Caucasus Press Review (December 22-28)

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Georgia Online analyzed the results of the internal political life of the country in the last two years and came to the conclusion that the worst period has passed. In 2012, when the overthrow was prepared, the polarization of society was so strong that there could have been clashes between the conflicting sides. Moreover, it was the first time that power had changed in Georgia constitutionally. Plus, the Nationals were resolute in their desire to maintain power, while their opponents were eager to change it. However, further the defeat of the National Movement, its difficult survival, meant that the lesson of the 1990s was learned. Nobody is ready for bloody civic conflicts in Georgia. According to the author of the publication, it is the most positive result of the change of power.

In other aspects, the situation is not so optimistic. All through 2013 the current authorities stated that the evil former authorities prevented them from doing anything. And many citizens believed this sincerely.

2014 was a year of casting off illusions. Without Saakashvili, without the Nationals in local administrations and Tbilisi City Hall, only loyal politicians took positions in key state structures. However, there is no difference between 2013 and 2014.

The current authorities are weak. The best thing they can do is go with the flow, not trying to change the drawbacks of the past, the author thinks. According to him, launching new bureaucratic obstacles and visa regulations, which hurt the tourist sphere and the investment climate, was a mistake. Capital inflow to the country stopped, while the optimistic figures of the third quarter of 2014 on a foreign investment growth were supported by investments into projects which were started under Saakashvili – the Olympic village and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.

The author is sure that next year will see a big challenge for the ruling party. Georgian Dream has almost no time to prevent its falling in voters’ eyes. In 2016 the parliamentary elections will take place, and they don’t need a weak victory, as the coalition is unstable, and any doubts could lead to its dissolution.

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Today foreign vegetables and fruits are being actively displaced by local agricultural products, Dagestani Pravda reports. People who want to be involved in agriculture are numerous in villages of the republic. For example, businessmen and farmers in the Kayakent Region of the republic own 350 ha of gardens. Long before sanctions, residents of the region started growing their domestic fruits and vegetables actively and supplying food markets with them. Businessman Zaur Daudov from Usemikent built a greenhouse complex, providing more than 30 unemployed residents of the village with jobs and good salaries. Producers from the Sergokalinsk, Kasumkent, Magaramkent and other regions of the republic supply markets with their products. The state supports farmers, issuing subsidies to them for building gardens and greenhouses. At the moment at Dagestani markets apples and pears cost 40-50 rubles per kg.

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According to the Voice of Armenia, one of the major economic projects in the country – construction of the Tekhtut Copper Molybdenum Plant – was fulfilled in the Lori Region with financial support from Russia’s VTB Bank. The bank allocated $283 million for the construction, the general price of the project was $350 million. About 64 thousand tons of copper concentrate with 31 percent of copper and 760 ton of molybdenum concentrate with 50 percent of molybdenum will be produced by the plant annually. The enterprise will operate according to international ecological standards.

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Azerbaijani Izvestia reported that recently KamAZ and GyanjaAZ (the Gyanja Automobile Plant) signed an agreement on localization of truck assembly in Azerbaijan. Six models of KamAZ trucks will be produced at the GyanjaAZ from components which will be supplied from the plant in Naberezhnye Chelny and other 11 plants of the auto group. Volumes of production will be defined soon. The partners are studying the possibility of further localization of production of some components in Azerbaijan. Moreover, there will be an agreement on long-term cooperation for KamAZ trucks, which will be produced in Gyanja are going to be exported to third countries.

It is not the first example of localization of car assembly in Azerbaijan. In recent years the Gyanja Automobile Plant produced about 800 Belarusian tractors annually; and this is not the limit, considering plans on export of agricultural vehicles to neighboring countries. Capacities of the joint enterprise of GyanjaAZ requires providing not only the demands of Azerbaijan, but also the demands of neighboring countries – Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, later Iran and Turkey. Its full capacity is 2-3 thousand vehicles every year.

Cooperation of Azerbaijani vehicle producers with Belarusian and Russian partners will enable the country to provide internal demand for trucks, as well as diversifying and improving non-oil exports.

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Kabardino-Balkaria Pravda reported that the first high-tech cardiac vasculature stenting surgical operation was held in the Regional Vessel Center of the Republican Hospital. The Minister of Healthcare of the republic, Irma Shetova, congratulated the doctors on the success: “It is a breakthrough for our republic, and we plan to develop the direction actively, as heart diseases are the most frequent.” All necessary materials for such operations are purchased by the territorial fund of CHI. There are about 600 people who need such operations in the republic. “Previously we had to send patients to federal centers for surgery. Now we are able to help residents of the republic in our own hospitals. It will reduce the budget expenditures in the sphere and make high-tech healthcare more accessible,” the Minister said.