Issue no: 931 • MARCH 24 - 27, 2017 • PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY PRICE: GEL 2.50 In this week’s issue... Georgia Condemns Terror Attack in London NEWS PAGE 2 Azerbaijan’s Relations with Russia: Beware the Bear POLITICS PAGE 4 Stuck with an Impotent FOCUS Presidency ON MEDIA DEVELOPMENT POLITICS PAGE 6 As GT celebrates its 17th anniversary, the Georgia Today Group launches Schirnhofer Now Has its First The Economist's The World In 2017 Store in Tbilisi PAGE 8-9 BUSINESS PAGE 7 New Hepatitis C Center Opens in West Georgia Szijjártó on Hungary-Russia-EU SOCIETY PAGE 12 Maltakva, Relations Poti to Have INTERVIEW BY VAZHA TAVBERIDZE a New Beach ast week, the Foreign Minister of Hungary, Péter Szi- jjártó, visited Georgia to bolster the bilateral relations SOCIETY PAGE 12 between the two countries and prepare the stage for PM Orban’s visit in April. In an exclusive interview with GEORGIA TODAY, the FM started off by high- First Georgian Film Bought by Llighting the importance of mutual economic cooperation and trade, stating that they want to raise the level of economic ties Netfl ix Receives another Prize at to the level of political relations. “We started by opening a EUR 85,000 million credit line from Sofi a Int’l Film Fest the Hungarian Exim Bank to facilitate business to business, com- CULTURE PAGE 15 pany to company partnership. We identifi ed several fl agship areas of cooperation, including water management- a leading Hungar- ian water management company is cooperating with the United Water Supply Company of Georgia. Hopefully, this cooperation will see the Hungarian side assuming operational control in sev- eral municipalities, for example, now we’re running in a tender for Kutaisi, where we already have a Hungarian presence. Wizzair has become a focal point in fostering bilateral travel- the amount of visa applications has risen nine times since the fl ight was intro- duced. Agriculture, food industry technologies, sports infrastruc- ture – we’ll be building a stadium in Batumi - the pharmaceutical industry, where we already have 25 million worth of annual export and, fi nally, forestry, where Hungarian companies take part in modernizing the sector according to European Union standards. Continued on page 6 GEORGIA TODAY 2 NEWS MARCH 24 - 27, 2017 Georgia’s Parliament Overrides President’s Veto on Surveillance Bill BY THEA MORRISON he MPs of Georgian Parlia- ment have overridden Georgia Condemns President Giorgi Margve- lashvili’s veto on the sur- veillance draft bill adopted Terror Attack in London Tby parliament on March 1st. The legislative package included pro- “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of visions for the creation of a legal entity BY THEA MORRISON Georgia condemns terrorism in all its of public law (LEPL) the Operative- forms and conveys its condolences to Technical Agency of Georgia, which will the families of terrorism victims, as well be responsible for covert surveillance. orld leaders have con- as to the government of the United King- The agency will be under the supervi- demned late Wednes- dom, wishing speedy recovery to those sion of the State Security Service (SSS). day’s terrorist attack who were injured as a result of the inci- However, the agency will be accountable munications, was unconstitutional and ident. 93 MPs voted in favor of the bill in London, which left dent,” the statement of the MFA reads. to the prime minister and will submit a set a deadline of March 31, 2017 to imple- 21 were against. fi ve people dead and According to BBC, the incident hap- generalized report of its activities to the ment the court’s decision and replace Head of the President’s Administration, Wat least 40 injured. Prime Minister Giorgi pened late on Wednesday in London. PM annually. the existing surveillance law with new Giorgi Abashishvili, called this “disap- Kvirikashvili said that Georgia and Geor- Five people have died, and at least 40 The responsibilities of the agency will one. pointing.” gians will always stand by the civilized were injured after an attacker drove a include hidden surveillance of phone The president added his remarks to “If the parliament had supported the world in the fi ght against terrorism. car along the pavement in Westminster, communication; retrieving information the bill, and he sent it back to parliament president’s remarks, the surveillance “I am deeply concerned by information stabbed a policeman, and was shot dead from computer systems; control of post on March 21st. agency would have been more independ- on what seems to be terrorist attack near by police on the grounds of Parliament. offi ce transfers; secret audio and video He had two main remarks: The bill ent,” he stressed. the UK parliament in London. Our “Acting Deputy Commissioner and surveillance; and photographic surveil- does not guarantee the independence of Parliamentary opposition parties thoughts are with the victims and fami- Head of Counter Terrorism at the Met- lance. the new surveillance agency, and there believe the majority’s draft bill does not lies,” the PM tweeted. ropolitan Police, Mark Rowley, said they The new bill on covert investigative are "unjustifi ed and unpredictable costs” respond to the Constitutional Commis- President Margvelashvili also released think they know who he is and that he actions became necessary after the Con- that the bill imposes on communications sion verdict, that the agency must be a statement regarding the attack. “I am was inspired by international and Islam- stitutional Court of Georgia ruled on companies. independent. They also think that the deeply outraged by the terrorist incident ist-related terrorism but gave no further April 14, 2016 that the existing model of The majority party, Georgian Dream bill gives too much power to the SSS. at Westminster Palace. We strongly con- details,” BBC reports. surveillance, with the Interior Ministry (GD), which has 116 seats in the parlia- Non-Governmental Organizations also demn all forms of terrorism and stand Rowley said hundreds of detectives and Personal Data Protection Inspector ment, needed at 76 votes out of total 150 share this position on the issue. in solidarity with the UK,” the president worked through the night, carrying out as key players, needed to be changed. MPs to override the bill. The bill was once again sent to the of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, stated. searches at six addresses. The court stated that the existing leg- The president’s bill was voted on fi rst. president after the veto was overridden. Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said that Seven arrests have been made in raids islation, which allowed the police to have 22 MPs were in favor, and 86 were against. If the President does not sign it again, no Georgians are reported among the following the Westminster according to direct and unrestricted access to telecom Afterwards, parliament voted for a bill the Speaker of the Parliament will have deceased or injured in the incident. police. operators’ networks to monitor com- that had not been approved by the pres- the right to sign it. GEORGIA TODAY MARCH 24 - 27, 2017 NEWS 3 Incident Prevention and Investment Plan for Europe: Response Mechanism Commissioner Bulc Meeting Held in Gali Outlines Vision for BY THEA MORRISON Transport Investment n 23 and 24 March, Com- need to work to bridge the infrastructure missioner for Transport investment gap with other parts of Europe. n Tuesday, an Incident Violeta Bulc is meeting Boosting investment is also vital to Prevention and Response with private and public strengthen the region’s competitiveness Mechanism (IPRM) meet- institutions at a conference and stimulate the recent economic recov- ing was held in Gali, located Oin Sofi a, Bulgaria, to discuss how to boost ery”. in Georgia’s breakaway investment in the transport sector. The conference in Sofi a follows the Oregion of Abkhazia, near the administra- The conference is to focus on invest- recent launch by the Commission of a tive boundary line (ABL). ment opportunities in the Cohesion call for proposals combining EUR 1 bil- This was the 44th meeting of the IPRM, Member States and will also address lion of grants with fi nancing from the which brought together Georgian, Abkhaz, cooperation with the Western Balkans European Fund for Strategic Investments, Russian and European Union Monitoring and Eastern Partners, gathering together public fi nancial institutions and from Mission (EUMM) representatives and was high-level representatives involved in the private sector wherever possible. chaired by the United Nations (UN). the planning and fi nancing of European The call will complement the EUR 19.4 Representatives of the Georgian central transport infrastructure projects, fi nan- billion in EU grants already announced government brought up the murder case cial institutions and public and private under the Connecting Europe Facility of Georgian citizen Giga Otkhozoria, project promoters. Together, they will and the 36 transport-related projects who was killed by an Abkhazian border discuss how to make the best use of the under the European Fund for Strategic guard on the territory controlled by opportunities under the European Com- Investments that will trigger a total EUR Georgia, on May 19, 2016. government underlined that the illegal Georgia. The meetings are an opportu- mission’s Investment Plan for Europe, 15.2 billion of investments. Georgian representatives demanded detentions not only violate the funda- nity to discuss the identifi cation of including the Cleaner Transport Facility, Conference participants include the the arrest the Abkhaz citizen, Rashid mental right of the local residents, but potential risks and problems facing the and exchange experience and lessons Maltese Minister for Transport and Kanji-Oghli, who killed Otkhozoria and also undermine the security environment local community, follow up on incidents, learned in successful transport projects.