Georgian media are focused again on the conflict between President Giorgi Margvelashvili and the Government of the Republic. This time it is associated with an issue which has already been raised before the move of the President from the Avlabari residence. In addition, the press discusses such topics as the true role of Ivanishvili in Georgian politics, the increased presence of Russian capital in the country's economy and the threat of ISIS
Georgian media are focused again on the conflict between President Giorgi Margvelashvili and the Government of the Republic. This time it is associated with an issue which has already been raised before the move of the President from the Avlabari residence.
The discussion of the issue resumed after the recent statements by the relevant ex-Prime Minister of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili. "Everyone must obey the law, respect the Georgian state. First of all, the President ... of course, it should be completed, completed whether he wants it or not. The state should be the state and the structures must fulfill their mandates. At the time, the government said that it would refrain from legal actions. That time will come," ‘Resonance’ quotes him as saying.
Lawyer Paata Shavadze agrees with the former Prime Minister. "The president has no right to resist and refuse to exit the building. There are all legal levers for the execution of the decision of the government. If the government decides that the president should leave the palace, the decision should be generally enforced. Even the president cannot prevent enforcement of the law. The building is owned by the state and the government can release it in a legal way and return it to the owner – the state," the edition cites his words.
However, there are voices that, in fact, this debate doesn't show Georgia in its best form. "I do not think this is the most important issue in the country. Is it an important issue what building Margvelashvili will occupy in a country where unemployment and poverty are flourisinhg, the national currency is depreciating and prices are rising? The ruling party has a life-and-death fight against the National Movement, the former president, the current president, and all this spoils the image of the country. When they say that the Avlabar residence should be converted into a school it is unreasonable, because the modifications will cost such an amount that it would be better to construct a completely new building," the newspaper quotes Soso Tsintsadze.
Against this background, the issue about the true role of Ivanishvili in the politics of the country has been raised again. However, not everyone shares the widely held view that he is a ‘eminence gris’, who affects everyone in Georgia.
In particular, his former adviser Gia Khukhashvili considers the hype that arises almost every time he speaks to be excessive.
"Mr. Ivanishvili is a citizen of Georgia. He is no longer in power. These radical statements of his confirm that he is not the formal ruler of the country. In fact, this is not the first time he has said this. We can see that, despite his claims, the events in the country are not developing in the way he wants. Ivanishvili has every right to have a critical and radical attitude. For example, as a citizen of Georgia I have a question about the position of the President of the country. But it is not interesting," Resonance quotes him as saying.
"Ivanishvili can evaluate and criticize anyone. This is his civil right. This is the common position of a citizen of Georgia. The main thing is that it doesn't turn into insults. Otherwise, he can say anything. I do not want citizens to comment on the statements of another citizen. I understand that he has a social impact, but he is no longer a member of the government and can say anything as a civilian. No one can forbid him from doing so. That is wrong. It is not that he is exaggerating or not exaggerating. No one can estimate an ordinary citizen. The statements of a non-public official, an ordinary citizen, should not cause such a stir. He does not have to suffer from it and you cannot ask him for responsibility, more than that, it is impossible to say with certainty whether the government members share his position," Khukhashvili said.
In addition, the Georgian press is attracted to the increased presence of Russian capital in the economy of the republic.
"Russian capital is not bad settled in the Georgian market. Most of the investments are in Russian companies in such important areas as electricity, water, ore, mineral water. According to the study of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information, as of 2015 the company Inter RAO, the shareholders of which are Russian state-owned companies, owns the Georgian energy distributing company ‘Telasi’, the heating plant ‘Mtkvari Energy’, ‘Khramhesi-1’ and ‘Khramhesi-2’. However, according to the study, a citizen of Russia owns JSC ‘Energia’, which owns DaryalGES, LarsGES, ShildaGES. AvaniGES, AlgetiGES, SkurdidiGES belong to citizens of Russia. The Georgian and Russian sides jointly own the company ‘GruzRusEnergo’, which manages the transmission system in the country. At the same time, ZhinvaliGES and the water company ‘Tbilisi’, the Mtskheta and Rustavi Georgian water and power stations belong to the citizens of Russia. Citizens of Russia own the oil company LUKOIL, Gulf, the Poti oil terminal, the company of precious metals mining RMG, as well as the manufacturer of mineral water ‘Borjomi’, the manufacturer of electric locomotives DC JSC ‘Elmavalmshenebeli’, ‘VTB Bank Georgia’ and so on," Resonance reports.
"Besides business, Russian money is spinning in the non-governmental sector. As noted in the study of the organization ‘Public Initiative’, pro-Russian non-governmental organizations and the Georgian media subordinated to them are very active. The study refers to ‘Eurasian Union’, ‘Eurasian Institute’, ‘Eurasian Choice’ and so on.
The study also examined the activity of the Georgian-Russian Public Foundation, the Gorchakov Fund and the radio station ‘Sputnik’. A member of the Russian group ‘VimpelCom’ ‘Beeline’ (‘Mobitel’) operates in Georgia, which appeared on the Georgian market in 2007. ‘Beeline’ offers mobile services to its subscribers. According to the National Communications Commission, in September 2015 the market share of ‘Mobitel’ according to the number of mobile subscribers was 24%. Now the country's total number of mobile subscribers is 5,006,009, of which 1,201,628 are subscribers of ‘Beeline,’ the newspaper reports.
"After the mobile market, Russian business intends to appear on the Internet market. According to the source of Resonance, the companies ‘Caucasus’ and ‘ VimpelCom’ will make an application to the commission in the coming days. We contacted the head office of ‘VimpelCom’ for confirmation of this information. The company did not want to comment on a possible merger with the Georgian service provider. The company abstained from commenting on this information. So far, the application has been received by the Commission for Communications Regulation. As we were informed by the Commission, if ‘VimpelCom’ buys ‘Caucasus Online’, the company must apply to the Commission for regulation," the publication adds.
Finally, another issue to which the media regularly dedicate their materials is the threat of the terrorist organization Islamic State. "The Islamic Caliphate has established another wilayah in the Caucasus – Gurjistan (Georgia), which covers the main territory of the country. This information is spread by military experts, who say that in the coming days a video will be spread, featuring those jihadists who left Georgia for ISIS, and we will know the name of the head of the wilayah. According to them, the main objective will be to ensure the wilayah has transit communication with the North Caucasus, an electronic network has been created already for this purpose. They call it the invasion of Georgia by the most brutal of the organizations and talk about possible terrorist acts," Resonance reports.
"According to experts on the issues of the Caucasus, recently the structure of the Emirate in the North Caucasus has fallen and almost all field commanders, and 80% of militants, are sympathetic to Islamic State, so we should wait for the activation of ISIS. They were saying from the very beginning that if there is a province established in the North Caucasus, that means ISIS should do something. At a minimum, this means that people will no longer go en mass to Syria and Iraq, they will stay in their place to create a front of opposition. As you can see, the caliphate was not satisfied with only the North Caucasus and decided to create a new wilayah in Georgia this time. This information is confirmed by the military expert Vakhtang Maisaya, who says that the wilayah already exists. Vakhtang Maisaya does not know the name of the leader but, according to him, it will cease to be a mystery very soon. According to Maisaya, an intelligence service has been created for the Gurjistan wilayah, as well as the electronic network communications," the newspaper reports.
