By Vestnik Kavkaza
As "The Georgian Times" reports, the representatives of 12 non-parliamentary opposition parties of Georgia gathered on July 18 in Tbilisi hotel "Courtyard by Marriott" and accused the ruling coalition of "Georgian Dream" of disrupting the arrangements with the inter-factional group working to improve the electoral legislation. The cause of this statement was the decision by the Bureau of the ruling coalition not to make a package of amendments to the Electoral Code and the law "On political associations", the agreement on which was reached earlier in the negotiations within the framework of inter-factional group formed in March of this year in order to improve the electoral system and uniting almost all political forces in Georgia. Responding to the opposition’s indignation, the representative of "Georgian Dream" Zakaria Kutsnashvili explained the actions of the ruling coalition by stating that they could not reach a consensus within the coalition itself on only one amendment - on the funding of political parties, both winning the election and those which do not pass the required percent barrier. The majority in the coalition, he said, was for not to increase funding, and now its order will be revised after the municipal elections in 2014, basing on their results. However, the opposition claimed that they considered the arguments of the ruling coalition to be unconvincing , and that the situation worsened the electoral atmosphere of the presidential election. It can, they argue, even doubt the legitimacy of the results of the October presidential election. According to them, the fact is that the current Election Code is very convenient for the rulers who are prone to authoritarianism, and some of the opposition members believe that the decision of "Georgian Dream" was influenced by Bidzina Ivanishvili.
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The newspaper "Baku Worker" talks about the complexities and contradictions within the recently established opposition National Council of Democratic Forces. According to the newspaper, it deepened the decadent mood, which is particularly reflected in the fact that a number of opposition parties, including the National Council and members of the party "Classic Popular Front," "Great Azerbaijan", "Open Society" and "The Liberal Party", are going to set up an alternative union of opposition. According to the newspaper, the deputy of Milli Majlis Zahid Orudzh called the venture a "search for alternate", which shows a lack of confidence in the prospects of the National Council.
In addition, recently the representative of the "Popular Front" Khalig Bahadir said in an interview to "Gundelik Telegraph" that if the National Council had some principles in its work, the "Musavat" party would be excluded from its ranks. The article says that this statement came as a bolt from the blue, finally putting an end to talk about the possibility of a real unification of the opposition. In response, "Musavat" also showered reproaches. All this lets the author believe that the opposition parties are unable not only to form a government but also even simply to learn to trust each other.
The publication also draws attention to the fact that in the last days the opposition press is actively discussing the chances of the leader of the National Council, writer Rustam Ibragimbekov, nominated as a single candidate for the presidency.
In an interview to the "Yeni Musavat" newspaper an experienced opposition activist Panah Huseyn, whom some media dubbed "the mouth" of the leader of the "Musavat" party Isa Gambar, did not rule out the option that Ibrahimbekov may be left out of the electoral process, because to do so he has to give up the Russian citizenship. Huseyn expressed the view that the issue of Ibragimbekov’s participation in the elections is technically directly connected with the position of the Russian leadership. "According to the Russian law, consideration of the petition of renunciation of citizenship of the Russian Federation is in the jurisdiction of the head of state, and he may approve the application for a few days or extend consideration for up to 6 months", Huseyn said, not ruling out the second option, which makes it impossible for Ibragimbekov to take part in the presidential race.
Another opposition leader, member of the leadership of the party "Musavat" Arif Hajily, in an interview published in the newspaper "Yeni Musavat" once again noted that his party is the leading force in the National Council, and Ibragimbekov as a candidate without its support would not have been approved. He also announced the names of those whom he would like to be an alternative to Ibragimbekov in case of failure of his registration as a single opposition candidate. This is the Director of the Information Agency "Turan" Mehman Aliyev, Professor Rafiq Aliyev, as well as the chairman of the "Musavat" party Isa Gambar.
According to the "Baku Worker", announcing "alternatives" is primarily a reminder for Ibragimbekov that, if desired, it is possible to find an alternative to him, though it is technically a difficult case. In extreme cases, there is always a chairman of the party, and its campaign headquarters has already been established, which is actively preparing for the elections. So the split between Gambar and Ibrahimbekov and continues to increase, which does not bode well for the National Council.
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The "Voice of Armenia" newspaper reports that one of the priority areas of the government is pharmaceuticals. The newspaper quoted the chairman of the Union of Medicine Producers and Importers of Armenia Samvel Zakarian, who, summarizing the results of joint work with the public sector as part of the Government's "strategy of export-oriented industrial policy," called this cooperation efficient. The strategy, adopted in 2011, aims to develop 11 industrial areas, and for some of them - the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, accurate engineering, cognac and wine production - some programs have already been developed. Funding is being allocated from the Industry Development Fund created by the government at the beginning of this year, which received from the state budget for this year 1.14 million dollars for the implementation of activities in the areas that are most promising from the point of view of the development of exports.
Last year, 15 drug manufacturers produced goods worth more than $ 9 million, increasing annual production by 6.8%. Sales volumes increased by 22.8%, and the export of medicines increased by 42.2%. The upward trend continued this year. During the first 5 months of this year, the growth of sales was 32.1% and the export growth was 41.8%. Armenian medicines come to U.S. markets, Canada, Japan, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Kazakhstan and other countries.
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Azerbaijani newspaper "Echo" talks about the construction in Baku of Balakhany Industrial Park (BIP), which will be established on an area of 7 acres with a view to recycling household waste, the development of the country's "green" business, creating an enabling environment for potential investors specializing in remanufacturing.
Along with the processing of recyclable waste production it is planned to create a system for the processing of non-household waste, such as car tires, electrical and electronic waste, and waste hazardous to health. The residents of the park will get all the conditions to work, they will be provided with water, electricity, sewage system, gas and heating system, telephone and internet connection, as well as domestic services such as scales for trucks, warehouse, bank, post office, workshop. As the press service of "Tamiz shahap" ("Clean City") which is engaged in the offer, disposal and recycling of all waste in Baku and the Absheron peninsula and which is charged with managing Balakhani Industrial Park told "Echo", to create enterprises for processing electronic and electrical waste the company signed a memorandum with the Turkish company "Exitcom Recycling".
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Kabardino-Balkar "Yuga Newspaper” reports that the head of the republic Arsen Kanokov signed a cooperation agreement with JSC "Federal Passenger Company, according to which the latter provides four trains for the Nalchik - Moscow route with new comfortable cars. Their total value exceeds 1.6 billion rubles. The train has a special category, it will consist of 11 cars, including one first-class saloon (18 seats), two compartment cars (34 seats) and six second-class cars (52 seats), as well as a dining car and a staff car. One of the conditions of the agreement is the adoption of the national law governing this area. The meaning of this Act shall consist in the fact that in case that the route is unprofitable, the carrier should be given financial support from the national budget. The explanatory note to the bill states that at the break-even point the train must be packed for at least 78%, i. e. at least 326 passengers with a total of 418 seats. Each lacking 1% of the population (4 passengers) of the train "Nalchik - Moscow" gives the losses amounting to 6.5 million rubles a year.
Nevertheless, the financial and economic feasibility are the statistics for 2011 and 2012, which make up an average of 510 and 442 passengers on the train, respectively, or 80 and 85% of the population of trains. It is also emphasized that the comfort of new cars, reducing travel time, changes to the entry time to Moscow will give reason to expect an increase in demand for places in the train. According to Acting Minister of Transport, Communications and Roads of the Republic Islam Ulbashev, the conditions of the breakeven point for the train "Nalchik - Moscow" are to increase passenger traffic by 10% compared to 2012 and to increase ticket prices by 10% in the first-class saloons and compartment cars and by 20% in the second-class cars. However, as the head of the agency assured, the tickets will still be cheaper than on the "Vladikavkaz - Moscow" and "Kislovodsk - Moscow" trains.
