By Vestnik Kavkaza
Ineffective economic policy by the authorities is still in the focus of the Georgian media. The government cannot stabilize the situation in the country.
Last week, ministers of the economic sector presented a report to parliament. However, their speech didn’t comfort anyone. “To be fair, they weren’t presenting a plan for overcoming the crisis. They spoke about separate measures which didn't have a complex vision. No breakthrough is possible due to these measures. I don’t think that if there are problems in other countries, then we should destroy our borders to attract tourists. This direction should be developed of course, but it cannot protect the economic security of the country. This is a mistake by Saakashvili, which is repeated by the current authorities. In Greece and Spain tourism is highly developed, but they couldn’t avoid a financial crisis. They are talking about ways which lead nowhere. I have said many times that competitive industries should be developed in the country. How can we speak about a sound economy if 20% of our exports are re-exports of cars, i.e. we sell cars which are produced in other countries; 9% are re-exports of nuts, and 7.5% are re-exports of wine. If we don’t start reforms and don’t change the structure, we have nothing to talk about. There will be time when the situation in other countries improves, but in our country it will stay the same,” Alia cites economist Demur Giorkhelidze.
At the same time, it is noted that an important role is played by the absence of coordination between the people who make decisions. “Economic issues touch on not only financiers and economists, but also globalization, which the President is responsible for. Wide-scale devaluation of the national currency could be a real threat for the state, as well as an absence of coordination between the President, the legislative and executive powers in decision-making. If the Premier, President and the chairman of the parliament ignore each other, just settling their personal conflicts, this is a problem for the state,” Kvirs Palitra presents a view by Josef Tsiskarishvili.
A row broke out in Zugdidi: a fight occurred during a protest demonstration by supporters of Georgian Dream; an MP from the UNM, Ardaky Minashvili, was beaten up. This provoked talk about the risk of destabilization in the country.
“In fact, there is no threat of destabilization in the country. Probably the National Movement wants this, but they have no resources – either foreign partners or internal supporters. If the National Movement manages to mobilize and take to the streets some people, it must rely on support from abroad. However, this is impossible at the moment, as the West, which is stuck in Ukraine, won’t open a new front in Georgia. The West is unprecedentedly indifferent today; so the UNM won’t get any support inside the country or abroad,” Rezonansi cites the co-chairman of Georgia's Institute of European Values, Khatuna Lagaidze.
At the same time, there are demands for the authorities to prevent such things in the future. “Speaking about the events in Zugdidi, I should say that the authorities are responsible for them. The authorities should do their best to prevent violence. Of course everybody has a right to express his view, but violence and fights are unacceptable. The authorities should stop such rows. I think the authorities should represent the law, rather than participants in a protest,” Rezonansi cites the leader of the Republican Party, David Zarubashvili.
The mass media reports on an initiative by a group of politicians to carry out lustration.
“Three non-parliamentary parties – Free Georgia, the Reformers, and the Christian-Democratic Movements – are trying to get the authorities cornered by their joint draft. ‘The Draft on Recognition of Lustration and Recognition of the Regime of the Georgian Authorities in 2004-2012 Criminal’ is the title of a draft which has been developed by them. In a month, the parties will present the draft to parliament. Now the potential law on lustration of the former authorities is a nice tool to provide lustration for the current authorities,” Alia reports. “The goal of the draft is to recognize the National Movement as a criminal regime and launch certain sanctions against officials of the time when the UNM ruled the country. Some of them have already switched to Georgian Dream, while others are staying in the National Movement and taking certain official positions,” the periodical cites Tengiz Omanidze, the political secretary of Free Georgia.
The press is also concerned about poor road and traffic conditions in the country.
“Since 2004, 2.608 billion laris have been spent on improving the road infrastructure. The largest sum of money will be spent in the sphere this year – 645 million laris. Expenditures on improvement of roads amount to 3.253 billion laris in 11 years. However, poor roads are still one of Georgia's main problems. Experts say that the country imports a lot of low-quality bitumen. Billions of laris are wasted. The majority of grants and loans which are taken by Georgia are spent on improving the road infrastructure,” the newspaper reports.
“From this point of view, there is real chaos. Nobody controls what and how it is imported. We sent letters to the Department of Roads, the Ministry, and various organizations. They should pay attention to the fact. Bitumen of low quality is sold half-price. Although even the embassy of Iran admits that the bitumen is poor, they say: try to prove it. I am not responsible for proving it,” the newspaper cites the head of the company of Fast Plus, Nazi Alasania.
Journalists pay attention to a conflict between residents of the village of Tabatskuri and an MP of Armenia, Vardan Ayvazyan.
“The population of Tabatskuri is going to law with an MP of Armenia, the former Minister of Environment of Armenia Vardan Ayvazyan. Local residents demand theat the court look at a license which was given to the company of the Armenian MP by the Ministry of Economy of Georgia illegal. According to the license, local residents are restricted in their rights to get fish from Lake Tabatskuri. They say that the only source of money in the village is fishing. In September 2012 Lake Tabatskuri was sold by the Ministry of Economy at public sales for 1832 laris. Only one company participated in the public sales – LLC Lakes, 90% of which belonged to Vardan Ayvazyan. According to the public registrar, the company was established a few days before the public sales – on August 30th,” Rezonansi reports.
“The conflict between Tabatskuri residents and MP Ayvazyan is confirmed by the head of Multinational Georgia, Arnold Stepanyan. According to him, the Lakes Company forbids local residents from fishinh; but Stepanyan notes that Ayvazyan owns 90% of the lake and this is his right. The head of Multinational Georgia thinks that the government should be involved in a settlement of the problem, so that the interests of the local population aren’t violated,” the article reads.
