“Impartial, Informative, Insightful” GEL 3.00 #073 (4630) THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020 WWW.MESSENGER.COM.GE OPINION & ANALYSIS Georgia to receive €1.16 million from EU, PM chairs another coordination council Sweden and Austria for agriculture development meeting FULL STORY ON Page 2 ECONOMICS NBG temporary supervision plan for COVID-19 Georgia and the EU. and small-scale processors, especially sented idea/project should fulfill one The size of the LDI support per ap- from high mountain rural areas,” the of the criteria given below. A binding plicant or group of applicants shall be ambassador of Sweden to Georgia, Ulrik declaration must be given that organic between ¢5 000 and ¢150 000 with the Tidestrom remarked He also stated he’s farming practices will be used and that co-financing share at minimum 10% of glad that despite the existing situation, organic certification is the goal of the the total budget. the project GRETA keeps operating suc- enterprise or of the group; Smallholder As the ambassador of EU to Georgia, cessfully and contributes to the economic farmers (individuals) seeking to start, di- FULL STORY ON Page 3 Carl Hartzell stated, financial assistance development of mountainous regions as versify or expand into organic production aimed at recovering economic situation well as creates new working alternatives. and that enter into a binding declaration in Georgia, is one of the priorities of EU, As the ambassador of Austria to Geor- towards organic certification; added that the country owns great poten- gia pointed out, agriculture is a signifi- Farmer groups that have a formal BY KHATIA BZHALAVA tial of organic agriculture, yet, due to the cant sector for Austria in cooperation with cooperative type of organization or who lack of access to the agricultural inputs, Georgia, and as it is visible, agriculture have a proven history of cooperation n the frame of the GRETA project, credits, markets and information, the is becoming more and more important in and want to become certified organic; IEU Sweden and Austria launched opportunities remain underutilised. As the middle of this crisis. He also remarked Individual marketing enterprises that supporting the Local Development he said ‘supporting Local Development that creating co-financing opportunities, have a proven record of selling organic Initiative(LDI), in the sector of organic Initiative is a timely step to overcome sharing experience, and providing small- products or that wish to move into the agriculture to create economic oppor- the challenges.’ holder farmers and small-scale processors organic produce market; tunities for farmers, farmer groups, “We believe that joining forces gives with agricultural input supplies and Organic farming input suppliers (that cooperatives, processing units as well better results, this is the very reason the equipment are one of the most important supply organic seeds or planting materials, as other actors along various organic EU, Sweden and Austria have united actions for economic revival, nowadays. organically certified natural pesticides, value chains. resources to support smallholder farmers To participate in the event, the pre- composting materials, organic feed, etc.). GRETA, a four-year (2019-2020) project of Sustainable Mountain Tour- ism & Organic Agriculture, focuses on the support of Georgian small and medium enterprises to professionalise and scale up. The action will also fa- cilitate an improvement of the business environment and the creation of new income opportunities in the two growth sectors: mountain tourism and organic agriculture. The €6.8 million project is co-funded by the EU(€3 million) and the two EU member states Sweden (€2.8 mil- lion) and Austria (€1 million) The initiative is targeted at ap- plicants of Mestia, Lentekhi, Tsageri, Oni, Ambrolauri, Sachkhere, Chiatura and Tkibuli municipalities, including the farmers, farming families, farmer formal/informal groups, sole entrepre- neurs, family agricultural business holders, cooperatives and farmer groups. Individuals/units from the organic agri- culture sector, who are based outside of those municipalities but purchase their organic product from the region can also participate in the Local Development GRETA, a four-year (2019-2020) project of Sustainable Mountain Tourism & Organic Agriculture, focuses on the support of Georgian small and medium Initiative. enterprises to professionalise and scale-up. P2 | OPINION & ANALYSIS THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020 PM chairs another coordination council meeting BY KHATIA BZHALAVA n April 29th, another Inter- Oagency coordination council meeting led by the Prime Minis- ter was held. The MPs reviewed the process of the first stage of opening the economy and lifting the restriction and consulted further lightening of the regula- tions, which will be implemented according to the development of the pandemic. The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable De- velopment and the Ministry of The MPs As Environmental Protection and Agriculture Minister Levan Davitashvili noted, Healthcare provided the council grocery and medical stocks are efficient and are being filled regularly. with information on the monitor- ing of the process of compliance holds detailed presentations of supply and it is being refilled have already returned to their At the council meeting, MPs with the recommendations and the current week within the regularly without deterrence. In homeland on special flights that also discussed the epidemiological safety regulations of the Ministry framework of the plan. After the addition, it was pointed out that were carried out in accordance situation. With the newest data, of Healthcare in enterprises. Ac- Ministry of Finance, the Ministry 52 tons of cargo intended for the with the recommendations of the there are 517 confirmed coronavi- cording to the ministries, the fac- of Internally Displaced Persons healthcare sector arrived in Geor- World Health Organization, while rus cases in Georgia with 168 recov- tories are being inspected actively. from the Occupied Territories, La- gia from China at dawn of March 17 072 of Georgia’s citizens re- eries and 6 deaths. Currently, 5,153 Dozens of enterprises, which have bor, Health and Social Affairs will 29th, including 40,000 PCR tests, ceived assistance on-site from persons are in quarantine and 549 satisfied the regulations will con- provide the public with detailed 20,000 antibody tests, as well as Georgian diplomatic representa- persons are hospitalised under tinue to operate. During the work information on the provision of personal protective equipment tives. Upcoming flights will be medical observation.The Interagen- process, they will go through peri- targeted social assistance. - overalls, gloves, gowns, shoe carried out in accordance with the cy Coordination Council continues odic inspections and the factories At the session, MPs also dis- covers, thermometers, protective following schedule, as determined to hold regular meetings under the where flaws have been detected cussed the situation of grocery goggles, and other medical items. by the Coordination Council: leadership of the prime minister in were given additional time for and medical supply in the coun- It was also noted that the April 30th: Madrid-Tbilisi order to take coordinated steps. The eliminating the shortcomings. try, which is being coordinated process of bringing Georgian May 1st: Vienna-Tbilisi Parliament of Georgia, headed by The Social and Economic Anti- by Environmental Protection citizens back from foreign coun- May 2nd: Prague-Batumi Chairman Archil Talakvadze, and Crisis Plan unveiled by the Gov- and Agriculture Minister Levan tries continues. According to May 5th: Athens-Tbilisi the Administration of the President ernment of Georgia was discussed Davitashvili, As he said there is Foreign Affairs Minister Da- May 7th: Amsterdam-Tbilisi are actively involved in the council’s as well. Each sectoral ministry no problem in terms of grocery vit Zalkaliani, 8 563 citizens May 9th: Berlin-Tbilisi work. GYLA presents report on ‘forms of torture and inhuman or degraging treatment and prevention’ BY KHATIA BZHALAVA According to the GYLA state- appealed decisions, the court ment, there have been no sys- upheld only 1 appeal. he Georgian Young Lawyers’ tematic cases of torture and According to the statistics TAssociation (GYLA) held an ill-treatment in recent years, but (first 9 months of 2019) of the online presentation of the report it still prevails as a problem that investigations launched by the ‘Forms of Torture and Inhuman law enforcers still commit similar Prosecutor’s Office under Article or Degrading Treatment and crimes. As in previous years, it 333, Part 3 of the Criminal Code, Prevention’ on 29th of April, 2020 . remains a challenge for law en- the rate of criminal prosecution As stated in the statement forcement agencies to properly is very low. In the investigations made by GYLA, 10 criminal document such facts, conduct initiated by the Prosecutor’s Of- matters filed by GYLA in 2019 investigations within a reason- fice under Article 333, Part 3, were analyzed for the purposes able time, and recognize victims Subparagraph B of the Criminal of the report. The specific form of ill-treatment as victims. Code of Georgia, which consists of ill-treatment, the subject/s The positive step was the of exceeding official authority via implementing it, the issue of creation of the State Inspector’s There have been no systematic cases of torture and ill-treatment in recent years, violence or using weapons,