For a long time there were talks about the successful reforms of Saakashvili, about a "Georgian miracle". And what is the result? After the "Rose Revolution" the team of Saakashvili started enormous reforms in the economy, justice, army and other spheres of the state. From the side everything seemed promising - a young democracy, easy business, fair courts, honest police,a modern army and other signs of a civilized society. But in the end it turned out to be a beautiful fairy tale, that was paid for by Western PR and journalists. A good fairy tale, like a good movie, needs good money and actors. The main actor - or the puppet manipulated by the US and the EU - was Mikhail Saakashvili, who enjoyed the trust of those who brought him to power. And the young democracy was receiving not only a stream but an entire river of money. Soon after the Rose Revolution, Georgia received a billion dollars, which was one quarter of the country's GDP. In return, Georgia's new "friends" asked to sell them those few factories that remained in the country after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Back in 2004 the minister of economic development of Georgia, Kakha Bendukidze, said that "Georgia has to sell everything except its honor". The Rastavi metallurgical plant, the sea port of Poti and the Marneuli enrichment complex were sold at auction. Even hospitals were sold. The budget deficit was covered by the complete privatization. When there was nothing more to sell, Saakashvili started borrowing money. From 2003 the external debt of the country increased 6-fold. The personnel of the plants that had been sold was reduced, the remaining workers were receiving very small salaries and their rights were reduced. It is they who are on strike now, demanding a decent attitude. In early 2008 the Georgian banks that existed mostly because of the transatlantic loans were hit by the world financial crisis. The decline in demand for Georgian goods caused another wave of staff reductions, and the people lost the opportunity to pay off their loans. As a result, the economy of the country was collapsing. Surprisingly, the war helped. In October 2008 a conference of the donor countries decided to give Georgia $4.5 billion to overcome the consequences of the military conflict with Russia. $2.5 billion were a load, and only a small part of this was used for the purpose. It provoked a wave of anger among refugees from Abkhazia and South Ossetia who had lost their houses. Desperate people were squatting in the administrative building and private houses. A large part of the finances went on strengthening the army: Georgia's military budget between 2003 and 2007 increased 30 times, from $30 to $940 million, which did not help the Georgian army during the 5-day war. A significant part of the money was spent on the law-enforcement agencies. But after the events in Gldani prison it became obvious that a criminal institute supporting the authoritarian regime was hiding behind the wall. So what did the new government receive and what is the route of the Georgian Dream coalition? The new prime minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili, spoke out earlier for the normalization of relations with Russia, proposing to start with the restoration of economic cooperation, cultural exchange and humanitarian aid. Before October 20 (the day Georgian Dream officially came to power), its representatives found it mandatory to deny everything that the nationalists were saying. It was an obvious line of behavior that satisfied everyone who was against the "United National Movement" of Saakashvili. But now the new authorities are gradually changing the rhetoric, so as not to upset their supporters.
If, before October 20, everything made by the nationalists was supposed to be removed, now it turns out that in can be kept with some slight modifications. It concerns the possible separation of the Ministry of the Interior, and the liquidation of the Department of Constitutional Security and the Department for Special Operations, and even the institute of school attendants. Before the election, Georgian Dream said the the tax burden is excessive, while now the Minister of Finance Nodar Khatur said that he does not plan to reduce taxes because they are "already quite low." Before the elections it was planned to stop the construction of the huge hydro-electric power plants, while after the elections it is planned to "consult more actively with ecologists when constructing huge hydro-electric power plants." The new authorities also admitted that the construction of the new deep-water port known as project Lazika has its economic justification and will most likely be continued. To sum up, it can be said that the representatives of Georgian Dream are gradually opening their eyes and showing signs of pragmatism. The policy of the new authorities towards Russia and the separated territories. These changes affect only the rhetoric, which will certainly become milder. It seems that Russia will also go for compromise and it will partly open its market to Georgian products. Recently, the chief sanitary doctor of Russia, Gennady Onishchenko, said that eight Georgian companies had applied to Pospotrebnadzor so that in the future they can get the right to supply wines and mineral waters to Russia.
Russian deputies are also ready for cooperation: On November 16, during a Moscow-Tbilisi video conference, the president of the parliamentary committee for information policy, Alexei Mitrofanov, said that in the near future Russia and Georgia could restart the practice of interparliamentary exchanges. The idea was supported by a member of the parliamentary committee for CIS affairs, Roman Khudyakov, who noted that the time has come for activation of Russian-Georgian dialogue.
In general the "new policy" of the Georgian Dream towards Russia can rather be called the position of checks and balances. The friendly declarations of the Georgian diplomat Zurab Abashidze, responsible for questions related to Russia, encounter a tough position from Moscow, which prefers concrete deeds to beautiful words.
