo, under the and everything that lives in it. There leadership of Zurab Gurielidze, has could be no clearer endorsement of the proven itself to be conscientious and zoo’s success in this field than the ac- committed to the process of develop- tions of hundreds of volunteers who Giorgi Isakadze's popular photo of clean-up volunteer Tako Chokheli. ment. The EAZA mentor has seen great have come to assist in the cleanup of improvements in the skills of the em- the zoo and the surrounding area in By Joseph Alexander Smith credited – much to his chagrin) on Geor- I heard that they were accepting volun- ployees, the welfare of the animals, and recent days. EAZA believes that Tbilisi gian TV and on other websites. But one teers I decided to go to Heroes’ Square the service that the zoo provides to its will benefit greatly from the rebuild- On the morning after devastating photo stood out from the rest. with my friends.” visitors. Indeed Director Gurielidze ing of the zoo, and that if run by Di- floods hit the Georgian capital, Giorgi “When I saw her, I just thought, how Tako studies International Relations and his staff have shown a high level rector Gurielidze, a proven partner for Isakadze picked up his camera and unusual it is to see this type of girl stand- at the Georgian Institute of Public Af- of professionalism in dealing with the development, it will have the poten- headed straight for Heroes’ Square. It’s ing in mud” Giorgi told me, as I sifted fairs and speaks about the aftermath of catastrophic flooding of the site, risk- tial to reach the high standards we de- his job – as well as studying design at through his photos for a feature I was the floods with the forced precision of a ing their lives to help reduce the dan- mand, and continue to provide joy, Tbilisi’s Academy of Arts, as Giorgi writing on the aftermath of the floods. news reader as she tells me about the ger to the citizens of Tbilisi, and work- experience and knowledge to Tbilisi’s takes photos for the Ministry of Infra- The editor had asked me for images of day the photograph was taken. ing tirelessly to locate and return safely citizens for generations to come. structure and Regional Development. As flood victims and their ruined houses, “One incident which I would par- as many of the animals as possible. The Yours Faithfully, one of the first photographers on Heroes’ but I couldn’t get this picture out of my ticularly like to draw attention to and EAZA mentor states clearly that a flood Simon Tonge Square that miserable Sunday morning, mind. which surprised me was the follow- of such devastating power could not Chair, The European Association of Giorgi’s lens captured a moment in the There was something about her ex- ing,” she says. “When we arrived at have been anticipated or planned for Zoos and Aquaria. making. pression – a combination of exhaustion, the zoo, it was still covered in a thick Responding to a call for volunteers, grief and determination – which I found layer of mud. Up to my knees in mud, hundreds of people from every walk of utterly inspiring. Hers was the face of my boots got stuck and I couldn’t life – unconnected by anything other the volunteer movement as a whole – a move. A 40 or 50 year old man who Georgia Celebrates than a common purpose - threw them- generation of young people engaged in was working alongside us came and selves into the clean-up operation along- a spontaneous and inspiring civil action rescued me, despite the fact that I was International Yoga Day side the army, police force and fire and of a type scarcely seen in other post- covered in dirt.” rescue services. Soviet states. We talk about how she thinks the city By Tatia Megeneishvili General Assembly on December 11, The pictures that Giorgi took of those Giorgi posted the picture on his has been changed by this experience. 2014. Yoga, a 6,000+ year-old physical, first volunteers – literally mucking in – Facebook wall asking ‘does anyone Her response surprises me: “This notion The International Yoga Day was cel- mental and spiritual practice originating captured a moment that can never be know this girl?’ and within seconds, he we have of women as the ‘weaker sex’ ebrated for the first time in Georgia in from India (Bharat), aims to transform forgotten by anyone who witnessed it. was inundated with ‘pings’ linking him totally disappeared on that day,” she Rike Park on June 26. body and mind. The declaration came The ever-increasing crowd of volunteers to various profiles. One of them be- says. “Not one single women or girl was According to the decision of the or- after the call for the adoption of 21 June – representing every cross-section of longed to Tako Chokheli. working with less strength or determi- ganizers, the Embassy of India in Ar- as International Day of Yoga by Indian Tbilisi society – morphed into an unstop- “The first bad news I heard was about nation than men or boys.” menia and Georgia, United Nations Prime Minister, Narendra Modiduring in pable, unified force. Their gloves, face- the destruction of the zoo” says Tako, I ask her if she likes the photo. “Of (UN) in Georgia, Tbilisi City Hall and his address to the UN General Assembly masks and shovels became tokens of after agreeing to meet with me and course. I like the way it’s very natural various Georgian Yoga Centers, the on September 27, 2014. honour and pride, as they salvaged hope Giorgi over an ice cream the following and yet meaningful. He took it just at Yoga Day was held in a format of a char- “Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s from the ruin around them. day. “Since I love animals so much, this the point when we’d finished cleaning ity event with participants expressing ancient tradition. It embodies unity of Giorgi’s photos from that day were upset me a lot.” up and I decided to rest for a bit … I their solidarity towards the victims of mind and body, thought and action, re- published in a widely-shared photo-es- “Later I heard that people had died think it pretty much sums up the way the flood of June 13. straint and fulfillment, harmony between say on Facebook. They appeared (un- and houses had been destroyed … When we all felt inside on that tragic day.” Yoga workshops, master classes and man and nature, a holistic approach to lectures on a healthy lifestyle were held health and well-being. It is not about by leading Yoga trainers and an exhibi- exercise but discovering the sense of tion was displayed by a variety of com- oneness with yourself, the world and Qatar Airways Named ‘Airline panies and organizations who support nature. By changing our lifestyle and healthy living. creating consciousness, it can help us The event was attended by the Am- deal with climate change. Let us work of the Year’ for the Third Time bassador of India to Armenia and Geor- towards adopting an International Yoga gia, Suresh Babu; Head of the United Day,” stated Modiduring at the UN Gen- Qatar Airways. It is a reflection of the tion, demonstrating the team’s unwaver- Nations in Georgia, Niels Scott; Deputy eral Assembly. five-star calibre service that the Qatar ing pride in their work and the experi- Mayor of Tbilisi, Irakli Lekvinadze and Tbilisi Yoga Day Project Coordina- Airways is renowned for. ence provided to each of our passengers. many more. tor, Maiko Chitashvili, said that the The award comes at a time when the Becoming an award-winning airline “This is a unique event,” said Babu. event was held with the financial sup- airline has experienced remarkable takes dedication and passion – and re- “It is noted in the book of Guinness port of the Mayor’s Office of Tbilisi. growth, given the major enhancements taining such a ranking takes commit- Records as the biggest scale Yoga train- “Attending the event is free. How- to its fleet in the last 10 months, with ment, which I thank each and every team ing. It is an honour for us that even in ever, all the gathered money will be the entry into service of the Airbus A380 member at Qatar Airways for. Our pas- such a hard days, as it is today for Geor- transferred to the flood victims’ fund,” and the Airbus A350 as the Global sengers are at the heart of everything we gia, people still have hospitality. I am Chitashvili said. Launch Customer. do at Qatar Airways, and we are very pleased that Georgia joined such an im- This year International Yoga Day was In addition to the Airline of the Year proud to be recognised by them and to portant occasion.” celebrated in 251 cities of 100 different award, the airline also collected two receive these three Skytrax awards. June 21 was declared as the Interna- countries. In Deli, India, more than other awards: Best Business Class Air- These accolades reflect our passengers’ tional Day of Yoga by the United Nations 35,000 people took part in the event. line Seat and Best Airline in the Middle satisfaction; they choose to fly with a Group Chief Executive of Qatar Airways, East – which Qatar Airways has won for five-star airline and today they have cho- His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker picks the eighth time sen Qatar Airways as the World’s Best up three top awards at the Paris Air Show The Skytrax World Airline Awards, Airline for the third time. Qatar Airways Qatar Airways has been honoured held at the Musée de l’Air et de l’ strives to offer the best travel experience with three of the top aviation accolades Espace, Paris Air Show, are widely for its guests across our entire global at the annual Skytrax World Airline known as the Passengers Choice Awards network of 147 destinations, with a com- Awards, winning Airline of the with millions of travellers, from 160 dif- mitment to providing quality services to Year for a third time – a major accom- ferent countries, participating in passen- each and every one of our passengers.” plishment for any airline. ger satisfaction surveys to decide 2015’s Qatar Airways, a five-star ranked The highest ranking in the annual winners. carrier, is one of the fastest growing air- Skytrax awards category, Airline of Qatar Airways Group Chief Execu- lines in the world, operating one of the the Year is a testament to the commit- tive Officer, His Excellency Mr. Akbar youngest fleets in the skies. Qatar Air- ment and dedication to service excel- Al Baker said: “I am honoured to lead ways flies 160 aircraft to 147 key busi- lence and a high-quality travel experi- an airline that has paved such an accom- ness and leisure destinations across six ence for all passengers that fly with plished path to excellence, and innova- continents.

SOCIETY JUNE 26 - JULY 2 17 Estonians Light up Tbilisi When Fiction Meets Reality: Georgian Sea for Victory Day Artists Refused Visas By María Jose Riquelme del Valle ing to apply for a UK visa do so by ap- plying online and then visiting a Visa It was supposed to be a performance Application Centre in Tbilisi. Applica- about how hard is to go and stay in a tions are then sent to a UK Visa Regional different country. It should have taken Processing Centre at the British Consu- place at the Flare Festival in Manches- late in Istanbul. It is there that Entry ter in mid-July. Flights and hotels were Clearance Officers assess applications booked, and the performance had been based on strict criteria laid down by the rehearsed many times. But the visa re- Home Office”. fusal turned the fictional difficulties de- The case has raised public attention picted on stage into a reality. both in the UK and Georgia. The The New Collective group had been website change.org gathered 1500 sig- invited by the Flare Festival after they natures, and the topic was covered by were among the 20 groups selected from the British newspaper The Guardian. In a total of 300. The Festival’s invitation Georgia, the Ministry of Culture issued included covering the costs of their stay letters in favour of New Collective. in the UK. But the decision was not overturned. Festival director Neil Mackenzie told New Collective’s director, Mareike Georgia Today that the piece ‘Welco- Wenzel told Georgia Today that they me’ was really resonant for an interna- could try to reapply, but that there is very tional theatre festival: “This was a piece little time left before the Festival and about ‘otherness’, the otherness of for- also it’s not guaranteed that the result eigners and the otherness of theatrical would be any different: “For two months characters. It was one of only two pieces now the only thing we did was prepare that weren’t happening in a traditional visa applications. We could reapply but On the left: Ambassador of Estonia to Georgia, Mr Priit Turk at the Victory Day celebration at Tbilisi Sea Club. theatre space, and would have had an the girls’ conditions have not changed. ongoing presence and visibility in the Also, I don’t want to put them through By Katie Ruth Davies military parade in one of the Estonian portant. Midsummer Eve (on 23rd) and festival. They offered a unique perspec- the same process again”. towns (every year a different town). Jaanipäev (on 24th) is one of the biggest tive on what artists can do with theatre International festivals and exhibi- The Ambassador of Estonia to Geor- Midsummer’s Eve (Jaaniõhtu) is cel- celebrations in Estonia and in addition and theatrical performance”. tions are an important part of the devel- gia, Mr Priit Turk, decided to take a step ebrated on the same day as Victory Day to the bonfire, eating, drinking, dancing But this will no longer be possible opment of an artist, and they benefit closer to his childhood home in the Es- and the festivities continue into the next and singing are also part of this celebra- due to their visas being refused. The re- from the presence of a diversity of au- tonian islands by celebrating this year’s day, which is named after St John. tion. Most of all it’s a day of connect- fusal letter states that: “Given the above, diences. Jikia had the chance to study June 23 Estonian Victory Day at the “When I was growing up, all the ing.” I am not satisfied that you are a genuine in Germany last winter and for her the Tbilisi Sea Club amongst his compatri- families would head out to their coun- Mrs. Turk remembers her childhood visitor and will leave the UK at the end experience was life changing: “I learnt ots and multinational colleagues and try houses,” said Ambassador Priit Turk, Victory Day celebrations with nostalgia. of your visit or that you have sufficient how art scenes are organized in other friends. who originally comes from Saaremaa “I remember as a child really looking funds available to cover your costs places, and I met artists and curators. Guests were treated to a generous (the biggest island in Estonia). “One of forward to the day- there was a huge whilst in the UK without working or Their freedom was so inspiring for me. spread of Georgian food and wine while the traditions is to light a bonfire [and build up of expectation from the dark accessing public funds”. I was able to show my work and get being serenaded under starry fairy-lights according to old tradition to jump over winter, and sadness when Midsummer Ana Jikia, one of the group’s members, feedback” by a local music group and live singer. it!] and in the islands we used to light had passed and it would start to get dark told Georgia Today that the problem was The director of the festival Neil As well as sharing with guests his up the wood of old boats, to say thank again. On Midsummer’s Eve [on Vic- not just the visa refusal, but how they were Mckenzie described the whole situation thanks for their being present, Mr. Turk you to the gods for the fish that had been tory Day] the families gather and in my treated by the person handling their appli- as terrible: “It is very sad that our coun- also used the occasion to wish farewell caught. June 24th is St John’s Day and childhood we prepared a singing pro- cations: “They were very rude to me, the try and its laws have treated members to Defence Attache LTC Teet Kivisson, another tradition of ours is not to sleep gram to perform for the adults. Then way she asked me about my personal cir- of the international community of new whose term has ended and who will be during that night- there is practically no around midnight (when it gets a bit cumstances. I felt so humiliated and started theatre artists in such an unfair way (…) returning to Estonia shortly. The Ambas- darkness at that time of year –and so darker) everyone in our family headed to cry, but I did not want to answer in case But I still don’t see why a country as sador gifted Mr. Kivisson with a Geor- everyone stays up and enjoys them- out to find the Jaan worms [glow worms] this would have a negative impact on our sophisticated and ‘civilised’ as ours can’t gian sword: “As a symbol of the strength selves with their families. We also never hiding in the grass in warm places application”. make a distinction between these artists of Georgia and friendship.” lower the national flag on the night of around this time of year. I remember we The official stance of the British and illegal immigrants”. Georgia Today spoke to the Ambas- the 23rd- keeping it hoisted for the full walked near the train tracks in order to embassy in Tbilisi was that for reasons Despite everything, New Collective sador and his wife about Victory Day two days.” find them. The person who sees the glow of applicant confidentiality, they are is determined to have some presence at and Midsummer’s Eve and how they “Despite the fact that St John’s Day worm first, can make a wish.” unable to comment on individual visa the Festival. As Wenzel told Georgia would normally be celebrating them is known in the World as a Christian While there were sadly no opportu- cases: “However, we should point out Today: “Now the rage is over we have back home. holiday, Estonians have rather non-reli- nities for glow-worm hunting at the that the British Embassy in Tbilisi does to decide how to be there, if we don’t, Victory Day on 23rd June marks a gious traditions in celebrating this day,“ Tbilisi party this year, there was a sym- not decide visa cases, nor has it done no one will even notice that we are not crucial military victory against German added Pirjo Turk, the Ambassador’s bolic bonfire. Ambassador Turk de- for a number of years. Georgians wish- present.” forces in 1919 and is celebrated with a wife.“ The bonfire part is the most im- clined to jump over it, however. CarCar-fr-freeee TbilisiTbilisi The idea itself consists of nurtur- ing the environment and taking ex- isting issues into consideration and the organizing team is planning to hold the event at least once every month. Their main purpose is to popularize the tradition of using much healthier ways for transporta- tion, like bicycles, the metro or sim- ply walking on foot. The specific dates of each event will be announced weeks before the actual day in hopes of people being motivated and ready to leave their cars at home and spread The New Collective theatre group, invited to the Flare Festival but rejected the word. Wide participation is the for British visas. key to the future success of this con- cept, which is why the organizing FOR RENT team is working very hard to moti- vate everyone. They hope to intro- Apartment in Vake (behind the Vake Swimming Pool) in an duce Tbilisi citizens to a new tradi- ecologically clean environment with beautiful views. tion to be called “Car Free Tbilisi”. The 120 sq. m. duplex apartment on the 10th floor, newly reno- 28th of June is the launch day for vated, with a new kitchen, fireplace, balconies. the said upcoming tradition and by the looks of it the campaign will see daylight. People who don’t have cars By David Lolishvili finally get to take a break from the will automatically participate, of Price: 1100 USD usual endless traffic jams and care- course. Now it’s up to drivers to leave Tel: 577521020 Tekla (English) This Sunday, 28th of June, is a day less driving. “Leave your car home their cars at home and give the city a 597000109 Dato (Georgian) on which the Tbilisi environment will for the day!” is the slogan of the day. break, even if just for a day.

CULTURE JUNE 26 - JULY 2 19 Talent the Common Denominator for Artists at Museum of Fine Arts By Maka Lomadze ings and graphic works, done mainly in ticipant and organizer of the exposition oil, though sometimes with a mixed tech- told us. A group exhibition of famous Geor- nique. Here, visitors will see abstracts, At the exhibition, one can see pieces gian painters recently opened at Shalva still lives, landscapes and portraits from by experienced painters such as Radish Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts on artists aged 30-85. As well as local art- Tordia, Givi Toidze, Dimitri Eristavi, Pushkin Street. A picturesque exposition ists, there are contributions from Kutaisi Giorgi Tsereteli and others. It is hard to of 47 painters of different generations, and IDPs from Abkhazia. believe that painter Sergo Kenchadze, aged with dissimilar views, working in diverse “The main criterion while selecting the over 80, was doing compositions at a time genres and having their own, very firmly artists was that the paintings should be when travel was extremely difficult and individual artistic signature, the exhibi- painted within the last 2-3 years. We also information was under tight control. tion has been warmly received by Tbilisi’s aimed to show to the audience the dy- Guram Tsertsvadze believes that the abil- art enthusiasts. The exhibition “Painter namics - from generation to generation – ity to do so stems from Georgia’s long and Modernity” aims to show how it is of how Georgian art is developing. I dare painting traditions of frescoes. “This gives possible to maintain national identity in say we have plenty of extremely talented me the courage to say that we, Georgians, art during an age of globalization. painters and artists who are no less pro- stand very close to the origins of the world The display, located on the second fessional than painters of other coun- cultural development,” he noted. floor of the museum, showcases paint- tries,” Guram Tsertsvadze, painter, par- Many of the exhibited artists are fa- mous and successful abroad, renowned in different parts of the world and oc- cupy particular niches. From the younger generation, the pride of Georgian art’s Rusudan Petviashvili’s “Searching for Cosiness” future, Rusudan Petviashvili’s “Search- own way, their individual form of expres- painters, I participated in the expo that ing for Cosiness” is presented while even sion,” the celebrated painter told Geor- aimed to paint the portrait of Georgian younger painters are also impressively gia Today. celebrities. I painted Nino Ananiashvili. represented, giving encouragement for the Lali Lomtadze is a painter best known As for this display, I represent the paint- next generations of Georgian art. for her 1970s works and had a personal ing “San Marco” of Venice. There are It is hard to look at Givi Toidze’s exhibition twice in Paris. The picture more possibilities for our generation to breathtaking “Old Tbilisi” and not take “Summer Night” gives a photographic travel, though I basically have a fantasy some aesthetic pleasure depicting a golden effect and thus, is really original: “In early even without travelling,” said the talented color of the sunset. “Exhibitions are im- times, such exhibitions were much more youngster. portant parts of our cultural life. If cul- frequent. Therefore, I am really happy The event is organized by the National ture dies, the country will not feel well. that this exhibition has taken place,” she Creative Union of Georgian Painters, sup- This exposition reveals new faces too. commented. ported by the Cultural Events Center of The young generation is always full of Tiko Bakhtadze is a young Georgian Tbilisi City Hall and the City Assembly. love and energy. I tell them: If you have a painter who has participated in some The exposition titled “Painter and Mo- talent, you should be working incessantly. group exhibitions in Azerbaijan, New dernity” will conclude on June 28 so there In the beginning, everybody has some York and Tbilisi. “Last year, in the group is still time to sample a vast array of im- Gocha Narimanidze “Shatili” influences but later, they will find their exhibition, together with other 9 young pressive Georgian art. WHAT'S ON IN TBILISI

THEATRE TBILISI ZAKARIA PALIASHVILI MUSEUM “SOUND OF RAILS” Directed by Davit Doiashvili GABRIADZE THEATRE OPERA AND BALLET THEATRE (Within the project “At Home”) Start time: 20:00 Address: 13 Shavtelis St. Address: 25 Rustaveli Ave. MUSEUM OF SOVIET Curators: Dedika Bulia, Nino Daraseli Ticket price: From 20 Lari Telephone: 2 98 65 93 Telephone: 2 99 04 56 OCCUPATION Coordinators: Irina Arsenishvili, Nuci Address: 1 Rustaveli ave. Kirtskhalia June 2 June 26 June 28 Telephone: 2 99 80 22 CHARITY CONCERT TO RAMONA CLOSING OF THE BALLET SEASON SUPPORT EREKLE The exhibition also includes one of the GALLERY “VANDA” Directed by Rezo Gabriadze Jiri Kylian’s one act ballets: LORTKIPANIDZE train carriages in which the participants Address: D. Chonkadze str. #14 English Subtitles PETITE MORT, FALLING Participants: Ensemble “Georgian of the national uprising of 1924 were Telephone: 293 42 86 Start time: 20:00 ANGELS, SECHS TANZE Voices”, Ensemble “Alilo”, Theatrical executed.It is also dedicated to the his- www.vandagallery.org Ticket price: 10, 15 Lari Start time: 15:00 Quartet, Ensemble “Shvidkatsa”, Ticket price: From 5 Lari tory of the anti-occupational, national- Salome Bakuradze, Nodiko Tatishvili, liberation movement of Georgia and to June 27 Venue: Griboedov Theatre, June 19 – July 5 Salome Korkotashvili, Datuna the victims of the Soviet political repres- MARSHAL DE FANTIE’S DIAMOND 2 Rustaveli ave. VAKHTANG TATO Sirbiladze, Natalia Kutateladze, Nuka sion throughout this period. AKHALKATSISHVILI’S Kvaliasvili, Bakur Burduli, Achiko Directed by Rezo Gabriadze CINEMA EXHIBITION Nijaradze, Dato Evgenidze, Bend English Subtitles SIMON JANASHIA MUSEUM AMIRANI CINEMA “Newton”, Gia Nikoladze. Start time: 20:00 OF GEORGIA YOUR MYSTERIOUS WAYS Address: 36 Kostava St. Start time: 20:00 Ticket price: 10, 15 Lari Address: 3 Rustaveli Ave. Telephone: 299 99 55 Ticket price: 10 Lari Telephone: 2 99 80 22 GALLERY CHARDIN TBILISI NODAR DUMBADZE www.kinoafisha.ge LISI WOOD STATE CENTRAL CHILDREN'S "ARCHAEOLOGICAL TREASURE" Address: 13 Rustaveli Ave June 26 – July 2 Address: Lisi Lake THEATRE Examples of work by early Georgian TED 2 Telephone: 299 09 25 Address: 99/1 Agmashenebeli Ave. goldsmiths were discovered during ar- Directed by Seth MacFarlane June 27 Telephone: 295 39 27 cheological excavations, and are currently Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Seth June 24 - 28 AUTUMN TREE, DALI, BERO, preserved in the archeological treasury. MacFarlane, Amanda Seyfried GIORGI VEPKHVADZE’S TOMMA, VERA (HELLO? July 28 The exhibition presents three periods of Genre: Comedy EXHIBITION REPEAT, PERLON), THE PRINCESS, FROG, HANSEL development in the history of Georgian Language: English EXTENSION COBERT, BACHO AND GRETEL goldsmithery, from the 3rd century BCE Start time: 22:40 Ticket prices: From 15:00-18:00 - 5 Lari, The Brothers Grimm to the 4th century CE: Language: Russian MUSIC After 18:00 – 10 Lari Directed by Dimitri Khvtisiashvili Kurgan Culture (3-2 BCE), Start time: 12:10, 15:05, 16:30, Language: Russian Golden Fleece Kolkheti (8- 3 BCE), 19:25, 22:30, MAGTI CLUB Main Hall Kingdom of Kartli-Iberia (3rd century TBILISI CONCERT HALL Ticket price: 7.50 – 12.50 Lari Address: 22 Rustaveli Ave. Start time: 12:00 BCE-4th century CE). Address:1 Melikishvili St. Ticket price: 6, 10 Lari Telephone: 2 99 00 99 Telephone: 599 50 00 22 JURASSIC WORLD 3 D GEORGIAN STATE Directed by Colin Trevorrow GALLERY June 28 June 30 PANTOMIME THEATRE Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas GALLERY VERNISAGE LIZA BATIASHVILI AND WEHELP WILL HOLD A CHARITY Address: 37 Rustaveli Ave. Howard, Ty Simpkins Address: 7 Zubalashvili Brothers’ St. GEORGIAN SINFONIETTA CONCERT OF MUSICAL BAND Telephone: 2 99 63 14 Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Telephone: 2 99 88 08 Charity Concert to support victims of THE BEARFOX Language: Russian 13 June flood The collected amount will be spent to June 27 Start time: 11:45, 14:25, 17:10, 19:55 June 24-26 Conductor: Nikoloz Rachveli support people and KRIMANCHULI Ticket price: 7.50 – 12:50 Lari GIORGI KHODELI’S SOLO SHOW Start time: 20:00 animals who suffered in the June 13 Directed by Amiran Shalikashvili DAPHIONA Ticket price: From 15 Lari Tbilisi flood tragedy. Start time: 19:00 POLTERGEIST THE BEARFOX Ticket price: 5 Lari Directed by Tobe Hooper OPERA DESIGN June 1 Mebo Nutsubidze (Guitar, Piano, Vocal) Cast: JoBeth Williams, Heather Address: 2 Lagidze st. NATO METONIDZE Betkho (Vermona, Vocals, Piano, June 30 O’Rourke, Craig T. Nelson Telephone: 2 940700 NEW SOLO PROGRAM Xylophone, Melodica) SONNETS Genre: Horror Participants: Georgian Sinfonietta Archibald (Drums, Vocals) Directed by Davit Shalikashvili Language: Russian July 1 and actors of the Music and Drama Tsotne (Bass) Start time: 19:00 Start time: 20:20, 22:35 TAMUNA MELIKISHVILI’S Theatre Start time: 20:00 Ticket price: 5 Lari Ticket price: 11.50-12.50 Lari PERSONAL EXHIBITION Art Director: Nikoloz Rachveli Ticket price: 10 Lari

SOCIETY JUNE 26 - JULY 2 21 MyMy NeNextxt CamerCamera:a: Etseri,Etseri, SvSvanetianeti

By Tony Hanmer Nokia Lumia 520, which at least has a 5 megapixel camera and shoots 720 pixel A simultaneous pair of misfortunes video into the bargain. Not my first has caused me to change the way I think phone with a camera, but not bad. about my photography again lately. Thing is, I’ve also found and down- First, some history. The first camera loaded three programs for this thing to I ever used was a Kodak Instamatic do special types of photography, after shooting 126 film, which came in sealed researching what was best in the canisters; this was 1978, and I was 11 freeware category. One does HDR (high years old. We had recently moved back dynamic range), one shoots time lapse from Rhodesia to Canada and were do- videos, and one stitches together pan- ing an almighty road trip west from oramas. Cool! This is new. My EOS Ontario to Vancouver Island, camping could to none of these things automati- as we went, as we were wont. C’mon, cally at all, although I have laptop pro- beach sunsets are easy! There’s a framed grams to do them from what I shot with 16 by 20 inch blow-up of one of my it. frames from that summer waiting for me bikes to tour the world in the summer of a winter in Ushguli shooting film, my had it for seven years, and it was old So, while I wait and amass funds to back in Canada, to lug it back to Geor- 1989, I used this camera when report- second winter there was the time of vir- when I bought it. As a stopgap, I’ve been buy the new EOS body, which won’t be gia sometime: My First Print. ing for my local town newspaper of our tually unbridled freedom. I never filled using my wife’s 16 megapixel compact, cheap, I’m realizing that there need be My dad bought himself a Minolta adventures. I still had it, along with a up the 4 GB card in a day, which would but I bet you never noticed, did you? few limits to what I can still shoot. Pho- 35mm SLR (film, of course) in the short-range zoom, when I shot the events have taken more than 400 frames of 10 Even though it only shoots jpeg files, tography is changing faster than one can 1980s, along with several lenses; all of August 19, 1991 in Moscow, USSR. megapixels to do. At day’s end, simply not RAW, if you know what that means. keep up with on a normal budget, but manual focus. I used it every chance I I now have hundreds of 35mm rolls to save to laptop and start editing. NO dust Also, I lost my cheap cellphone, a one can still manage with what one has. got. There are several rolls of film I de- scan, at 20 megapixels. And Dad’s own and scratches to clean up! I still have gift from Samsung from my Imedis The photos are that First Print from veloped and printed from while I was at old kit, when he switched to point and the film kit, but have not used it once Gmirebi TV shoot of late 2013, and 1978, and yesterday’s first phone cam- high school, including one of colour shoot. since. needed to replace that. I went with a era HDR shot out the back window. slides, the rest being much easier black It was only in August 2008 that my Now... this spring, the EOS started and white. great friend and photographic mentor in giving me a new error message and re- Tony Hanmer runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with Then Dad bought me my own 35mm the UK, NWB, made me an offer I fusing to shoot. I googled the error, of over 1000 members, at film camera and a 50mm standard lens couldn’t refuse, selling me his old Canon course, and discovered that it may have www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/ . for my 16th birthday, a Yashica; it took EOS 450D (digital), an 18-55 kit lens, multiple sources, and may not be repair- He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: not only its own lenses but also the far case, extra batteries, and a hefty able. But at 10 megapixels, I figure it’s www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti superior, unaffordably so, Contax ones. Photoshop manual for photographers... time to get a newer, much higher reso- Onwards! There was no stopping me. all for £100. I would’ve been crazy to lution body, and still be able to use the When a friend and I set off on mountain turn that down, right? So I didn’t. After same lenses, which are great quality. I’ve British Corner Celebrates Queen’s Birthday

Ambassador of Britain to Georgia, Alexandra Hall Hall, and Peter Nasmyth at the British Corner "Queen's birthday" celebration. By Katie Ruth Davies lowed by brilliant excerpts of two scenes of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet by “The Queen, as a Princess before her four upper-school students, one of coronation, was President of the English whom- Giorgi- wishes to take up a ca- Speaking Union (ESU). And her hus- reer as an actor. Then came dancing and band, Prince Phillip, the Duke of a generous barbecue and buffet. Edinburgh, was President for 60 years The ESU works principally with thereafter, a position now held by their young people, providing opportunities daughter Princess Anne. This is why we for them to build skills and gain experi- celebrate the birthday of Queen Eliza- ences in order to realise their full poten- beth II of Great Britain and Northern tial. The ESU runs a wide range of edu- Ireland, each year,” said Marina cational and cultural programmes, from Tsitsishvili, President of ESU Georgia scholarships for school leavers to speech and owner of The British Corner lan- training and competitions involving guage centre. hundreds of schools in the UK and in- Special guests Ambassador of the ternationally. UK to Georgia, Alexandra Hall Hall, and “Her Royal Highness the Queen is Peter Nasmyth, author of a number of still very much involved in the ESU and well known books on the Caucasus and she has been the patron since 1952,” said a member of the British Georgian Soci- Mrs. Tsitsishvili, standing with a broad ety, were invited to enjoy the special smile before a portrait of the Queen in presentations put on by the children of the summer garden of the language cen- the British Corner language centre in tre, surrounded by happy faces and Brit- Vake Park. ish flags. “We have been celebrating her A beautiful rendition of the British birthday in Georgia every year since National Anthem by a group of Geor- 1998. It would be so nice if the Queen gian middle-schoolers (who had learnt knew that she was so admired each year, the words in just three days!) was fol- in a tiny corner of small Georgia!”

State Ballet to Close 163rd Season This Sunday (June 28), the State Ballet of Geor- gia is presenting its last performance of the 163rd season. Please join us once more before the summer va- cation and enjoy an afternoon of modern ballet at the Griboedov Theatre. “One-Act Ballets” on Sunday, 28 June at 3pm · “Sagalobeli” (choreography by Yuri Possokhov); · Jioi Kylian program: Falling Angels, Sechs Tanze, Petite Mort. Tickets are available from the Griboedev the- atre box office. Prices from 5 to 25 Lari.

SPORTS JUNE 26 - JULY 2 23 GeorGeorgiangian ClubsClubs GiGivvenen DifDiffficulticult EurEuropeanopean AssignmentsAssignments By Alastair Watt Partizan reached the group stage of the Europa League last season but Georgian football could certainly do picked up only two points – each from with a lift but the chances of that arriv- goalless draws at home with Tottenham ing in the forthcoming Europa League and Asteras Tripoli. and Champions League qualifiers ap- Before Dila launch into European pear slim after all four Georgian entrants action, three of their fellow Georgian were handed difficult ties in the respec- clubs will play their first qualifying tive draws on June 22 in Nyon, Swit- round ties. zerland. Dinamo Tbilisi, Georgian Cup hold- In a week where revelations emerged ers, face a local derby against Azerba- that Georgian captain Jaba Kankava was ijan’s Gabala with the first leg at Dinamo wrongly made unavailable by the GFF Arena on July 2. for the recent qualifier against Poland, Compared to Dinamo, who won the and ticket agency biletebi.ge crashed Cup Winners’ Cup in 1981, Gabala are when attempting to sell Super Cup tick- novices at this level having played only ets, the draws for Georgia’s European one European tie to date – a defeat to hopefuls were scarcely mentioned. Bosnian side Siroki Brijeg at the same Champions Dila Gori, making their stage of last year’s Europa League quali- first foray into the preliminary stages of fying. the Champions League, were paired Having finished third in the Azerba- with Serbian champions Partizan ijani top flight, Gabala, once managed Belgrade. by former Arsenal and England captain The Grobari (gravediggers), notorious ultras of Partizan Belgrade who face Georgian champions Dila Gori in Champions League The Gori side, managed by 25-year- Tony Adams, are coached by Ukrainian qualifying. Source – Wikipedia old Ucha Sosiashvili, will travel to the Roman Hyhorchuk. A cosmopolitan Partizan Stadium for the first leg on ei- squad contains a trio of Brazilians – gian international full-back Ucha in Tbilisi, and occasionally Gori, for table domestically in their 14-year his- ther the 14th or 15th of July, and will need midfielder Dodo, and defenders Lobjanidze and former Celtic striker several years. With no such thing as a tory. to handle the notoriously intimidating Ricradinho and Rafael Santos – and four Cillian Sheridan, are strong favorites for “home” game, the Georgian debutants The victors will face Legia Warsaw home fans known as the Grobari Ukrainians. the tie particularly having run money- may be a worthwhile outside bet when in the following round and Romanian (gravediggers) who are among the most Dinamo, who appointed the experi- laden Dinamo Moscow very close in the they travel to face Romanian side FC journalist Emanuel Rosu appeared to volatile ultras in Eastern Europe. enced Gia Geguchadze as head coach play-off round last season. Botosani. dismiss the Georgian challenge already, Dila though have proved themselves at the end of last season, will take on Dinamo, still homeless, have not Having finished 8th in the Romanian stating “I look forward to Legia War- to some extent in European competition either Slovenia’s Domzale or Serbia’s confirmed where their home fixture – league, Botosani only entered the saw fans coming to Botosani, a real ru- in recent years, beating Danish pair Cukaricki in the second qualifying round scheduled for July 2 - will be played but Europa League courtesy of a swathe of ral experience for them!” Aarhus and Aalborg as well as Hajduk if they can defeat the Azerbaijanis. Kutaisi is the most likely location. Romanian clubs failing to meet UEFA It has been eleven years since a Geor- Split since 2012. The venue of the re- Meanwhile, Dinamo Batumi, making Completing the Georgian quartet are license criteria. gian club reached the group stage of turn leg has not been confirmed but is their first European appearance since Spartaki Tskhinvali, playing in Europe Located in the rural north of the European competition, and the early likely to be Tbilisi’s Mikheil Meskhi 1998, were given the daunting challenge for the first time in their history. A club country, Botosani are, like Tskhinvali, missions assigned to this year’s hope- Stadium, with the fixture taking place of Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia. from the occupied territory of South competing in Europe for the first time fuls make it somewhat unlikely that that on the 21st or 22nd of July. Omonia, whose squad contains Geor- Ossetia, Tskhinvali have been playing and have never achieved anything no- particular drought will end this summer. LelosLelos CoacCoachh HaigHaig WWillill LeadLead “Best-Ev“Best-Everer PrPreeparpared”ed” GeorGeorgiagia toto WWororldld CupCup By Alastair Watt noted that Georgia was improving in that The Georgian head coach then out- regard. lined an intense preparatory schedule As the Tbilisi Cup concluded on June “In previous world cups, I think there for what will start as a provisional 39- 21, won very convincingly by Emerg- may have been times when, in terms of man squad before being cut to 31 for ing Ireland, Georgian head coach Milton the squad, some players were just mak- the tournament which begins on Sep- Haig claimed the tournament had helped ing up the numbers. That’s certainly not tember 18. him to finalize his provisional squad for the case now,” added Haig. Several weeks of fitness-heavy train- the autumn’s World Cup. An early try by number eight Lasha ing will include a camp in Holland be- “We were missing about 90% of our Lomidze had given the Georgians an fore the Lelos fly to the UK for warm- first fifteen so this tournament was al- excellent start on a warm but windy up matches with Newcastle Falcons ways about players competing to get in evening in Avchala, but the Irish re- (Aug 28), Canada (Sept 3) and Japan the World Cup squad,” said Haig whose sponded in merciless fashion with six (Sept 5). side defeated Uruguay in their opening tries of their own including two for the “The target has always been to get match before losing to Emerging Italy impressive wing Matt Healy. two wins and hopefully we can do that. and Emerging Ireland. Lomidze’s hopes of making the What I will say is that this will be the The New Zealander did not dwell for World Cup squad were dealt a blow best-ever prepared Georgian side at a long on the performance against the Irish when he was forced off with an injury World Cup,” claimed Haig. which ended in a 45-12 defeat, admit- towards the end of the first-half and Haig Georgia’s first match at the World ting that Georgia lacked their opponents’ Georgian Head Coach Milton Haig is confident Georgia will be ready to make history at added that he was among two or three Cup is against Tonga on September 19 strength in depth. However, he also the Rugby World Cup injury doubts for the autumn. in Gloucester.

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See answers in the next issue www.sudoku.com Answers to previous puzzles EDITOR-IN-CHIEF - Katie Ruth Davies Address: 1 Melikishvili Str. Reproducing material, photos and COPY EDITOR - Alastair Watt Tbilisi, 0179, Georgia JOURNALISTS: Beqa Kirtava, Baia Dzaginadze, Eka Karsaulidze, Alastair Watt, advertisements without prior editorial GENERAL MANAGER - George Sharashidze Joseph Alexander Smith, Joseph Larsen, Zviad Adzinbaia, Tony Hanmer, Meri Taliashvili, Tel.: (995 32) 229 59 19, 294 55 24 permission is strictly forbidden. The Zaza Jgharkava, Maka Bibilashvili, Nino Melikishvili, Ana Lomtadze, Teona Surmava, Advertising, Subscription: author is responsible for all material. Tatia Megeneishvili 597 970444; 597 955565 Rights of authors are preserved. The BUSINESS MANAGER - Iva Merabishvili PHOTOGRAPHER: Zviad Nikolaishvili TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Misha Mchedlishvili E-mail: [email protected] newspaper is registered in Mtatsminda CIRCULATION MANAGERS: David Kerdikashvili, David Djandjgava MARKETING MANAGER: Mako Burduli district court. Reg. # 06/4-309