Issue no: 913 • JANUARY 20 - 23, 2017 • PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY PRICE: GEL 2.50 In this week’s issue... Health Ministry Detects Violations in Clinics NEWS PAGE 2 In God We Trust- The White House as Trump’s Purgatory POLITICS PAGE 4 President Says Deal with Gazprom Harms Georgia’s Political & Economic Interests POLITICS PAGE 6 Ex-President Saakashvili Approves of UNM Fracture FOCUS POLITICS PAGE 7 ON PRESIDENTS Harper’s Bazaar Includes Trump enters "purgatory," Margvelashvili fi ghts Georgia on List of 17 Places Gazprom deal PAGE 4,6 Photo: DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images to Honeymoon SOCIETY PAGE 8 Georgia’s Kvirikashvili Holds Meetings in Spain Boosting Tourism? Perhaps BY THEA MORRISON over My Dead Body: Ogden on Georgian Taxi Drivers s a part of his offi cial visit to Spain, SOCIETY PAGE 10 Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili met with King Felipe VI of Spain on January 18. Liepa Tourism was the main topic dis- Acussed. Kvirikashvili spoke about Georgia's Hosts 10th growing tourism sector and untapped potential, noting that in 2016 around 6.4 million guests Anniversary visited the country and that revenue from tour- ism exceeded $2 billion. Celebration of After the meeting, a reception was held at the royal palace, celebrating the declaration of 2017 Friends of the as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism Georgian Ballet Development. The event was attended by rep- resentatives from a number of global organiza- CULTURE PAGE 15 tions, including the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Taleb Rifai. Kvirikashvili and his foreign minister, Mikheil Janelidze, later held a face-to-face meeting with Reception was held at the royal palace of King Felipe VI of Spain the Secretary General, at the UNWTO head- Secretary General Rifai, the UNWTO and the During his visit, Georgia’s Prime Minister met quarters in Madrid. Kvirikashvili and Rifai after- tourism industry have achieved tremendous Florentino Perez, head of the construction com- wards installed a plaque at the headquarters in success and have become one of the most impor- pany ACS Group and president of the Real honor of the visit. tant social-economic sectors worldwide. Madrid football club. “Georgia is a wonderful country, a country full He also invited the delegates to taste some Perez expressed interest in infrastructure pro- of life and energy, the most beautiful people, Georgian wine. jects across Georgia, both current and projected. happy and smiling, making you feel at home,” "With 8,000 years of wine-making traditions He specifi cally discussed a closer relationship the UNWTO Secretary General said after the recognized by UNESCO, Georgia is considered with the Anaklia Deep Sea Port Project, which meeting. to be the birthplace of wine, and we are happy when completed would help facilitate new lev- Kvirikashvili said that under the leadership of to share these traditions with you," he said. els of commerce between China and Europe. GEORGIA TODAY 2 NEWS JANUARY 20 - 23, 2017 Health Ministry Detects Violations in Clinics BY THEA MORRISON eorgia’s Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs has detected violations in a number of clinics, which, as a result, may be with- Gdrawn from the state-led Universal Healthcare Program. The information was released on Jan- uary 18 by the Health Minister, Davit Hong Kong Delegation during the second round of negtiations on free trade Sergeenko, who held a meeting with the heads of the clinics and gave them cer- tain warnings and recommendations. Sergeenko stressed that several clinics Georgia, Hong Kong had used the state money for manage- ment and dividends, and spent only a small amount on medical personnel and Hold 2nd Round of patients. “The state funds paid to the clinics were spent on the management and only Negotiations on FreeTrade a little on patient care and the wages of doctors, nurses and other medical per- on regulations regarding free trade in sonnel,” the Minister stressed, going on BY NINO GUGUNISHVILI the second round, though work is to to underline that the ministry would not Davit Sergeenko, Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia continue further regarding a number of cooperate with such medical institutions. The Minister added that monitoring The Universal Healthcare Program was remaining issues.” Moreover, Sergeenko said that around of clinics would be tightened and new launched in February 2013 and partially he Georgian government Product and service trade, custom pro- 12 clinics and hospitals may be withdrawn reforms launched in order to upgrade covers the medical treatment expenses held the second round of cedures, institutional isssues and trade from the state program and placed on a the Universal Healthcare Program and of all non-insured citizens of Georgia. negotiations on free trade safety measures were discussed during “black list.” However, these clinics will improve quality in clinics. The government made changes to the with the special adminis- the meetings, with parties agreeing on be able to continue functioning. The managers of the clinics stated at Program in September 2014, which meant trative region of the People’s all major subjects. Sergeenko added that the number of the meeting that there were no viola- that medical aid for pensioners, children TRepublic of China, Hong Kong, on Janu- The free trade agreement with Hong withdrawn clinics would be lower if the tions in their clinics and expressed under fi ve, students and persons with ary 16-18 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Kong will open an additional 7.3 million clinics heeded the warnings and took the readiness to consider the new recom- disabilities would be administered by Genadi Arveladze, Deputy Minister of market for Georgia that will boost the recommendations into consideration. mendations of the Health Ministry. the State instead of private insurance Economy and Sustainable Development, investment potential of the country and Another problem detected by the Min- “There are no violations in our clinics. companies. Moreover, the general wait- headed the Georgian delegation par- have a positive impact on Georgia’s eco- istry is delay in payment of medical However, some problems were detected ing time for planned surgeries decreased ticipating in the meetings. nomic development. personnel salaries. in the fi eld and the Health Ministry from four months to two. “It is the declared policy of the Geor- The free trade negotiations between “The state funds are transferred to the should take timely and proper measures. The second wave of the Program will gian government to open new markets Hong Kong and Georgia were preceded clinics on time, however, the managers We will continue cooperation with the be launched from February and the gov- for exporters,” Arveladze said. “It is of by negotiations on free trade with China, of some clinics pay the personnel with state,” Director General of the largest ernment is planning to include the fund- vital importance to fi nalize negotiations which were successfully fi nalized in 2016. delays. This is a big problem,” he stressed. medical corporation - Evex - said. ing of medicines for vulnerable people. WWelcomeelcome ttoo IIndianndian PPunjabiunjabi RestaurantRestaurant SSanjhaanjha CChulhahulha 1 Mobile +995 596 56 13 13 Phone +995-322-95-96-14 Skype: SANJHA CHULHA Facebook: sanjha chulha indian restaurant mail: [email protected] Website: Sanjhachulha.ge Agmashenebeli Avenue 130, Tbilisi 0112 Georgia Delivery service areare availableavailable GEORGIA TODAY JANUARY 20 - 23, 2017 NEWS 3 NDI: Most Georgians Assess Parliamentary Elections as Calm and Orderly BY THEA MORRISON he National Democratic Institute (NDI) and CRRC Georgia released the results of the political part of their survey on Wednesday, sug- Tgesting that the majority of Georgians feel positively about last year’s parlia- mentary elections. The polls showed that the vast major- ity of voters knew where to cast their ballots (92 percent), felt the process was safe (96 percent) and well-ordered (96 percent), and found election offi cials to be well-prepared (92 percent). The dominant reason cited for voting in the fi rst place, according to 68 percent of respondents, was “civic duty.” Of GD voters, only 11 percent said they went out to vote in order to support the party, and 8 percent to support the government. 71 percent of GD voters gave civic duty as their reason for going to the polls. “A fascinating fi nding from this poll is that unlike in many countries where the primary motivation for voting is to either keep or change the government -- and cynical view of the nation’s legislative 10 percent named the opposition United ter than the previous one. 30 percent of pressure in 2016 than in 2012. 10% said express support for a political party, body,” she added. National Movement (UNM) as the party respondents believe that the new parlia- that the pressure was equal. mandate, or ideology -- in Georgia it The survey reads that 74 percent of the closest to them and 3 percent of respond- ment will be the same, while 8 percent The results were released on January appears that voters were primarily moti- interviewed said they took part in the ents named Alliance of Patriots of Geor- think that the new parliament will be 18 and refl ect data collected from Novem- vated by obligation for participation elections, while according to offi cial data, gia and the Free Democrats as the parties worse than the previous one. ber 4th to December 4th, through face- rather than strong favorability toward a the turnout to the October 8 parliamen- closest to them. The poll results also showed that the to-face interviews with a nationwide, particular political choice,” said Laura tary election was 51.63 percent. Attachment to individual majoritarian majority of respondents – 47 percent – representative sample of citizens.