Caucasus Press Review (May 19-25)

The “Eurasian choice – Georgia” NGO coalition will organize a protest in Tbilisi on May 28 to demand restoration of diplomatic relations with Russia. Archil Chkoidze, leader of the coalition, said that Georgia should make the first step towards restoring diplomatic relations with Russia because the Georgian government had been the one to break them off in the first place. In an interview with Svobodnaya Gruziya, he noted that it was not the first protest. His organization wants to persuade the government to normalize relations with Russia. It is confident that restoring the territorial integrity of Georgia and settling the conflicts is only possible after making peace with its neighbours.

Chkoidze assumes that signing the association and free trade agreements of Georgia and the EU will not rule out trade relations with Russia. The documents affect the development of political, commercial, social and cultural relations, but the country has little chances to make use of them in the near future. “We gain nothing from them, but we are obliged to adopt a whole set of laws and restrictions contradicting our traditions and culture. Georgia has very distant and chaotic prospects of full membership of the EU ahead, considering the unresolved problem of the two conflict territories,” said Chkoidze. He reminded about Turkey, which has been an associate member of the European Union since 1963. Its membership issue has not been settled yet. Concerning the prospects for development of cooperation and restoration of diplomatic relations with Russia, the coalition leader reminded that renewal of trade had a positive effect on the Georgian economy. Since 2014, Georgia has exported over 13 million bottles of wine to Russia, about 70% of all exports. At the same time, annual exports to Germany and the U.S. have seen a slight increase. Exports of mineral water to Russia increased by 100% in Q1 2014 compared with Q1 2013.

Restoration of diplomatic ties with Russia, in Chkoidze’s opinion, will encourage lifting the visa regime and the demolition of barriers in border residential areas. The Georgian population will have an opportunity to sell products beyond the demarcation line. The problem of Abkhazia and South Ossetia will be resolved under Russian mediation. Russian President Vladimir Putin is certain that Georgia and South Ossetia could live in a common space, provided that they find a compromise. Chkoidze added that 75% of the population, as social polls suggested, wanted restoration of diplomatic relations with Russia.

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Armenian Minister for Economy Karen Chshmarityan, commenting on the recently passed governmental program for 2014-2017, said that business was the only way the country could prosper, Delovoy Express reports. The minister emphasized the need to encourage businessmen to invest, be the investment 5,000 or 500 million drams.

Regarding small and medium-sized businesses, the program will simplify accounting, form a corresponding business environment and offer businessmen state assistance, especially in faraway and border districts.

Chshmarityan believes that approaches to tourism and information technologies should change. Trade offices in Belgium, the U.S., Canada, the UAE, Bulgaria, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Georgia and other countries will open. They will present products of Armenian manufacturers. Russia has experience in running such offices. The government should form the basis for cooperation of science and business. The minister noted that there were serious flaws that needed rectifying and added that science should mostly be applied and that society should make more use of information technologies.

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The Den Respubliki paper of Karachay-Cherkessia says that almost all municipal cities and districts will be constructing and reconstructing 153 social and engineering infrastructure facilities in 2014-2015. Authorities of the region and local residents had meetings and came to an agreement that the social infrastructure needed modernizing. Agreements were reached with federal agencies to co-finance construction of facilities within the framework of federal programs. Part of the facilities were built using funds of the republican budget. Non-budget sources contribute to the initiative.

Special attention is paid to the network of pre-school education centers and schools. In 2014-2015, Karachay-Cherkessia will be constructing and reconstructing 25 such centers.

By September 1, 2014, 6 nurseries in Cherkessk, the Moskovsky Microdistrict, Uchkeken, Znamenka, Verkhnyaya Mara and Maysky will have been opened. Two more school and nursery centers will open in Zelenchukskaya and Novy Karachay. The republic is constructing 19 sports facilities. Karachay-Cherkessia is building gas and water pipelines in rural areas.

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According to the Kabardino-Balkarskaya Prava paper, the republican state highland reserve took part in the March of Parks, an annual international event organized by the Wild Nature Protection Center in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia and Central Asian states since 1995. The project was initiated to gain social support in protecting natural territories. The March of Parks this year was held under the slogan “Water for life – in living nature.”