Georgian press review (February 5-11)

By Vestnik Kavkaza

The Georgian press pays attention to a statement by Khatuna Samnidze, the head of the Republican Party, which is included in the ruling coalition, about sharp confrontations inside Georgian Dream. 

“In regions, confrontations inside the coalition are growing. The Republicans accuse the majority deputies of Georgian Dream of threatening their members and offering them positions if they leave the party. In recent times the process has become serious,” Resonansi reports. Georgian Dream criticized Samnidze for the statement.

The business activity of David Kezerashvili is still in the focus of the press’s attention. Law-enforcement agencies of the republic are dealing with it. “The monopoly on external advertising is one of the suspicious cases which are connected with his name. Today the Outdoor.Ge Company is the exclusive holder of the right to place external advertising in Tbilisi till 2021. One of its owners was Favid Kezerashvili,” Kviris Palitra states. “After the exclusive rights were given to one company and all competitors were eliminated, a narrow circle of people had an opportunity to influence the advertising business on a wide scale and earn millions. Ahead of this, the company undertook strange maneuvers which were called “a public auction.” On February 6th 2009, the Tbilisi City Hall headed by Gigi Ugulava actually deprived the city council of the right to regulate external advertising. The auction took place on April 2nd; on April 3rd the City Hall gave the right to the winning companies – Outdoor.Ge and Magi Style Media, which also was associated with Outdoor.Ge. The companies were members of one holding. City Hall actually monopolized external advertising, like many other spheres,” the newspaper reports.

The investigation into Kezerashvili’s case is taking place in the context of discussions of reforming the Georgian Interior Ministry. Alia presents the view of the expert Vakhtang Khmaladze: “In leading countries of the world the heads of the security services and secret services are not members of the government, i.e. these are not political positions. Professionals are appointed to the positions. The secret services deal with espionage; security services deal with anti-constitutional crimes. They should not deal with common crimes and breaking public order. The Interior Ministry should deal with that. ”

“The model should correspond to the situation in Georgia. We should make the least risky decision. It is impossible to establish a perfect model. I can say the same thing about the appointment of the General Prosecutor: the structure should be controlled by the Ministry of Justice or any other agencies, i.e. parliamentary monitoring is needed. On the other hand, an institute of casting prosecutors should exist. They should be trained. When we speak about the independence of the prosecution, we mean that it should be free from political influence, but it shouldn’t be uncontrolled,” the expert notes.

The lari exchange rate is still one of the most discussed topics. The authorities of the country are being criticized often, including the head of the National Bank of Georgia, Georgi Kadagidze. “Experts blame Georgi Kadagidze for direct sabotage; they demand to raise the question of the government’s responsibility for idleness and inappropriate statements. The national currency is falling day by day, while the NBG is doing nothing. However, after the briefing of Kadagidze on January 30th, the lari strengthened a bit, but only for a few days. By the end of the week $1 cost 2 laris. Today $1=2.04 laris,” Resonansi reports.

“In 5 months the role of NBG in the process of lari devaluation was limited by two monetary interventions ($80 million) and two briefings. On January 30th Kadagidze stated that the lari exchange rate approached an alarming level, and food product prices would grow,” the newspaper reminds.

In the context of the worsening economic situation, the mass media publishes alarming reports from the Georgian provinces. “Results of the population census will be published by the National Statistics Service in a few months. According to the census which was held in 2002, there were only 3668 villages in the country; 164 of them were completely abandoned; in 152 villages 1-10 people lived; in 169 villages 11-25 people lived. Considering the data, today the number of abandoned villages may exceed 200. In the highlands, the near-border villages of Racha are being abandoned year by year. In the Oniyski region, where 20 thousand people used to live, only 8 thousand people live now. The main reason for this is a collapse of the economic and educational system,” Resonansi reports. A demographer Avtandil Sulaberidze thinks that the situation is a result of the thoughtless policy of the Georgian government.“The population cannot be ordered to stay where they don’t have food and water by declarations and laws. They expect millions of financial aid from the EU. If a law is adopted to grab money and spend nothing on the population, it shouldn’t be adopted at all,” the newspaper cites him.

There are problems in the sphere of culture as well. A row over the privatization of Georgia-Film has occurred. “Film directors state that the Ministry of Economy plans to sell the Georgia-Film Studio and has already announced a contest secretly from them and society. Moreover, the directors say that the Ministries don’t want to cooperate with them directly,” Resonansi reports.“Considering selling the film studio, members of the Supervisory Board held a press conference yesterday. Famous Georgian cinematographers were present there. Directors spoke about the expected threat which could occur after selling the film studio. The chairman of the Supervisory Board, Buba Khotivari, blamed the Minister of Economy, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, for the mess between cinematographers and noted that the Minister did it on purpose in order to blame the directors later. According to Eldar Shengelaya, it is important that the Minister of Culture has direct contacts with cinema activists, but he avoids meeting with them,” the newspaper reports. Both Ministers deny the accusations of the film directors.

The upcoming visit to the republic by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is also in the focus of the Georgian media. “It has already been confirmed that the first ally of Russia, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, will visit Georgia in April on an official visit. This will be his first visit to our country. The Belarusian media asks: what will Lukashenko bring from Tbilisi to his people? They hope for exports of agricultural vehicles to Georgia and extension of the outlet market. Moreover, the political scientist Roman Yakovlevsky thinks that the President of Belarus will try to make peace between Moscow and Tbilisi. According to him, it is not known whether the Georgians want Lukashenko’s mediation. The Foreign Ministry of Georgia is preparing for the visit intensively. The initial date of the visit is April 9th,” Alia reports. “Today there is information that he has contradictions with Putin, but in the end he will probably agree to be a mediator. He can benefit from the situation, i.e. he can show the West that he has friends who are not influenced by Russia. Georgia has economic ties with Belarus and it would be great if cooperation develops.”