According to the Civil.ge internet portal, Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Alasania said that his ministry’s budget should be increased by 11% by 2015. The budget amounts to 660 million lari (about $375 million) at the moment. “We will demand, and I hope, that the parliament will support us in this issue,” he said at the committee hearings on July 25, within the framework of talks on confidence in the new government.
Financing of the Defense Ministry did not grow in 2013 and 2014. It reached a peak of 1.5 billion lari in 2008. The budget has been decreasing since then. In 2012 it was increased to 734.7 million lari.
Alasania mentioned defense systems he had urged NATO partners to join in Washington on April 30. “We have decisions made by the Security Council to find sums, and they will be found by the government independently, and it will not be a direct blow to the budget of our defense,” the minister promised.
Concerning infrastructure projects, the minister stated that construction of a new military base in Khoni and a new manoeuvre base in Krtsanisi was almost complete. Construction of a new training base started in Akhalkalaki, where a Russian military base had been taken under control by Georgia. Russian forces left the base in 2007. The defense minister noted that the project had a big social and political impact because it was situated in a region inhabited mainly by Armenians. He expressed confidence that the local population will have an opportunity to take part in construction and servicing of the base, gaining social and economic benefits.
According to the minister, infrastructure projects of the future will be closely connected with the strategy of dislocating armed forces on the territory of the country. The strategy will be adopted in the near future.
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The Golos Armenii paper reports that the Armenian Prime Minister recently visited the Shirak Region to check realization of the program for accommodation of families left homeless after the 1988 earthquake. He visited the new quarters, heard complaints of local residents, ordered executives to rectify any minor defects. Overall, the prime minister was satisfied with the results of housing construction because, in his opinion, the job was actually done. The paper disagrees with the prime minister’s satisfaction and considers it rather strange. The author of the article considers his evaluation to have been over-optimistic because the restoration process is still taking place 26 years after the disaster. The author says that a whole city can be built in such time, while Ovik Abramyan is satisfied that “the job was done” with quality flaws and incompletion.
One could lose count of all the things that were not accomplished by the Armenian government throughout the years of independence, the author goes on to say. He points out that the Nairit factory remains idle; light industry, which was supposed to give jobs to 40,000 people, has not been revived, although a special presidential council was formed for it; the garbage-processing facility in Yerevan has not been built, though talks on its construction have been ongoing since the 20th century. The paper states that most goals that the executives declared have not gone any farther than talks and promises. When reading reports about sessions of the government or decisions of the executive power, people may get the feeling that the government is really working up a sweat. Yet seems it works unproductively.
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The Norm cement factory opened in the Karadag District of Baku last week. It has become the largest cement factory of the South Caucasus. According to the local Khalg Gazeti newspaper, the factory plays a significant role in diversifying the economy, expanding its non-petroleum sector, producing competitive products.
The publication says that the facility worth about $350 million will have an output of 5,000 tons of clinker a day and 2 million tons of cement a year. The volume will fulfil all demands for cement in the country. The factory will also produce API-standard oil-well cement for the oil industry. Most materials for the factory are extracted in Karadag, materials for additives are supplied by other districts of the republic. President Ilham Aliyev said at its opening: “Generally, the whole state policy in the economic sector of Azerbaijan is reflected in the formation of this factory. It resides in expanding local production in Azerbaijan, formation of production replacing imports.”
The enterprise was built by CTIEC, a company of China’s CNBM corporation. The paper reports that the factory uses advanced equipment and technologies for productive and efficient exploitation. Technological processes at the enterprise are automatic, human labour has been minimized. Information about all parameters is transmitted to the control center using fiber-optic communications. The automatic control system allows monitoring of technological processes, regulation of parameters and remote control over machinery. The production line of the enterprise has advanced dust filters. Quality of the air in the main sources of dust and the volumes of gas released into the atmosphere from the furnace and the mill is controlled by special optical systems. Technical water used to cool down technological equipment is purified by a special cleansing system for recirculation. The enterprise gave jobs to 350 people and 150 more workers extracting materials in other areas.
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The Public Council of the Kabardino-Balkarian Ministry for Agriculture discussed financing of the agricultural industry at its latest session. The Kabardino-Balkarskaya Pravda newspaper informs, quoting regional Deputy Minister for Agriculture Tatyana Sidoruk, that the Russian Agriculture Ministry and the government of Kabardino-Balkaria signed several agreements on realization of the state program for development of agriculture. According to it, the agricultural industry complex of Kabardino-Balkaria will be granted subsidies worth 816.5 million rubles from the federal budget.
234.7 million rubles from the federal budget were spent on agricultural production in January-June 2014. Subsidies were granted in 9 different aspects of agricultural production, including coverage of interest rates of short-term, investment, long-term and mid-term loans, support of planting, animal husbandry. Moreover, budget funds were granted to cover part of expenses in increasing the number of female sheep and goats, per kilogram realized, and loaded milk for processing. In the future, subsidies will be granted for perennial plantings and vineyards, clearing of unexploited old gardens and purchase of elite seeds. Subsidies will be granted to pay insurance premiums.
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The Ingushetia paper reports that Ingush Leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov proposed an inspection of land ownership. He made the proposal at a council on illegally-acquired lands in the Altiyevsky and Gamurziyevsky administrative districts of Nazran.
According to Yevkurov, adventurous businessmen exploited the illicit greed of functionaries to take over large land lots and feed on the desperate needs of their compatriots, forcing them to invest large sums in the land. The leader of the republic believes that every advertisement selling land lots on TV and in the press should be checked. “Should it be revealed that land was illegally acquired for further realization instead of individual housing construction, the land lot will be confiscated and given to people in real need,” he declares.
A special commission has already been formed on the issue. One of its main goals is to assist in fair distribution of land. Moreover, Yevkurov expressed disagreement with distribution of land according to teips and demanded use of the draw method. In his opinion, compact settlement of families with pieces of land may give rise to risks of land disputes. “The only rational way is to have, let’s say, an imam live near a mosque, a teacher near a school, it is the only exception acceptable to the general rule,” he supposes.
Caucasus domestic and foreign political events in the local pressAccording to the Civil.ge internet portal, Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Alasania said that his ministry’s budget should be increased by 11% by 2015. The budget amounts to 660 million lari (about $375 million) at the moment. “We will demand, and I hope, that the parliament will support us in this issue,” he said at the committee hearings on July 25, within the framework of talks on confidence in the new government.Financing of the Defense Ministry did not grow in 2013 and 2014. It reached a peak of 1.5 billion lari in 2008. The budget has been decreasing since then. In 2012 it was increased to 734.7 million lari.Alasania mentioned defense systems he had urged NATO partners to join in Washington on April 30. “We have decisions made by the Security Council to find sums, and they will be found by the government independently, and it will not be a direct blow to the budget of our defense,” the minister promised.Concerning infrastructure projects, the minister stated that construction of a new military base in Khoni and a new manoeuvre base in Krtsanisi was almost complete. Construction of a new training base started in Akhalkalaki, where a Russian military base had been taken under control by Georgia. Russian forces left the base in 2007. The defense minister noted that the project had a big social and political impact because it was situated in a region inhabited mainly by Armenians. He expressed confidence that the local population will have an opportunity to take part in construction and servicing of the base, gaining social and economic benefits.According to the minister, infrastructure projects of the future will be closely connected with the strategy of dislocating armed forces on the territory of the country. The strategy will be adopted in the near future.* * *The Golos Armenii paper reports that the Armenian Prime Minister recently visited the Shirak Region to check realization of the program for accommodation of families left homeless after the 1988 earthquake. He visited the new quarters, heard complaints of local residents, ordered executives to rectify any minor defects. Overall, the prime minister was satisfied with the results of housing construction because, in his opinion, the job was actually done. The paper disagrees with the prime minister’s satisfaction and considers it rather strange. The author of the article considers his evaluation to have been over-optimistic because the restoration process is still taking place 26 years after the disaster. The author says that a whole city can be built in such time, while Ovik Abramyan is satisfied that “the job was done” with quality flaws and incompletion.One could lose count of all the things that were not accomplished by the Armenian government throughout the years of independence, the author goes on to say. He points out that the Nairit factory remains idle; light industry, which was supposed to give jobs to 40,000 people, has not been revived, although a special presidential council was formed for it; the garbage-processing facility in Yerevan has not been built, though talks on its construction have been ongoing since the 20th century. The paper states that most goals that the executives declared have not gone any farther than talks and promises. When reading reports about sessions of the government or decisions of the executive power, people may get the feeling that the government is really working up a sweat. Yet seems it works unproductively.* * *The Norm cement factory opened in the Karadag District of Baku last week. It has become the largest cement factory of the South Caucasus. According to the local Khalg Gazeti newspaper, the factory plays a significant role in diversifying the economy, expanding its non-petroleum sector, producing competitive products.The publication says that the facility worth about $350 million will have an output of 5,000 tons of clinker a day and 2 million tons of cement a year. The volume will fulfil all demands for cement in the country. The factory will also produce API-standard oil-well cement for the oil industry. Most materials for the factory are extracted in Karadag, materials for additives are supplied by other districts of the republic. President Ilham Aliyev said at its opening: “Generally, the whole state policy in the economic sector of Azerbaijan is reflected in the formation of this factory. It resides in expanding local production in Azerbaijan, formation of production replacing imports.”The enterprise was built by CTIEC, a company of China’s CNBM corporation. The paper reports that the factory uses advanced equipment and technologies for productive and efficient exploitation. Technological processes at the enterprise are automatic, human labour has been minimized. Information about all parameters is transmitted to the control center using fiber-optic communications. The automatic control system allows monitoring of technological processes, regulation of parameters and remote control over machinery. The production line of the enterprise has advanced dust filters. Quality of the air in the main sources of dust and the volumes of gas released into the atmosphere from the furnace and the mill is controlled by special optical systems. Technical water used to cool down technological equipment is purified by a special cleansing system for recirculation. The enterprise gave jobs to 350 people and 150 more workers extracting materials in other areas.* * *The Public Council of the Kabardino-Balkarian Ministry for Agriculture discussed financing of the agricultural industry at its latest session. The Kabardino-Balkarskaya Pravda newspaper informs, quoting regional Deputy Minister for Agriculture Tatyana Sidoruk, that the Russian Agriculture Ministry and the government of Kabardino-Balkaria signed several agreements on realization of the state program for development of agriculture. According to it, the agricultural industry complex of Kabardino-Balkaria will be granted subsidies worth 816.5 million rubles from the federal budget.234.7 million rubles from the federal budget were spent on agricultural production in January-June 2014. Subsidies were granted in 9 different aspects of agricultural production, including coverage of interest rates of short-term, investment, long-term and mid-term loans, support of planting, animal husbandry. Moreover, budget funds were granted to cover part of expenses in increasing the number of female sheep and goats, per kilogram realized, and loaded milk for processing. In the future, subsidies will be granted for perennial plantings and vineyards, clearing of unexploited old gardens and purchase of elite seeds. Subsidies will be granted to pay insurance premiums.* * *The Ingushetia paper reports that Ingush Leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov proposed an inspection of land ownership. He made the proposal at a council on illegally-acquired lands in the Altiyevsky and Gamurziyevsky administrative districts of Nazran.According to Yevkurov, adventurous businessmen exploited the illicit greed of functionaries to take over large land lots and feed on the desperate needs of their compatriots, forcing them to invest large sums in the land. The leader of the republic believes that every advertisement selling land lots on TV and in the press should be checked. “Should it be revealed that land was illegally acquired for further realization instead of individual housing construction, the land lot will be confiscated and given to people in real need,” he declares.A special commission has already been formed on the issue. One of its main goals is to assist in fair distribution of land. Moreover, Yevkurov expressed disagreement with distribution of land according to teips and demanded use of the draw method. In his opinion, compact settlement of families with pieces of land may give rise to risks of land disputes. “The only rational way is to have, let’s say, an imam live near a mosque, a teacher near a school, it is the only exception acceptable to the general rule,” he suppos
