Issue no: 971 • AUGUST 11 - 14, 2017 • PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY PRICE: GEL 2.50 In this week’s issue... Washingtonian Article on First Georgian Restaurant in DC NEWS PAGE 2 BBC Reports on Human Chain Protest against Russian Occupation POLITICS PAGE 4 On the Wars & East-West Relations POLITICS PAGE 6 Georgian FOCUS Tourism ON THE AUGUST WAR Industry A look at the past, present and predicted outcomes nine years on Becoming from the war that cost Georgia Interesting lives, land and power PAGE 3-6 for Jews Source: streampress.com Worldwide Georgia Awards US Company BUSINESS PAGE 8 Heads for Contribution to OK! Magazine to Release Hepatitis C Elimination Program Special Batumi Edition for Regional Promotion BY THEA MORRISON SOCIETY PAGE 10 Batumi Music eorgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has awarded the United States (US) Company Gilead Executive Presi- Fest: First dent John Martin with the Golden Fleece Order, and Exec- utive Vice President Greg Alton with the Order of Honor Georgian for the contribution to the Hepatitis C Elimination Program Gin Georgia. Festival under The award ceremony was held after a face-to-face meeting at the gov- ernmental administration. UNESCO At the meeting, which was attended by the Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, David Sergeenko, Kvirikashvili emphasized the Patronage special role of the medicines manufacturer company Gilead in the suc- biotechnology company Gilead signed a memorandum of understand- CULTURE PAGE 12 cessful implementation of the unprecedented program of Hepatitis C. ing. “At the meeting, we assessed the program as successful, having saved The project helps to reduce and prevent Hepatitis C cases in Georgia. the lives of 40 thousand people,” the Minister of Health stated. The main goal of the project is to stop the disease from being highly The President of Gilead also underlined that the progress achieved contagious. The treatment is free of charge for citizens of Georgia. through the implementation of the program is impressive. All applicants must undergo necessary laboratory examination and if “It was an honor for me to discuss the implementation of the Hepatitis the appropriate results are shown, the special commission decides if the C program with the Prime Minister. We are impressed with the achieved applicant fi ts the project or not. results,” he said. During the fi rst stage, Sofosbuvir was used as the primary medicine. According to Alton, the Georgian model of hepatitis elimination pro- However, for the second stage Havron was introduced, a newer medicine gram is exemplary for the world. which is believed to cure 95% of Hepatitis C patients. “This program is good for the people of Georgia but also it serves as a The average index of Hepatitis C in Georgia is 7.7, which puts it in the demonstration of what a country can do for its citizens: the model that top fi ve countries in the world with a high rate of the disease. has been applied in Georgia can eliminate Hepatitis C globally,” he stated. At present, more than 40,000 benefi ciaries are included in the Hepa- The health project ‘Georgia without Hepatitis C’ was launched in the titis C program, with more than 31,000 treatment courses already com- country on April 21, 2015, when the government of Georgia and American pleted. GEORGIA TODAY 2 NEWS AUGUST 11 - 14, 2017 Washingtonian Article on First Georgian Restaurant in DC in the country. Nelms fi nally managed BY TAMZIN WHITEWOOD to visit Georgia and instantly fell in love with the melting-pot type cuisine the country has to offer, with infl uences from his autumn, Washington its neighboring countries. When he DC, USA, will see its fi rst returned to the US, he and his wife Laura ever Georgian restaurant found themselves missing the food. opening, to be aptly named Eventually, it inspired them to open their 'Supra'. The opening has fi rst restaurant. Tled to an article being published by the "Georgian cuisine shares some simi- Washingtonian, a leading paper in the larities with Mediterranean and Middle US capital. Eastern cuisines, but the country’s rela- The article talks about the inspiration tive mountainous isolation means it’s behind the restaurant, as well as the fact also quite unique. You’ll fi nd kebabs with that Georgian Wine is also becoming sour plum sauce or chili paste, but also more and more popular in the US. Owner a lot of vegetable dishes. Walnuts and Jonathan Nelms is not Georgian, but has pomegranates play prominently in the had a lifelong connection to Georgia. food, as do spices and herbs like tarra- Growing up in central Florida, Nelms gon, coriander, dried marigold petals, befriended a Soviet-Georgian exchange and blue fenugreek," the article reads. student who came to his high school in "Nelms has brought on Malkhaz Maisash- 1989. Then, in the last year of the Soviet vili, a former chef of the Embassy of Union, Nelms went to what is now north- Georgia who has most recently been ern Russia, where he remembers everyone working in New York, to lead the kitchen. talking about Georgia being their favorite Nelms had unknowingly tried Maisash- Photo courtesy of The Washingtonian place. “In my mind, it was like this myth- vili’s food in 2011 in Tbilisi, where he ical land far away,” the article quotes him. was one of the executive chefs of a well- everyone he met was pointing him in behind the dumplings, and how to eat put the nobs on their plate to count how As the years passed, Nelms ended up known restaurant group specializing in Maisashvili’s direction," author Jessica them the Georgian way. "You hold them many they’ve eaten". living in Moscow, where he frequented Georgian cuisine. In recent years, when Sidman continues. by a small nob of dough on top, take a Supra is set to open in Washington DC Georgian restaurants and fell in love word got out that Nelms was looking to The article mentions dishes such as little bite, sip out the hot liquid, then eat in early autumn. Read the full article with the food without even stepping foot open a Georgian restaurant, it seemed khinkali, describing in detail the etiquette the whole thing. Georgians traditionally online at washingtonian.com. ENOC Continues to Supply Crude Oil to Iran Despite Sanctions It is believed that this maneuver is The ship movements might be SOURCE: PIA linked to the fact that Dragon Oil and explained as the attempts of Dragon Oil ENOC failed to obtain the necessary and ENOC to hide the true destination permissions from Turkmenistan gov- of crude oil delivery – Iran, and, there- s previously reported, at ernment authorities (State Customs fore, to avoid being included on the list the end of July, a VF Services and others), allowing the sup- of companies violating US sanctions Tanker-20 carrying crude ply of Turkmen crude oil to Iran, and, against Iran. oil produced by Dragon therefore, issued cargo and custom NIOC and NICO (a trading structure Oil, arrived at the dock of documents showing the port of dis- of NIOC) and their related entities in ABaku Port, Azerbaijan. However, after charge as Baku, Azerbaijan, for further various countries are included on the a one-week delay related to the detec- transit delivery to Europe. US sanctions list. tion of some undeclared cargo on board, It is said to be possible that Dragon Oil At present, Dragon Oil and ENOC are the vessel went to the Iranian port of will be unable to obtain such permission loading the third crude oil cargo aboard Neka and discharged its crude oil to the due to the worsening of relations between vessel VF Tanker-13 (belonging to the terminal operated by the National Ira- Turkmenistan and Iran following a dis- same shipping company VF Tanker from nian Oil Company (NIOC). pute over payment for Turkmen natural Russia). Whether this vessel will go to On August 7, VF Tanker-20 loaded a gas delivered to Iran and the intention Iran again, bypassing the US sanctions new cargo of crude oil in Aladja Port, tion of Baku, Azerbaijan. However, soon Turkmenistan, the ship turned south of the Iranian side to sue Turkmenistan and customs regulations of Turkmeni- Turkmenistan and moved in the direc- after exiting the territorial waters of and later arrived at Neka Port in Iran. in international arbitration courts. stan, remains to be seen. GEORGIA TODAY AUGUST 11 - 14, 2017 NEWS 3 August 2008 War Museum Opens in Ergneti living in the village. She then founded BY NINO GUGUNISHVILI the museum entirely at her own expense. “When we came home on August 19, 2008, we saw that there were only walls few meters from the occu- and ashes left of our house. It was a pation line, in the basement tragedy. Those fi ve days of war in August of the Ergneti village house 2008 were the most dramatic in our of local resident Lia Chla- recent history and I wanted the museum chidze, a museum dedi- to show that,” Chlachidze said in a TV Acated to the 2008 war was opened. comment to Rustavi 2. Chlachidze’s house was burned down A car, riddled with bullet holes, stands in August 2008. On rebuilding it, she in the yard of her house in Ergneti vil- began to collect photo materials, burned lage, as one of the most poignant images clothes, toys, plates and bomb shards- all of the war. The museum opening was mementos from the period of the Russia- attended by Georgian government offi - Georgia war given to her by the families cials.