By Vestnik Kavkaza
The Georgian media continue to comment on the statement by President Vladimir Putin at the recent press conference in which he mentioned his good and benevolent attitude towards the Georgian people and the possibility of a cancellation of the visa regime .
The Georgian Times suggests that Vladimir Putin's statement was unexpected for everyone in Georgia, especially given the fact that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in response to questions from members of the Federation Council, said that the Russian government is not ready to cancel the visa regime for Georgian citizens.
Meanwhile, as the newspaper notes, according to a study of the American National Democratic Institute (NDI), 72% of respondents do not like the current relations between Georgia and Russia. As for the reaction of Tbilisi, the newspaper points out that is such a radical change of mood in Moscow was received quite positively, though not without reservations. For more than a year under the various negotiating formats Georgian authorities have repeatedly proposed to abolish visa regime, and the Georgian side has unilaterally abolished it for Russian citizens.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in response to statements by the Russian President expressed his willingness to work together on the visa-free regime as well as other issues. "Last year, at the initiative of the Georgian side, the direct Georgian - Russian dialogue started, which has already given some results at least in the resolution of practical issues to restore ties. We hope that this dialogue will continue, so that, step by step, we were able to approach the solution of complex sensitive problems", it is said in a written statement of the head of the Georgian government. At a meeting with foreign diplomats Garibashvili said that although "the occupation of 20 % of the country and installing prickly barrages along the borders causes serious humanitarian problems, the latest steps in the relations between the two countries are encouraging". He pointed out that although Georgia firmly stands on the path of European integration, the country is ready to cooperate as much as possible with all those who have other political directions than Georgia.
Head of the Georgian Institute of Strategy and Management Peter Mamradze says Russia is home to over a million Georgians, and they are not considered second-class citizens . As for relations between the states, here, in his opinion, the situation is much more complicated
According to the leader of the coalition "Eurasian choice - Georgia" Archil Chkoidze, people in the regions today are not informed that the accession of Georgia to the Customs Union, in particular, could enable them to sell their agricultural products to Russia. There is only negative information spread by organizations which are financed from the West. He believes that the Russian side should also be activated - open Internet TV channels, cultural centers, Russian schools in Georgia, arrange meetings with young people to engage in a real dialogue, so that the Georgian population could receive more truthful information about Russia, the Customs Union, the Eurasian Union. After that it will be possible and necessary to expect some positive results in relations between the countries.
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The Azerbaijani newspaper "The Mirror " reports that on December 20 the OSCE press release was published, which says that the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as the personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in -Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, from 15 to 19 December visited the region to discuss the latest developments in the Nagorno -Karabakh conflict with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as with the de facto authorities in Nagorno- Karabakh.
Minsk Group U.S. Co-Chairman James Warlick said that after the meeting of the two presidents on November 19 in Vienna, there are expectations for the continuation of this dialogue, because that way a path leading to a peaceful settlement can be found. According to the diplomat, the settlement of the conflict has a number of complex issues that need to be addressed . This is the reason for the fact that this conversation has been going on for 20 years after the ceasefire. Now, Warlick said, most of the experts and the media focus on two issues. The first one is the return of the occupied territories, which are under the control of Armenian forces. The second one is a referendum that could be held in Nagorno-Karabakh. "These, of course, are very important questions , but I'll add one more – this is the issue of trust and understanding”, Warlick said. “What amazes me is the fact that when I come to Baku, Yerevan and Nagorno-Karabakh, there are good people on both sides. But there is a deep mistrust between the parties". James Warlick hopes that the path can be found that is at the level of contacts between peoples and not only at the level of governments and high politics, because Armenians and Azeris can perceive each other as real people and see the human side of this perception. "In Azerbaijan and Armenia a generation of people is growing up who have not seen each other or talked to each other, and they see and hear each other only in the media. At the same time, unfortunately”, Warlick continues, “the information is usually distorted and misinterpreted, and I would like to see the point at which the forms of relations and trust can be restored".
"These are difficult questions, but I really believe that both sides can find a way forward to resolution, so that everyone could win due to this”, the co-chair of the Minsk Group believes.
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The Armenian newspapers "Business Express", "Voice of Armenia" and "New Era" published the materials of the press conference by CEO of CJSC "South Caucasian Railway" in Armenia, a subsidiary of “Russian Railways", Victor Rebets . He noted that the rehabilitation of infrastructure and modernization and development of facilities ensuring operation of rail transport has become one of the main activities of JSC SCR in the past year. The largest completed projects, according to him, are the reconstruction of the railway station Tumanyan in Lori region , the completion of the construction of three railway bridges and the repair of the railway junction in Gyumri, where the diagnostic tools and modern rehabilitation equipment were installed, which increased the turnaround of electric locomotives and wagons. According to the CEO, about half an amount envisaged under the concession agreement with Armenia (over 15 billion rubles) has already been invested.
However, these investments in the near future will not be repaid, and “Russian Railways” does not aim to profit by any means. "We have too poor a state of the infrastructure at the beginning of the concession activity", the head of the company said. According to him, in 2013 SCR can get a small profit, but in 2014 this is unlikely. Despite a 3 percent increase in passenger traffic, freight traffic in 2013 decreased by 0.8-1 % to the level of 2012. This is due to the reduction in the key positions of goods imported to Armenia in different proportions. In 2014, the reduction in the supply of oil products, raw sugar and grain can also be expected.
Victor Rebets stressed that CJSC "South Caucasian Railway" works in Armenia in the face of fierce competition. The share of rail freight in the total freight traffic in the country does not exceed one third, and in the segment of passenger traffic it is only 2.2%. The main competitor of the SCR is primarily motor transport which is more mobile and provides services from door to door. However, SCR is trying to expand the list of services in freight forwarding as well as to improve the quality of passenger services providing additional comfort. In particular, thanks to investments, it managed to reduce the time of movement of the trains on the route Yerevan-Batumi compared with 2009 by 6 hours, and in a number of train passengers started to get free Wi-Fi connection .
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The newspaper "Dagenstani Pravda" informs that the outgoing year was a breakthrough for " Dagdiesel Plant" and significantly improved growth performance industrial index of the republic. The annual volume of defense procurement received by the plant was successfully completed. About forty military items were made at the factory and are already in the arsenal of the Navy of the country. The customer does not have any claims on any item of the contract in 2013 to the company.
The fact that the specialists of "Dagdiesel" in such a short time managed to establish mass production of this strategic product is described by the newspaper as a "miracle". The degree of responsibility, which in addition to the order passed to the factory, initially aroused fears in the Defense Ministry. This was due to the previous failures in production. The point is that "Dagdiesel" received the state order, but some components to products that their partner in Kaspiysk should produce were not received. The plant that produced earlier this part of the order was closed back in the 1990s, and the production due to its secrecy could not be produced by any plant. Thanks to the joint efforts of the Ministry of Defense and the leadership of the region it was decided to pass the documentation for the missing part of the products to "Dagdiesel". The company completed the task, getting defense contracts for 1.8 billion rubles. Overall, this year the state defense order for the whole country amounted to 2.4 billion rubles.
According to the Executive Director, Sultanahmet Asaliyev, in the coming year the schedule will not be less stressful. The order for 2014 for more than $ 3 billion rubles should be implemented. Financial position of the plant is improving, but the way completely out of the band of turbulence in which the enterprise is in recent years will be found, according to the leadership, only by 2015.
In the near future " Dagdiesel" plans to launch a series of digitally controlled new generation products. Producing electronic filling developed by "Dagdiesel" will also be implemented at Dagestani enterprises.
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The newspaper "Kabardino-Balkarian Pravda" believes that one of the most significant environmental developments in the republic in 2013 was the creation of forest nursery for production of planting material of forest trees and shrubs. Specialists prepared seeding and "school" nursery departments with a total area of 6 hectares. To date, the trees and forest seed plots have already given more than 900 kg of seed, samples of which were directed to the Center for Forest Protection of the Stavropol Territory to determine their quality. The nursery, in addition to augmenting the use of forest resources and the greening of urban parks of the republic, can also meet the needs of the foresters of the South of Russia in certified planting material.
