Issue no: 1025 • FEBRUARY 23 - 26, 2018 • PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY PRICE: GEL 2.50 In this week’s issue... 10-Year-Old Runs Away from Khashuri to See Tbilisi Zoo NEWS PAGE 2 Ghosts & Illusions in Abkhazia (Part 2 of the Adventure) POLITICS PAGE 5 FOCUS Niels Scott on the ON AN ANNIVERSARY Challenges Georgia Faces POLITICS PAGE 6 Celebrating 7 years of blogs from Tony in Svaneti! PAGE 12 GD Majority Overrides President’s Veto on Broadcasting Law Amendments Audit Offi ce: a 3rd of Trees Planted POLITICS PAGE 8 Shavi Lomi: The First in Tbilisi in 2015-2016 Dried Up Georgian Food Revolution only 13,000 instead of the agreed 20,000. BY THEA MORRISON SOCIETY PAGE 10 SAO says Tbilisi City Hall could not fulfi ll the undertaken responsibilities properly, which resulted in unproductive spending of the capi- Korean Peace Marathoner on ne-third of the trees planted in tal’s budgetary funds. Tbilisi in 2015-2016 have dried up, The report also listed other shortcomings, his Experience in Georgia the report of Georgia’s State Audit adding that Tbilisi City Hall did not select appro- Offi ce (SAO) reads. priate areas for planting trees in. CULTURE PAGE 13 The SAO added that Tbilisi City The audit also revealed that City Hall purchased OHall spent the budgetary money allocated for greenery activities through simplifi ed procure- tree-planting ineffi ciently: GEL 24,730,300 on ments instead of competitive tender, which Contemporary planting around 398,000 trees. would have saved budgetary money. The report reads that according to the 2015 SAO added that the contract made with the Georgian project of Tbilisi Mayor’s Offi ce, they were to company responsible for the works was ineffec- Sculptor’s Works plant 400,000 trees: 200,000 in spring and 200,000 tive as it did not envisage replacement of dried in autumn. trees with new ones. Displayed on Yet the SAO says in spring 2015 only 72,043 “The majority of planted trees near the Oncol- trees were planted and in autumn City Hall pur- ogy Center have dried up or no longer exist. The Google Arts & chased 326,100 trees, in total planting 398,143 spending of the Mayor's Offi ce in this regard trees in 2015 instead of the agreed 400,000. was ineffective,” the report of the State Audit Culture Moreover, in 2016, Tbilisi City Hall planted Offi ce reads. CULTURE PAGE 15 GEORGIA TODAY 2 NEWS FEBRUARY 23 - 26, 2018 10-Year-Old Iberia TV Accuses Runs Away from Gov’t of Pressure Khashuri to See BY THEA MORRISON Photo source: Iberia TV he journalists of Georgia’s local and private broad- Tbilisi Zoo caster, Iberia TV, have accused the government of pressure. The statement Tfrom staff was released by the Head of the news service, Vakho Khuzmiashvili, however, the Appeals and Supreme courts absurd,” he stated. who called on the government to stop did not uphold this decision. The statement of TV company Iberia “illegal actions” against Omega Group, Aghdgomelashvili claims that local and was followed by a sharp response from the main fi nancer of the TV channel. international business operators deliber- Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, who Khuzmiashvili noted that Omega, the ately brought Omega Group to a crisis, named the broadcaster’s claims “nonsense.” main donor to Iberia TV, and its compa- and is calling on the authorities to inves- “I reiterate that it is beyond the bounds nies, are suffering fi nancial hardship. tigate the case. of possibility. The government, which has “Omega Group is a victim of dumping, Eliso Kiladze, Editor-in-Chief of the ensured that new TV stations can regis- which creates serious fi nancial problems newspaper Qrionika Plus, says this is ter and commence broadcasting in a mat- for Iberia TV. The journalists working another attempt by the government to ter of days, cannot accept these accusa- for the channel suspect this is a deliber- cut fi nancing of the private television tions. No one can compromise the ate attempt to force the channel to stop channel in order to silence it. achievement of ‘media freedom’ under broadcasting with free editorial policies,” Kiladze says the upper instance courts our government. I say with full respon- the statement says. ruled in favor of Prime Minister Giorgi sibility that things like this cannot pos- Earlier, Archil Gamzardia, Iberia TV Kvirikashvili’s business partner British sibly be happening,” the PM stressed. journalist, had spoken out about the pres- American Tobacco, adding that Omega On February 21, the journalists of Iberia sure on free media. Group was refused their compensation TV held a meeting with Non-Govern- "There is an assumption that the gov- of $100 million. mental Organizations (NGOs) and pro- Photo source: ambebi.ge ernment is trying to block the fi nancing Business Ombudsman Irakli Lekvinadze vided them with detailed information As reported, the boy had never seen source of Iberia TV by affecting its main says he is well aware of Omega’s disputes about the recent developments. BY THEA MORRISON Tbilisi Zoo and decided to come himself, donor company,” he said. but says no discussions have yet been The Executive Director of the Georgian travelling from Khashuri to Tbilisi by train. Georgia’s most opposition-minded held regaridng the claims of Iberia TV. Journalists’ Charter, Natia Aghdgome- Giorgi lost his way and was unable to broadcaster, Rustavi 2, reports that the British American Tobacco Corporate lashvili, stated after the meeting that they iorgi Nozadze, a 10year-old fi nd the zoo, and while he was walking Omega Group suffered a $100 million loss Manager, Zviad Skhvitaridze rejects the are watching the process carefully, adding boy who went missing from along Aghmashenebeli Avenue, patrol after multinational company British accusations of Omega Group. that Iberia is not the only TV accusing his hometown Khashuri, police offi cers noticed him and, on ques- American Tobacco “violated the laws on “The total income of all tobacco com- the government of undue pressure. in Shida Kartli region, was tioning him, discovered he had run away competition and tobacco control.” panies on the Georgian market during “We know that Rustavi 2 and TV Pirveli found by police patrol offi c- from home. Police found and contacted Omega Group General Manager Levan the last 10-11 years does not amount to had the same claims as Iberia TV, which Gers in the capital city of Tbilisi on Giorgi’s parents and his father came to Aghdgomelashvili told Rustavi 2 that $100 million, so the claims from Omega underlines that the media, as a strong busi- Wednesday. Tbilisi to take his son home. Tbilisi City Court had ruled in their favor; Group that they had such a huge loss is ness, does not exist in Georgia,” she stated. GEORGIA TODAY FEBRUARY 23 - 26, 2018 NEWS 3 Shiny & Clean: The Future We Hope Georgian Irakli for in Georgian Taxi Services Kvirikadze among OP-ED BY TIM OGDEN Europe's 10 Emerging ike life itself, taxis in Georgia are a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get. Your driver might be Young Actors one of the many in the city Lwho smells as though he and water have oung Georgian actor Irakli European Film Promotion (EFP), which never met (it’s a sort of stale sweat Kvirikadze, best known for promotes European Film and advocates meets cigarettes and eye-wateringly bad his leading role in “Hos- European actors worldwide. This pro- breath sort of odor), whose car looks tages”, received a European gram has put a spotlight on once aspir- like it survived the war of 2008, with Shooting Stars Award at ing actors such as Carey Mulligan, Ali- an engine that runs on gas of some Ythe 68th Berlinale International Film cia Vikander, Pilou Asbaek. description, and sounds as though it Festival. Irakli was named among Irakli Kvirikadze, along with the other may explode at any moment. But you Europe’s most talented and promising ‘Shooting Stars,’ took part in a workshop may also fi nd yourself, as I once did, actors who have already gained popu- program where the actors were intro- being driven by a young man who stud- larity in their own countries and are duced to the press, casting directors, ied at Chester University – “Don’t look ‘TAXI’ sign on the roof of his ageing relatively short journey; you can see ready to be introduced to the interna- producers and other infl uential people at me like that,” he told me in fl awless car. them wondering where the hell they’ve tional fi lm industry. attending Berlinale 2018. The program English as my jaw punched a hole in This is really one of the main reasons come to. One of them even had the The European Shooting Stars is one was topped off with a grand ceremony the fl oor: Chester is a good university, why I want to see taxi services regulated impudence to grab my brother’s arm of the most successful programs of the at the Berlinale Palast. or used to be, but the mad bugger told in Georgia, and why I hope the intro- when he visited the country two years me he absolutely enjoyed driving his duction of regulated ‘offi cial’ cars at ago, and he’s a shy sort of chap: the good taxi and so didn’t want to apply for any Tbilisi International Airport spreads impression thermometer reached an other job; I bet his parents were less throughout the land. I was very nearly absolute zero from the start for him, than happy.