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May 29 - June 4, 2015
WEEKLY
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Georgia Today 24 p., Travel Today 4 p.
ISSUE No.768
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.S.-Geor
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GIA’S
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2
NEWS
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
The EY
OF Ol
ympic Khidasheli Visits Geor
EYOF
Olympic
gian
Georgian
Flame 2015
Troops in Afghanistan
Ar
ri
ves in Geor
gia
Arri
riv
Georgia
By Nino Melikishvili
The Olympic flame for the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF)
was lit in the ancient Greek city of Athens and on 26th of May, (Georgian Independence Day) landed in Georgia’s seaside city Batumi ahead of the Tbilisi
2015 torch relay.
The design of the torch unites elements of the festival, as well as Georgian traditional components.
The flame was lit at a special ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in
Athens and handed to Lasha Shavdatuashvili, a Georgian sportsman who is
the official first torch bearer of the
EYOF 2015.
Many other torch bearers and Georgian athletes were the first to welcome
the Olympic flame to Georgia at a special ceremony which was held in Batumi
International Airport.
Later, Shavdatuashvili handed the
Olympic torch to Georgian tennis player
Mariam Bolkvadze.
“The flame arrived in Georgia! It’s
unprecedented! It’s great that flame will
be transported across other municipalities of Georgia. The infrastructure built
for the EYOF 2015 will, of course, stay
in Georgia, which means young people
will be able to further enhance their sporting success,” said Nona Gaprindashvili,
the sixth women’s world chess champion.
On May 28, the Olympic flame left
Batumi on its journey across 67 municipalities of Georgia before its intended
arrival in Tbilisi on July 14 ahead of the
international competition which will be
held from July 25 to August 2, 2015.
For EYOF 2015 (Tbilisi 2015), more
than 4000 youth athletes from 49 European countries will come to Georgia’s
capital to participate in nine sports: Judo,
tennis, artistic gymnastics, track cycling,
track and field athletics, swimming, volley ball and basketball.
HA
VE YOUR HAIR CUT AT OUR SAL
ON
HAVE
SALON
AND GET HAIR DIA
GNOSTIC AS A GIFT!
DIAGNOSTIC
Defence Minister of Georgia, Tina
Khidasheli is visiting Georgian soldiers
participating in NATO-led “Resolute
Support” mission in Afghanistan. Minister celebrated Georgia’s Independence
Day on May 26 with Georgian peacekeepers and held a ceremony on Bagram
Air Base in the province of Parvan.
The event was customarily opened
with the Georgian national anthem and
a minute of silence in commemoration
of the Georgian troops that have died in
ISAF mission. The ceremony was followed with the awarding ceremony, during which Khidasheli endowed medals
of “General Mazniashvili” and General
Kvinitadze” to Chief of GLT, Major
James Geiger and Sergeant Major Scott
Perry for their support in enhancing the
military cooperation between Georgia
and United States. Thirty Georgian
peacekeepers were also awarded with
certificates for their contribution in the
mission.
Khidasheli was also aired during the
oath taking ceremony of up to 200 hundred soldiers in Tbilisi, and congratulated Georgian soldiers on their decision
from Afghanistan.
“I am honored to congratulate Georgian soldiers from Afghanistan today,
from the place where we prove that
Georgia is fighting for global security
among other members of the civilized
world,” said Minister in a video aired at
the leading ceremonies held on Freedom
Square in Tbilisi.
885 of Georgian servicemen are deployed in Afghanistan in Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, which
makes Georgia the second largest troop
contributor to the peacekeeping operations in the region.
Georgian soldiers are deployed in
Kabul, Bagram Airfield as well as
Mazar-i- Sharif and are mainly concentrated on the duties of security and rapid
reaction force.
Nob
le P
ar
tner - U
.S
.-Geor
gia
Noble
Par
artner
U.S
.S.-Geor
.-Georgia
Str
ate
gic P
ar
tner
ship
Stra
tegic
Par
artner
tnership
By Zviad Adzinbaia
On May 11, the joint U.S.-Georgia
exercise Noble Partner - a demonstration of the two countries’ strategic relations - was launched at the Vaziani
training area.
Georgia is hosting the Noble Partner exercise for its first time, which
aims to increase the interoperability of
the Georgian military with the U.S.
units for participation in the NATO
Response Force (NRF). According to
official information, the military exercise provides an excellent opportunity
to enhance Georgian Armed Forces’
capability to contribute to NRF and to
deepen military cooperation between
the countries.
Nearly 600 Georgian and U.S. military personnel participated in the
trainings including Georgian Alpha of
12th Battalion of I Infantry Brigade, I
Mechanized Company of 42nd Battalion of IV Mechanized Brigade and
Military Police Platoon. The U.S. infantry combat vehicles “Bradley” and
several wheeled support vehicles were
engaged in the training.
“This is a confirmation of the relationship between the U.S. and Georgian
Armed Forces and the strategic relationship between our countries. EuroAtlantic cooperation between Georgia
and the United States today is stronger
than it has even been,” said Lieutenant
General Ben Hodges, U.S. Commanding General, Army Europe. He also
congratulated Georgia on its Independence Day of May 26 which involved
a visit from U.S. soldiers to the oathtaking event conducted by Georgian
soldiers.
“We and our partners’ close and
worthy cooperation reinforces the conviction that the implemented reforms
and contribution to international operations will be followed by logical continuation and Georgia will advance in
terms of NATO integration,” Tina
Khidasheli, Georgian Defense Minister commented at the closing ceremony
of Noble Partner.
“Joint exercises between the two
countries are an important step toward
strengthening multi-year military cooperation. These exercises were another
example of the fact that the Georgian
army was, is and will be a worthy and
loyal partner of global security, international peace and strategic friendship,” Khidasheli added.
Giorgi Margvelashvili, Georgian
President and the High Commander of
the Georgian Armed Forces at the closing ceremony of the training addressed
Georgian soldiers: “Remember that
your professionalism and enthusiasm
are a guarantee for peaceful existence
of our citizens”.
“These exercises will advance the
Georgian armed forces and the Georgian people’s purpose – to integrate
with NATO. I would like to thank all
the people who were involved at the
highest political and diplomatic levels
to ensure that this historic exercises
were held on the Georgian ground, but
the biggest contributors are the people
who wear uniforms today and serve
Georgia as well as global peace,”
Margvelashvili concluded.
Noble Partner ended successfully
May 25 and will be continued in the
future, as the United States has been
Georgia’s strategic partner through
much of its history.
4
ECONOMY
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
The ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI, www.iset-pi.ge) is an independent think-tank associated with the International School of Economics at TSU (ISET). Our blog carries economic analysis of current events and policies in Georgia and the South Caucasus region ranging from agriculture, to economic
growth, energy, labor markets and the nexus of economics, culture and religion. Thought-provoking and fun to read, our blog posts are written by international faculty teaching at ISET and recent graduates representing the new generation of Georgian, Azerbaijani and Armenian economists.
Georgia’s Under ground Economy
By Lasha Lanchava
Economic activities which are not
registered (and therefore not taxed) are
commonly called Shadow Economy or
Underground Economy. Are there shadowy corners in Georgia’s economy?
Not just corners!
According to Schneider, Buehn, and
Montenegro (“Shadow Economies All
over the World – New Estimates for 162
Countries from 1999 to 2007”, Policy
Research Working Paper 5356, The
World Bank 2010), based on estimates
for 2007, Georgia has by far the largest shadow economy (as a share of
GDP) among all surveyed 21 transition
countries. 62.1% of all economic activity in Georgia was taking place in
the underground! Places 20, 19, and 18
are taken by Ukraine, Moldova, and
Russia, with 46.8%, 44.3%, and 40.6%,
respectively.
But even in the global ranking of
151 countries, Georgia is only beaten
by Zimbabwe (62.7% shadow) and Bolivia (63.5% shadow). At the top of the
list, we find Switzerland and the United
States with 8.1% and 8.4% shadow, respectively, and among the OECD countries, a group of 25 high-income economies, the average is 16.6%. According
to Schneider et al., these numbers do
not primarily reflect genuinely criminal activities like drug dealing and
prostitution but mostly plain tax evasion.
The huge amount of shadow in
Georgia is puzzling, given that in in this
country one gets a receipt even for minor purchases (which is not the case,
for example, in Greece). Moreover,
Georgia received a lot of praise for its
efforts to fight corruption, and in particular for its reforms of the tax administration starting in 2005 (cf. “Fighting
Corruption in Public Services: Chronicling Georgia’s Reforms”, The World
Bank 2012). Since 2003 and 2007,
Georgia’s shadow economy has indeed
shrunk, but not by as much as one
would have expected. The shadow rates
were 65,9% (2003), 65,5% (2004),
65,1% (2005), 63.1% (2006), and
62.1% (2007). In 1999, at the pinnacle
of Shevardnadze’s rule, the number
stood at 68.3%, just 6 percentage points
away from the 2007 level. Unfortunately, data are not available for the
years after 2007, yet up to that point,
the size of the underground economy
remained surprisingly unaffected by the
long period of government’s massive
crackdown on corruption, which was
starting in 2003. Apparently, classical
corruption was effectively reduced, but
the shadow economy was not included
in this process.
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE
OF TAX EVASION
Kirchler, Hoelzl, and Wahl (“Enforced versus Voluntary Tax Compliance: The ‘Slippery Slope’ Framework”, Journal of Economic Psychology 29, 2008) identify two sources of
tax compliance: enforced and voluntary. Enforced tax compliance results
from the fact that tax evaders fear the
risk of being detected and punished.
Voluntary tax compliance is promoted
by the comprehension of citizens that
the government fulfills important functions which need to be funded by tax
payments.
As argued by Muehlbacher and
Kirchler (“Tax Compliance by Trust
and Power of Authorities”, International Economic Journal 24, 2010),
neither power nor trust alone can lead
to the best outcome. What is called for
is a balanced mix of trust and power:
if tax authorities are absolutely powerful but the government lacks trustworthiness, the economy will slide
down the slippery slope into shadow.
Yet the same happens if the government is transparent, fair, enjoys a high
degree of legitimacy etc. but has a dysfunctional revenue service. The diagram illustrates this idea.
The argument that voluntary compliance is essential at first sight seems
to be somewhat “uneconomic”, as it is
not based on extrinsic incentives but intrinsic motivation. It is part, however,
of mainstream thinking in the economics of crime and can be applied to almost all kinds of transgressions. The
most effective police cannot prevent
situations where the probability to be
sanctioned for a crime is low, e.g. if a
The “Slippery Slope” framework according to Kirchler, Hoelzl and Wahl (2008). Source:
Erich Kirchler
perpetrator encounters a defenseless
victim at a lonesome place. Everybody
relies to a considerable extent on the
decency of the people one interacts
with, and if economic agents would
cheat and deceive each other in all situations where this is possible, inspection
costs would skyrocket and economic
activity would be heavily impaired.
VOLUNTARY
COMPLIANCE IS KEY
According to the Caucasus Barometer of the CRRC, the percentage of
Georgians who express full trust in the
“executive government (prime minister and ministers)”, oscillates between
30% and 40% in the last years. For
comparison: in Austria, Czech Republic, and Great Britain, the trust towards
tax authorities stood at 89%, 90% and
91%, respectively, while the size of the
shadow economies averaged at 16% in
these three countries (Muehlbacher,
Kirchler and Schwarzenberger: “Voluntary versus enforced tax compliance:
empirical evidence for the ‘slippery
slope’ framework”, European Journal
of Law and Economics 32, 2011).
Hence, despite fundamental reforms,
the level of trust, destroyed in the postSoviet turmoil and the Shevardnadze
10 Galaktion Street
era, was not yet restored.
The difficulty for Georgia is that according to conventional economic wisdom, many issues are already handled
in an almost ideal way. Thus, there is
no obvious way to approach the problem. The Georgian 20% flat tax is extremely simple and transparent. Public
spending, as a percentage of GDP,
amounts to 31.8% — a very moderate
number, compared to 41.6% in the
United States, 48.5% in the United
Kingdom, 56.1% in France, and 57.6%
in Denmark (data from the 2014 Index
of Economic Freedom of the Heritage
Foundation). In most countries, special
interest groups have their hands in the
honey pots of the government, financing all kinds of activities with questionable benefits for the general public. For
example, 3.3 percentage points of the
government expenditures of the USA,
560 billion dollars, are paid on military
expenditures, largely pocketed by the
US weapons industry. Compared with
other governments, the Georgian public sector can be considered to be parsimonious and slim.
This is not to say that things cannot
be improved. Widespread nepotism is
a huge problem. People find it outrageous if their tax money, for which they
have worked hard, is used to provide
jobs to relatives of government officials. And the snobbish cars of many
government representatives, sometimes
even escorted by police, evoke the impression that politicians consider their
offices at least partly as opportunities
to appropriate benefits to themselves.
To gain legitimacy (and improve tax
morals), Georgian politicians should
follow the examples of European politicians: in Amsterdam, the prime minister of a country with 17 million citizens and a GDP of almost 800 billion
was coming to his office by bicycle, and
in Berlin one could see ministers go
around by metro.
The threat of Islamic terrorism and
the need for bodyguards has made this
more difficult for prominent politicians,
but ordinary members of parliament are
still moving around like all other citizens, often using public transport. In
Georgia, on the other hand, even mediocre officeholders feel entitled to special privileges in the streets of Tbilisi.
Such attitudes undermine beliefs
among citizens that their tax payments
are used reasonably.
Transparency is achieved to a considerable degree in Georgia. Transparency International, which considers
Georgia’s E-procurement platform to
be “one of the most transparent in the
world”, maintains a database of government tenders since 2010, allowing
for comprehensive analyses of where
the money of the taxpayers went
(www.tendermonitor.ge).
Yet all of this works slowly. It is a
well-known finding in the debate about
so-called “bridging social capital” that
trust in institutions, once it is destroyed,
takes long time to be rebuilt. Shevardnadze’s kleptocracy has spoiled the
attitudes of Georgians towards their
government, and they cannot be restored within a few years.
There are things to be done, however, to improve the tax morals within
a population, relating to recent insights
from behavioral economics and the ingenious ideas about nudging by Thaler
and Sunstein. This, however, we will
discuss in the next issue of Georgia
Today.
Tel: (995 32) 2 45 08 08
E-mail: [email protected]
6
POLITICS
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
Speculation of UNM Disunity
as Four Opposition MPs Resign
Four opposition MPs have left their
official positions according to
InterPressNews which reported that
Zurab Japaridze, the Executive Chairman of the UNM along with Goga
Khachidze, Giorgi Meladze and Pavle
Kublashvili had all vacated their positions.
“The manner and timing of leaving the party has made many people
upset, but we chose neither. Rumors
were spread about us allegedly being
against leaving. We are very sorry for
not having a chance to inform those
dear to us in advance,” said Japaridze.
“Apparently, the former members
of the National Movement see a real
threat of openly pro-Russian forces
coming to power because of the forthcoming parliamentary elections. The
National Movement has passed two
significant tests by peacefully handing over the government to the political force that won the elections and
managed to survive as a political
force,” the statement reads.
“It is important for a political force
to survive, but a political movement
needs to be absolutely renewed for victory and gaining people’s confidence
again. The practice of taking responsibility for failure and renewal of political movements has been established
in democratic countries. UNM has
failed in the third test, disappointing
many of the country’s citizens,” the
statement continued.
Apparently, the MPs’ motivation to
depart was not related to expectations
of receiving a parliamentary mandate
in the 2016 elections. “Moreover, none
of my colleagues, who have departed
from the UNM plan to fight for the
mandate, as they believe our society
wants novelties,” added Japaridze.
“We plan to fight for the European,
democratic future of united Georgia,
to get rid of the oligarch, who grinds
the economic system to a halt, facilitates poverty and collapsed state institutions. We understand the people’s
worry about economic problems and
plan to create a new political center,
attracting professionals to engage in
the political process,” continues the
statement.
“The UNM is dissolving,” said PM
Gharibashvili, in response to the opposition developments. “It is surprising that the party has not fallen apart
completely yet. They are trying to
masquerade as if they were a team
again, but the party is dissolving as
three more teams emerge from within
it,” Gharibashvili stated.
The departed members of UNM
have been said to be moving to Iveria,
a social movement which is mainly
composed of experienced technocrats
from the previous government. Gregory Vashadze, one of the founders of
Iveria commented that no political or
other sort of official communication
has been held between Iveria and the
four MP’s. “I do not rule out cooperation with all the western forces in the
country,” said Vashadze, the ex-Foreign Minister of Georgia. More information about the intentions of the MPs
is expected to be known in the near
future.
OP-ED
Choosing Sides: More Changes
in the Georgian Par liament
By Zaza Jgharkava
Despite the ‘dead season’ in Parliament, the factions have declared the
transfer season open. Following on
from the shifts in the governmental
coalition, the rotation process now appears to have started in the opposition
as well with four MPs leaving the
United National Movement (UNM) this
week. After Zurab Japaridze, Pavle
stands behind the four recent leavers
and plans on starting his own independent political game.
Editor of newspaper “Kronika+”
Eliso Kiladze claims that Vano Merabishvili’s team needs MPs in Parliament
who will serve their interests: “MP
Kakha Okriashvili and ex-governor
Tsezar Chocheli plan to establish a new
political party. These people are associated with UNM member and Secre-
“...in this regard, it is clear that the UNM cannot
become a member of the pro-western coalition
despite their distinct pro-western position, as
neither Alasania nor the Republicans will want
to make a coalition with them- they (UNM) are
surrounded by a stigma that would ruin any
party.” - Khatuna Lagazidze, Political Scientist.
Kublashvili, Giorgi Meladze and Goga
Khachidze withdrew from the UNM, a
summer transfer was announced on two
MP votes in Parliament. This is the
number of votes that the four MPs need
in order to form a new faction in Parliament and, as they say, attack the
Georgian Dream majority with new
vigor.
Unlike sports, hunting for ‘stars’ is
slightly different in the Georgian Parliament. There, moving from one team
to another does not happen at once and
mostly depends on who has what influence on this or that political process.
As the Georgian media was fast to
spread: former Interior Minister Vano
Merabishvili, currently imprisoned,
tary General of the party, Vano
Merabishvili. I do not exclude that the
four MPs who left the UNM party are
cooperating with the new party that is
associated with Merabishvili,” Kiladze
said.
The four ex-UNM MPs have not
hidden the fact that they plan to form a
new party and do not intend to cooperate with other parties. However, the
first thing they need to do is to convince two more MPs to join them in
order to form a new faction. Former
UNM MP Goga Khachidze says that
the four have already selected candidates and will soon make those names
public. “We will form a faction. We will
see who joins us; we cannot reveal it
now. Of course, we are in consultation
with the relevant groups of MPs. There
are thick dividing lines related to the
country’s foreign policy orientation.
This is a natural political process. When
you have a faction, there are more opportunities in parliamentary work as
well, generally, in terms of the tribune.
It is essential that when you are a politician, you have to make sure to expand
and create certain opportunities,”
Khachidze said.
The chairman of the United National
Movement, as of Georgia Today going
to print, had not yet responded to the
latest events; though other ‘faces’ of the
UNM had commented on the decision
of the four leavers. If we judge from
the photos of the former president taken
in Warsaw at the UEFA finals posted
on social networks, there is an impression that Saakashvili where these wandering free agents will end up, unlike
other ‘stars’ of UNM who call the withdrawal of the four from the party irresponsible and infantile. Due to the situation, the unusual silence of Saakashvili
can be even justified and, as MP
Nadirashvili said, the final result of this
ado might be instead the smiling faces
of Prime Minister Garibashvili’s government.
This way or that, following the withdrawal of the four from the UNM party,
another reality is created in the oppositional wing of the parliament. And
this will create a precondition for establishing a large pro-western coalition
within Parliament.
Political scientist Khatuna Lagazidze discussed the possible reasons of
the withdrawal of the four former UNM
members from the party in an interview
with the newspaper “Rezonansi” during which she stated that the MPs had
expressed the desire to join a pro-west-
ern coalition to run in the next parliamentary elections. “I think preparations
for creating a pro-western center for the
upcoming parliamentary elections are
underway. In this regard, it is clear that
the United National Movement cannot
become a member of the pro-western
coalition despite their distinct pro-western position, as neither Alasania nor the
Republicans will want to make a coalition with them- they (UNM) are surrounded by a stigma that would ruin
any party,” Lagazidze said.
It is truly hard to imagine leaving
one pro-western party and joining another and fighting for pro-western values, especially when you hold the position of the Executive Secretary within
that party. The hot topic is Zurab
Japaridze, who was considered one of
the most promising UNM politicians,
based on all public opinion polls.
The demarche of the four, one and
a half years before the elections, has
weakened the UNM but has not
strengthened either Burjanadze or
Ivanishvili as it will confirm the idea
to the majority of Georgian voters that
the government can do nothing to the
UNM – at the Georgian Dream “there
is a disorder and they can do nothing”.
This is why Misha [Saakashvili] and
the United National Movement at least
proved to everyone, starting from the
‘unforgettable revolution,’ that they
know what they want!
8
POLITICS
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
Riga Summit Leaves Georgia
without EU Visa-Free Regime
By Zviad Adzinbaia
The Eastern Partnership Summit held
on May 21-22 in Riga published its final declaration without granting Georgia
a visa-free regime with the European
Union. The document does not contain
any specific future dates for the removal of visa requirements for Georgian citizens with the EU area, simply saying
that a decision will be made after the
European Commission prepares a report
on implementation of the visa liberalisation action plan by the end of the year.
“The summit participants warmly
welcome the progress made by Georgia
and Ukraine respectively towards implementation of their Visa Liberalisation Action Plans as described in the
latest Progress Reports by the European Commission. They look forward
to the completion of the implementation of the 2nd phase of Georgia and
Ukraine’s Action Plans once all benchmarks are fulfilled through the implementation of all required reforms,” the
declaration reads.
The document also highlights that the
fulfillment of all standards would allow
the VLAP process to be concluded and
the Commission to propose to the European Parliament and to the Council to
exempt Ukrainian and Georgian citizens
respectively from the visa requirements.
The document, recalling the Cease-
fire Agreement signed on 12 August 2008
and the breached principles by Russia,
omits the so-called agreement signed by
Russia with Georgia’s occupied regions
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In an
abstract way, the declaration reads: “the
acts against Ukraine and the events in
Georgia since 2014 have shown that the
fundamental principles of sovereignty
and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders cannot be
taken for granted in the 21st century on
the European continent.”
“In our case, both in private and public conversations, it was reaffirmed that
Georgia made very significant progress,”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and
the French President Francois Hollande
noted at bilateral meetings with Irakli
Garibashvili, Georgian PM. Garibashvili himself assesses the developments
as a positive political message from the
EU leadership.
Georgia Today’s Zviad Adzinbaia:
The Eastern Partnership Summit
2015 was widely expected to show Russia’s Putin that Europe is no longer enlarging its borders eastward as it did in
2004 when it took 10 European states
from Russia’s sphere of influence, including the Baltics. Georgian experts
assume that the Georgian government
did not do enough to make a significant
move in this process. Moreover, the gov-
ernment’s internationally passive stance
is named by local analysts as one of the
explanations why support for the Georgian Dream (GD) is diminishing.
GD, in terms of Georgia’s security,
has removed the country from almost
all international radars. Indeed, when
talking about diverse reforms where
Ukraine languishes behind Georgia, the
European structures have many times
mentioned the two countries together.
In summation, the only way the Geor-
gian government can progress here is
by successfully implementing the requirements of the Association Agreement, by advancing economically and
seeking guarantees for the country’s
security.
NGO WATCH
World Vision Runs Youth
Empowerment Programs in Georgia
bal interests,” stated Adulashvili.
World Vision Georgia’s Kakheti Area
Development Program also established
a school-based radio system in Shashan
community. The idea, which will enable
the needs of our youth,” stated Shakulashvili.
The Mayor’s Office of Tbilisi Public
Relations Manager Dodo Tchumburidze
said that government understands the
“With such a project our country will raise a much more
socialised new generation. The participation of young
people in social events gives them skills which they will
later use for the development of our country.” - Lasha
Shakulashvili, United Nations Youth Ambassador.
By Tatia Megeneishvili
World Vision works with young people in communities to increase their confidence and civic engagement.
According to World Vision Georgia Director Eka Zhvania, by empowering young
people we are making communities stronger and more likely to thrive in the future.
“I am very proud when I see how
our project changes children. I am proud
when I see their attitude to the working
process. Beside our efforts for youth
empowerment, the government’s involvement in our activities is also high.
We are sure that informal education is
very important. We believe that the only
real resource that we have is a human
resource and we must try hard to have
high quality resources,” stated Zhvania.
Today, there are 122 youth clubs in
schools throughout Kakheti, Imereti and
Samtskhe Javakheti regions, with over
1600 participants, most of who are between 13 and 17 years old.
The main activities of World Vision’s
youth clubs are: promoting non-formal
education for youth, supporting youth
involvement in civic engagement through
developing school-based youth work,
and teaching youth to advocate at local
and national level for better changes.
The latest World Vision project was
launched in the Kakheti area, with the
development of a public school library
in Vanta community. The idea of open-
ing the library was initiated by Vanta’s
school-based club members and was
funded by World Vision Georgia as a part
of the small grants competition. Publishing house Radarami generously donated books to the library.
Representative of Radarami, Mariam Aduashvili, said that they mainly
publish cognitive books.
“Reading is very important. Children
should read literature books, but we
think that it is important for young people to read some cognitive books, too.
They need basic knowledge about the
world. That’s why all the books we gifted to the World Vision for Youth Empowerment Program are maximally informative, and were chosen due to glo-
youth to inform fellow students about
important news, success stories and
upcoming events, was presented by the
Shashiani school-based youth club and
was funded by World Vision Georgia as
a part of the small grants competition.
United Nations Youth Ambassador
Lasha Shakulashvili said that Youth
Empowerment Program is very important for Georgian children.
“With such a project our country will
raise a much more socialised new generation. The participation of young people in social events gives them skills
which they will later use for the development of our country. I myself am trying my best and informing the EU about
importance of informal education and
they plan to co-work with World Vision
regarding this issue.
Ani Esadze from public school 160
said that she learned a lot after including
in program.
“At first I thought that it would ordinary program. However, I can say that
it is one of the best projects I have ever
take part in. They changed my attitude
toward many things. Now I believe that
if I try hard I can achieve anything,” stated Esadze.
World Vision first began forming
youth clubs in Georgia in 2010 and for
this period they have worked with more
than 3000 young people.
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10
SOCIETY
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
On Our Independence Day
A letter of congratulations from Redjeb Jordania, the son of Noe Jordania,
Head of State of the Georgian Democratic Republic, 1918-1933.
Fellow Georgians:
Ninety-seven years ago on May 26,
1918 my father Noe Jordania proclaimed
Georgian independence from the Hall of
Mirrors, of what was then the Vorontsov Palace in Tbilisi . I am now 93 years
old, and although I am unable to be physically in Georgia, I would like to share
with all of you the pride and joy of our
national Independence Day.
When I was growing up in Paris in
the 1920s, the 26 of May was the most
important day of the year for me and
my little Georgian friends. That was the
day when all exiled Georgians, regardless of party, religion, sex or opinion
would get together in celebration, sorrow, and remembrance. And even though
I was very small, I remember it as a solemn occasion, with our revered flag –
the three-colored one – in a prominent
position together with our elegant coat
of arms, unencumbered by gratuitous
elements. And of course we all sang our
national anthem with fervor, Dideba,
with its Georgian sounding harmonies.
That tradition went on during the long
years of Soviet occupation. And then, in
1990, the first year I could come to Georgia, I had the joy of seeing our flag, symbol, and national hymn revived after these
70 years, with our flag soon to be hoisted on all public buildings, displacing the
hated Soviet one.
Today we are once again celebrating
the anniversary of our declaration of independence. It is without doubt the most
important date of the 20th century, and
I would venture to say the most important date in 700 years, yes, ever since
the Mongols invaded Georgia in 1238.
Consider:
For the very first time in centuries, in
1918 Georgia became truly united in a
single modern state with an enlightened
government led by President Noe Jordania. The road to unity was long and difficult. Georgians have a strong culture, but
never had a true sense of nationality – a
concept nonexistent in medieval times,
where feudal allegiance was the norm. In
fact, up until the 1805 takeover by Russia, Georgia was divided in principalities
and kingdoms, such as Guria, Samegrelo,
Imereti. It took the French and the American revolutions to bring to the fore the
powerful feeling of belonging to one nation, that irresistible force which swept
19th century Europe and would eventually create our modern world.
But Georgia did not participate in
that powerful current. As we know,
Georgia was occupied and incorporated
in the autocratic tsarist empire just about
when nationalism started spreading in
Western Europe, and thus that idea was
prevented from taking hold in our country. As a result, up to the end of the 19th
century the Georgian sense of belonging
extended only to his family, his village,
at most his province. It took decades of
education and hard work by the great
Georgian patriots, an overwhelming
number of whom were social-democrats
operating clandestinely, to bring about
the change of attitude towards tsarism
and the idea of nationality that resulted
in a truly unified republic in 1918.
Despite the enormous difficulties of
the period, the Georgian Democratic
Republic (or First Republic, as commonly called today) proved very successful,
so much so that it took the Soviet and
Turkish invasion of 1921 to bring it to
an end. (The GDR lived on de jure until
1933 and de facto to 1953 and in memorium in Leuville, France). Yet its relatively short existence was of the utmost
importance since all the major institutions that make our modern Georgia were
established in that period.
I would also like to remind everybody that the GDR government was
supported by practically all Georgians
from all social classes. The result was
that, contrary to what happened after
Photo taken in 2009 in Leuville - Babu Redjeb and Nicholas toasting Georgia's
Independence
1991, in 1918 there was no destructive
civil war of fratricide and pillage of national assets. Led by idealistic patriots,
Georgia remained whole, including Abkhazia and the so-called South Ossetia,
and of course Adjara.
All Western historians recognize the
great accomplishments of the first republic and its selfless leaders, yet with
the exception of the town of Lanshkhuti, birth place of Noe Jordania, and a
small section of the Mtqvari embank-
ment in Tbilisi, there is no public recognition in Georgia. It remains difficult to
understand why, 24 years after Georgia
again became independent, as Professor
Stephen Jones earlier remarked, that the
successive Georgian governments have
done practically nothing to recognize
publicly the enormous debt that our
country owes to all those, from all political parties, who worked so long and
sacrificed their lives to awaken the Georgian national spirit, conquer freedom, and
in 1918 proclaim a sovereign, unified
Georgia for the first time in centuries.
But things are changing. For the first
time in centuries there is now a whole generation of young Georgians who have never known the soviets, or, for that matter,
any foreign occupation! Many are getting
to know and appreciate the first republic,
as evidenced by the private initiave to assemble this May 26 at 5.20 p.m. in the
garden of the former Vorontsov palace, at
the exact time and place where independence was declared. It certainly looks like
the negative Bolshevik propaganda that
left a profound imprint on three generations is finally on the wane.
Today I’d simply like to remember a
few names: Noe Jordania, Noé Khomeriki, Evgeni Gueguetchkori, Grigol Uratadze, Noé Ramishvili, Akaki Chkhengueli. And we should not forget our valiant national guard under the leadership
of Valiki Jugeli, as well as the soldiers
and officers who rallied to our first republic and valiantly struggled for the
preservation of its freedom against insuperable odds.
Let us also remember that when the
Red Army had almost conquered Georgia, the Turks took advantage of the situation to invade Adjara and occupy Batumi. That’s when, under direct orders
from the government, and in a quixotic
gesture, the remains of the Georgian
army led by General Mamradze attacked
and chased them back to Turkey before
going themselves into exile. Without
them, it is most probable that Adjara
would today be Turkish.
As all reputable historians recognize,
today’s Georgia is very much a continuation of the 1918 republic. We are confident that free Georgia will be around
forever!
Gaomarjos Sakhartvelo!
Redjeb Jordania
May 26, 2015
New York
Independence Day a Symbol of Georgia’s Statehood
By Zviad Adzinbaia
“Compatriots, I congratulate you on
our Independence Day,” said Giorgi
Margvelashvili, the Georgian President,
addressing a large audience gathered on
Freedom Square in Tbilisi to celebrate
Independence Day on May 26.
“We pay our respect to those who
made our freedom and independence a
reality through their efforts and with
their lives. At the same time, we are cel-
ebrating our future victories. Happy Independence Day. God bless Georgia,”
the President stated.
The day’s official celebrations did not
include a military parade, which had
been removed from the schedule by the
Georgian Dream government to avoid
potentially irritating Russia. However,
the events on Rustaveli Avenue did include presentations of military hardware
including exotic air maneuvers and a ceremony of Georgian soldiers taking an
oath. Moreover, new military achieve-
ments and improvements were exhibited for citizens to see.
Barack Obama, President of the US,
congratulated PM Irakli Gharibashvili on
the Independence Day of Georgia.
“Dear Prime Minister, I would like to
congratulate you and all Georgian people on May 26 - Independence Day of
Georgia,” the letter reads.
“There is firm, active and strategic
partnership between our countries. The
United States was proud to support
Georgia last year, when local elections
were held, the Association Agreement
was signed and NATO’s substantial
package was given to Georgia. Today,
we support Georgia’s democratic and
economic development, which is very
significant in terms of providing EuroAtlantic integration and new trade and
investment possibilities,” the President
wrote.
President Obama also emphasized
Georgia’s commitment and contribution
will develop, including that of our European path.”
On a highly symbolic day for Georgia’s statehood, the national flags of
Lithuania and Georgia were displayed
on Cathedral Square in Vilnius. Georgian citizens perceived the message by
the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite as a mark of the unity and friendship between the two countries.
“We pay our respect to those who made our
freedom and independence a reality through
their efforts and with their lives. At the same
time, we are celebrating our future victories.” President Margvelashvili.
to safeguarding global security and reaffirmed US support toward Georgia’s
sovereignty, territorial integrity and its
European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
Along with other international leaders, Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian
President, also congratulated his Georgian counterpart Margvelashvili on Georgia’s Independence Day: “I congratulate
you on this national holiday on behalf
of the Ukrainian people. Implementation of democratic and structural reforms
became the main contributing factor for
achieving authority at the international
level. I am confident that our relationship, based on bilateral respect and trust
Summary by Georgia Today’s Zviad
Adzinbaia:
Since Georgia’s first republic of 1918,
the country has cherished its freedom
and sovereignty, either side of the 70year Soviet occupation, which seriously stunted Georgia’s free movement toward its natural family, Europe. More
than two decades have passed after Georgia won its independence from the Soviet remnants of 1990s, as it has opted for
the West instead. On the Independence
Day, Georgia celebrates its free will to
join the EU and NATO, the organizations offering the security and economic
prosperity of Europe and beyond.
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
What Does Your
Fave Food Say
About Your
Fashion Style?
P.12
Business
Georgian Government
Signs Deal with World Bank
Incorrect Information is circulating Georgia on
the employment opportunities in Swiss Agriculture Sector Recently, on some Georgian media
portals and social networks it was mentioned that
Switzerland is actively recruiting personnel for the
Swiss agricultural sector. This information is in-
the framework of the deal.
“The Agreement between the World Bank and
Georgia will encourage further acceleration of the
reforms in private and public sectors in our country. Specifically, the agreement concentrate on the
priority issues of public finance governance, health
protection, bond market development and improvement of buying system to name few,” noted Khaduri following the signing ceremony.
The Minister also emphasized the significance
of the World Bank’s support in upholding the reforms in Georgia, and expressed his readiness to
continue further collaboration.
The agreement is a part of a socio-economic development strategy of Georgia and coincides with
the 2014-2017 cooperation strategy established between Georgia and the World Bank.
TBC Bank iPad Bank Awarded at the
Worldwide Marketing Competition
TBC Bank iPad Bank has won the Award of Distinction in mobile apps at international marketing
competition “Communicator”.
TBC Bank is the first bank in Georgia to win a
prestigious award of “Communicator” for creating
a technological product. ‘Communicator” is a leading international award, founded two decades ago,
which gives awards to companies, functioning in
many countries of the world, for the best achievements in marketing and communications.
More than 6000 companies participate in the competition annually and try to win in various categories, including: audio, video, print, integrated companies, marketing efficiency, online video, web sites,
online advertising, and mobile applications.
The criteria for selecting the winning companies is the scale of impact the marketing company
or product has on people and customers. According to the organizers of ‘Communicator,” the Award
of Distinction is given to those companies whose
projects exceed industry standards in quality and
achievement.
All winners of The Communicator Awards are
hand-selected by AIVA (Academy of Interaction &
Visual Arts), which involves professionals employed
in communications and marketing industries. The jury
is comprised of the representatives of such companies as Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee
Lauder, MTV Networks, Sotheby’s Institute of Art,
Time, Victoria’s Secret, Wired, and Yahoo!
“We are proud to be the winners of such a prestigious award. Especially as this prize is given for
such a modern technological product as the TBC
Bank iPad Bank. This makes us sure that we are
following the new trends in technological development, and creating products which are tailored
to the customer of the 21st century,” said Vakhtang
Butskhrikidze, TBC Bank CEO.
P.13
Incorrect Information
Circulating on Employment
Opportunities in Switzerland
From the Swiss Embassy:
On May 22, the Ministry of Finance of Georgia,
Nodar Khaduri and World Bank Regional Director for
the South Caucasus, Henry Kerali signed an agreement
on mutual cooperation between the parties. According
to the document, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will provide the Georgian government with a loan amounting to $120 million, to encourage the Programmatic Private Sector Competitiveness Development Policy and Software Development
Policy of Georgia’s Inclusive Growth.
The Ministry of Finance of Georgia notes that
the recent agreement with the World Bank will also
involve establishment of the Investors Council to
promote better coordination between the business
sector and government. Negotiations on developing laws with regards to capital market and deposit
insurance are also planned to be discussed within
Do You Really
Need a
Smartwatch?
correct. The actual situation is as follows: the
Swiss Farmers Union and the State Secretariat for
Migration are carrying out a limited pilot project
in order to study whether persons with an already
existing refugee status can be employed in the
Swiss agricultural sector. For Georgian citizens,
nothing changes with regard to entry and working regulations in Switzerland.
12
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
BUSINESS
What Does Your Fave Food Say
About Your Fashion Style?
Loads of articles draw links
between your favourite food
and your personality. But have
you ever considered how the
food you eat relates to your
fashion style? The food delivery service foodpanda take a
stab at defining what you wear
by what you eat.
1. Fast Food
Admit it - fast food is comfort food. And just like this
quick and convenient category
of grub, you like things simple
and snappy. Your key consideration when you reluctantly
open your wardrobe each morning is how to keep things as
comfy as possible. You embrace your many loose, oversize shirts and relish throwing
them over your softest jeans...to
be paired with sneakers or flats,
of course.
Your style: Conveniently casual
2. Chicken Rice
Few meals are as starkly simple yet as tasty as chicken rice,
that Singaporean (sorry,
Malaysian) dish of freshly
blanched chook served with fragrant rice. Similarly, your ensembles are sleek yet stylish.
Your solution to spicing each one
up? Adding a punchy statement
accessory or two in place of chilli
and dark soy sauce.
Your style: Minimalist
chic(k)
3. All-day Breakfast
You love checking out new
cafes and get ideas on where to
go from foodies on Instagram.
Which is much like how you
dress yourself - by flipping
through magazines and scrolling
through fashion influencers’
posts for style inspiration. Your
fave pieces right now are culottes, cropped tops, cutesy bold
prints and denim, and you fit
right in with the cool young
crowd.
Your style: Trend follower
4. Khinkali
Hip new restaurants rarely get
a dime from you. You much prefer taking a table at your nearest
homey restaurant and chowing
down on straightforward faves
from the Georgian national cuisine. “Can’t go wrong with that”
is your mantra - and it funnels
down to your wardrobe that’s
filled with reliable go-tos that
you’ve had for yonks. Some call
you boring, but you’re always
quick to respond with - say it
now - ”can’t go wrong with
that”.
Your style: Classic
foodpanda together with its
affiliated brands hellofood and
Delivery Club, is the leading
global online food delivery marketplace, active in 38 countries
on five continents. The company enables restaurants to become visible in the online and
mobile world and provides them
with a constantly evolving online technology. For consumers,
foodpanda/hellofood offer the
convenience to order food online and the widest gastronomic range, from which they can
choose their favorite meal on the
web or via the app. foodpanda
operates in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore,
Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan,
Azerbaijan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Russia, Poland,
Ukraine, Hungary, Romania,
Bulgaria, Georgia and Serbia.
hellofood operates in Brazil,
Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,
Lebanon, Qatar, Egypt, Nigeria,
Morocco, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Algeria. Delivery Club operates in Russia.
foodpanda is a consumeroriented company. Using contemporary technological means
like mobile applications, it
makes food ordering much
more simple and fun, ensuring
user comfort. Over 50 restaurants in Tbilisi, Mtskheta and
Rustavi are ready to deliver
food to your doorstep when you
order froom foodpanda’s website (www.foodpanda.ge) or its
mobile application available
for free on iOS, Android and
Windows Mobile.
http://www.foodpanda.ge
Hotel
Sympatia
4, V. Daraselia Str.
Tbilisi, Georgia
Hotel’s network
“Sympatia”
Tel: (995 32) 2 99 55 88, 2 37 05 90
Tel./Fax: (995 32) 2 37 62 63
www.sympatia.ge
E-mail: [email protected]
Car Rent
Tel: 599 16 16 70
from 35 euro
Nissan pathfinder –
2004, 4X4, AT
per day
Tours to all directions of Georgia
(with driver and
Guide) for 4 person from 40 euro.
Forest for Life
On 28 May 2015, the Government of Georgia, Government of Finland and United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will present
the results of a post-war assistance in Borjomi Gorge.
Gigla Agulashvili, Minister
of Environment and Natural
Resources Protection of Georgia; Christer Gustaf Michelsson, Ambassador of Finland to
Georgia; and Shombi Sharp,
Deputy Head of UNDP in
Georgia, will visit the village
Daba where the works are ongoing to restore the forest burnt
down in the armed conflict of
2008.
Up to 80 hectares of forest
have been restored and over
120 thousand seedlings of oak,
pine and fir-trees have been
planted since 2012. 60 hectares
of those have been restored
with assistance from the Government of Finland and UNDP,
and 20 hectares – with assistance from the Government of
Austria.
More than 1 million Euro
programme also supported agriculture, tourism and environmental education in the region
to promote economy and assist
local residents. The agriculture
extension centre, vet centre and
lab were opened in Tsaghveri to
introduce eco-villages and new
farming technologies. More than
700 school children from Borjomi, Tsaghveri and Daba engaged in an informal environmental education through summer camps and youth eco-clubs.
The improved touristic infrastruc-
ture – rehabilitated Tsaghveri
Park, new hiking trails and active
information campaign, attracted
new tourists to the region.
Wildfire in August 2008 totally or partially destroyed
950 hectares of forest. This damage heavily affected the unique
ecosystem of the Borjomi Gorge
as well as the livelihoods of local villages. The joint initiative
of the Government of Georgia,
Government of Finland and
UNDP has kicked off the process of restoring the forest and
promoting Borjomi as a region
of green economy, agriculture
and tourism.
Mercedes-Benz Viano – 2004
Toyota RAV 4 – 2000,
4X4, AT
BUSINESS
Unemployment Down!
The number of people employed in
Georgia is increasing.
Geostat, Georgia’s national statistics
office, has released the results of a study
of Georgia’s unemployment rate, revealing that at the end of 2014 the unemployment rate in Georgia stood at 12.4
percent – the lowest figure in 11 years.
The 2014 unemployment rate
showed a drop of 2.2 percent on the
figures for 2013, when the country experienced a 14.6 percent unemployment
rate. Since 2006 unemployment in Georgia has risen from 13.6 percent, reaching
a peak in 2009 at 16.9 percent, and continuously declined every year since.
“These results show that employment has increased in Georgia. I under-
stand the problems of those [who fit
into the] 12.4 percent [unemployment
category] but we have to solve all the
problems step-by-step,” said Georgia’s
Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri.
When divided by gender, the results
show that in 2014, 10.4 percent of
women were unemployed (a 1.9 percent drop) and 14 percent men (a 2.5
percent drop).
In terms of age, Geostat noted that
the unemployment rate had remained the
same for the 55-59s, while a decline was
experienced by all other groups. A sharp
reduction (11.3 percent) in unemployment was seen in the 15-19 age group,
however this category also showed the
highest unemployment rate amongst all
other age categories.
Of the working-age population (aged
15-65), 66.5 percent were ‘economically active’ (employed). The employment
rate of this group of people increased
by 1.7 percent in the last year.
Most people in Georgia were selfemployed (60.2 percent of total employment figures), however trends since 2006
showed more people being hired as employees.
Unemployment remained highest in
Georgia’s capital, yet Geostat claimed
that this had reduced by 6.6 percent in
the last year. The data further showed
that employment had increased in rural
areas (0.8 percent), while decreasing in
urban areas (0.5 percent).
Do You Really Need
a Smar twatch?
By Beqa Kirtava
They say the early bird catches the
worm and despite the fact that the smartwatch craze hasn’t hit Georgia yet, just
like all the other innovational technology trends, it is bound to roll towards
this country quite soon. So, I have decided to make sure you’re prepared and
help you answer the question a lot of
people have been asking themselves lately – “do I really need a smartwatch?”
Since the introduction of the term
“smartphone” in 1995, people have
shown an ever-growing interest in
purchasing ‘smart’ gadgets, resulting in the birth of smart TVs, smart
glasses, smartbands, and more. Now
the Android vs. iOS war has moved
to a new battleground – the Smartwatch Empire. Although Google
has successfully defeated Apple in
the smartphone wars (according to
STATISTICA, 75% of purchased
smartphones run Android), Tim
Cook’s company (or should I say,
Steve Jobs’) has gained an astounding victory in the smartwatch faceoff, as Apple received more 1 million pre-orders during the first
weekend of the watch’s availability, while it took Google almost a
year to sell 720,000 Android Wear
devices.
Why did Android Wear sink while
Apple Watch succeeded?
Although the official sales figures
haven’t been released yet, it is clear that
Apple Watch has already raced past
Android Wear. The reason for that? Correct marketing. Apple Inc. has clearly
shattered the common belief that high
prices put customers off. Whereas moderately expensive items are often overlooked, extremely costly products are
adored, as an unbelievably high price
automatically moves the item into the
‘luxurious’ category, making it desirable.
While most of the manufacturers decided to focus on customer-friendly prices,
Apple has been playing the luxury game
all along, by releasing a $10,000 Apple
Watch Edition (alongside its Apple
Watch Sport and Apple Watch, which
both cost twice as much as an average
Android Wear gadget) and using indirect
advertising (Apple gave music royalty
Beyonce and the head of Chanel fashion
house, Karl Lagerfeld custom made gold
smartwatches), further strengthening the
opulent status of the device.
Now that we have put the Apple
Watch vs. Android Wear business out of
our way; it’s time to assess the pros and
cons of owning any smartwatch at all.
Should you or should you not?
· The number one thing you need to
know about smartwatches is that they
require a smartphone running the same
operating system. Though technically
they are considered as a fully functional
devices on their own, they are not. So
don’t bother buying one if you don’t
own a smartphone.
· A smartwatch can be a very useful
accessory if you are all about fitness, as
it can monitor your heart rate, running
speed, etc. However, if health tracking
is your only concern, you’d be better
off purchasing a smartband, which will
do the same job for you and save you a
lot of money.
· Both Android Wear and Apple
Watch have an array of applications
and features, which may seem quite
impressive at first, but frankly, the
only thing those features do is tell
you to look at your smartwatch.
And although you can decline a
phone call, answering requires you
to dig out your phone; you’ll be
notified when you have an email,
but if you want to reply, you’ll have
to use the smartphone for typing,
and so on.
· Battery life is also a huge con
for a smartwatch. As if you weren’t
tired enough of charging your smartphone, now you’ll have to charge
your watch as well.
· Another thing you should take
into consideration is your eyes, as
watching tiny notifications on a tiny
screen is the last thing they need.
· Don’t forget about the size as well.
Smartwatches are quite bulky and not
for those who favor small wristbands.
Taking all of the above-mentioned into
consideration, I believe one thing is for
sure – smartwatches have no particular
features which are worth paying hundreds of dollars for. The failure of Google Glass clearly showed that humanity
is perfectly okay with some of our accessories being as ‘dumb’ as they always
were. And while there seems to be no
particular way any smartwatch would
make your life much easier (at least for
now), I advise you to save your money
and not buy one.
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
13
Royal Ba
varian Beer
Bav
Kaltenber
g Hits the
altenberg
Geor
gian Mar
ket
Georgian
Mark
Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, Minister of Economy Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Castel
Georgia’s GM Levan Zautashvili
By Beqa Kirtava
On May 23, 2015 an agreement of
collaboration was signed between Castel Georgia and the representatives of
the royal Bavarian beer company –
“Kaltenberg,” officially launching the
new brand at the local market. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of
Economy, Giorgi Kvirikashvili and
Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, whose family is the rightful owner of Kaltenberg.
The Royal family produces beer in
several countries across the world in accordance with all the standards of the
“German Beer Purity Law” (aka Bavarian Purity Law), which is a regulation concerning the production of beer in Germany, meaning that only the highest quality
ingredients should be used in production.
The law was created on 30 November 1487, when Albert IV, Duke of Ba-
varia implemented it, specifying three
ingredients – water, malt and hops – for
the brewing the beer. Later, in the city of
Ingolstadt in the duchy of Bavaria on 23
April 1516, two other dukes, endorsed
the law to be followed in their duchies,
adding standards for the sale of beer.
“We’ve gone through a very long and
difficult process to reach an agreement
with the representatives of Kaltenberg.
Apart from the substantial investment
by the German side in the culture of
proper consumption of beer in Georgia,
we are very pleased that they recognized
the ongoing processes in our factory in
accordance to the most important beer
production charter in the word – the
Bavarian Purity Law,” stated the Head
of Castel Georgia, Temur Chkonia.
Kaltenberg is now available throughout the entire country for those who
want to taste royal Bavarian beer.
CULTURE
Iashvili pla
ys a
plays
att
Diaspor
a da
y concer
Diaspora
day
concertt
By George Abashvili
On May 27th a concert was held in
the Tbilisi Conservatory, dedicated to
Diaspora Day.
Violinist Gia Iashvili came to Georgia from Austria for the festival “From
Easter to Ascension” which was held in
Batumi on May 21 and remained to perform alongside well-known violoncellist
Giorgi Kharadze and pianist Tamar Lichelli, both conservatory musicians.
On the main stage of the Tbilisi Conservatory Iashvili premiered a new
project in which well-known arias were
played for the audience. The concert was
attended by Sozar Subari the Minister
of Internally Displaced Persons from the
Occupied Territories and Refugees.
“What does a rocket ship need to fly?
Fuel? No! Effort! Effort from the people
inside the rocket. Today on this stage I saw
something beautiful and I couldn’t have seen
this without their effort. I’m very delighted
to be here and I can see that you are as
well,” enthused Gela Dumbadze, the Minister of Diaspora Issues, addressing the audience at the close of the concert.
14
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
BUSINESS
GOMI Rebranded: New Look, Best Quality
By Meri Taliashvili
include wild species), 14 are Georgian, including: dika, copy, tavtukhi
(Triticum durum), ipkli, and dolispuri. Georgian wheat is characterized by
its diversity and unique taste, which
distinguishes our vodka from its competitors.
Q: What is the theme you have
chosen for the new packaging?
A: We have created Gomi Lux,
Gomi original and Gomi Prestige new
packaging, and we are gradually supplying shops with the new production. On the packaging we focused on
unique Georgian wheat and the fact
that the spirit made from it gives
Gomi vodka a special flavor and distinguishes it from its competitors.
Q: Do you think it will compete
with imported vodka?
A: As a result of rebranding, Gomi
vodka will become more competitive
on the Georgian vodka market. Special emphasis is on production quality as well as visually and technologically. The improved Gomi, in terms
of quality, will freely compete with
imported vodka, among them Russian
and Ukrainian. What’s more, in terms
of price it will be more acceptable for
customers. We have conducted customer research in order to assess
Gomi Prestige taste quality with respect to competitors. Results have
shown that Gomi vodka is the first in
terms of being a positively evaluated
spirit (total of first and second named
vodkas). Gomi Prestige was largely
estimated as a pleasantly drinkable
spirit with good qualities. According
to research, Gomi vodka is also most
appreciated amongst Russian and
Ukrainian vodkas for its taste qualities.
GOMI, the Georgian alcoholic
product manufacturing company, is
the largest in the country to deliver
high quality spirits, which it has done
so for more than a century. A study
has shown that vodka produced by
Gomi, compared to Russian and
Ukrainian vodka, is smoother to drink
and thus more in demand by the population. At this moment, the company is undergoing a rebranding process
that will allow its loyal customers to
get even better quality at a lower
price.
Georgia Today met with Gomi
General Director, David Dugladze, to
find out more about Gomi Company.
Q: What is the purpose of the rebranding?
A: Gomi offers a wide variety of
products in different consumer segments according to taste. Now, we are
going through a rebranding process
and as a result we will offer our faithful customers an even higher quality
product at a favorable price. Gomi,
with an upgraded package, will offer
its clients an improved quality of vodka.
Q: What are the advantages of
the Georgian wheat you use for
making vodka?
A: Gomi vodka is made from the
finest quality Georgian wheat spirit
and we source our water from the icy
ridges of the Caucasus at the company’s factory. It should be noted that
Gomi is the only company which uses
wheat to make vodka. Georgian
wheat, as well as wine, has a century-long history. Out of the existing 23
kinds of wheat in the world (I don’t
Make the Future Green Successful Project with “GIZ”
By Meri Elen
The Company “Saqartvelos Nergebi” (Georgian
Seedlings) was founded in 2011. It is one of the
largest sapling economies in Georgia and works on
an issue which is vitally important for our country
by taking an active part in projects pertaining to
the spheres of greening and biodiversity. A successful young leader, Giorgi Abramishvili, specialist
of business management by profession, runs the
Saqartvelos Nergebi. He stands out for his experience and professionalism, is principled and demanding in business, and friendly and attentive in
attitude.
Giorgi Abramishvili: today Saqartvelos Nergebi is a serious producer and importer company; we
offer the population evergreen decorative plants as
well as diverse saplings of fruit trees; forest sorts –
cypress, Pinuseldarica, lime-tree, ash-tree, maple,
oak and all at the best available prices. The company has large sapling economies in Kvareli and in
Supsa, where the selection of Georgian and foreign
sorts and restoration of unique sorts takes place.
During each season we carry out sowing, budding
and engrafting, so that we have constantly available produce. We collaborate with the sapling industries of European countries; we remain stable
and reliable partners with Tbilisi City Hall and take
an active part in the actions of greening of the capital city. Our slogan – “Make the future green” reflects precisely the activities of Saqartvelos Nergebi.
This spring, we have already planted up to 10,000
trees within the area of Tbilisi. As soon as I came
to the company, we elaborated a new strategy and
we have adopted many rational and fruitful decisions together with our co-workers. Let me present
the members of our group: Victoria Begeladze (PR
office), Paata Togonidze (dendrologist), Vazha
Baidoshvili (forester, sapling economy of Kvareli), and Oneri Dzadzua (specialist of the sapling
economy of Supsa). We process individual and
batch orders both on imported and local products.
Regarding our current project, we are aiming to
protect Dedoplistskaro from desertification and are
implementing our actions upon the order of the society of international collaboration, GIZ. This
project foresees the restoration of windbreaks in
Dedoplistskaro and we actively got involved in this
initiative, which seems very promising for the country. In three rows, each of 2000 m length, there 2070
saplings were planted of eight species. So far, the
rate of survival of the plants is 100%. Our employees periodically visit the spot and take care of the
plants. Such an action of care was last implemented on 5 May 2015.
Our plans foresee strengthening and developing the seedling industries of Supsa and Kvareli
and the future opening of gardening centers in
Kutaisi and Batumi.
SOCIETY
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
15
Geor
gia in the Hear
s MOMA
Georgia
Heartt of Afghanistan: Exhibition a
att Tbilisi’
Tbilisi’s
By MJ Riquelme del Valle
“A tribute to the lives of the 29 Georgian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.” This
is how Spanish artist Augusto FerrerDalmau describes his collection of
works on display at Tbilisi’s Museum
of Modern Art.
In 2014, Dalmau, a self-taught
hyperrealist artist specialized in military
art, spent a week with the Georgian
troops deployed in Afghanistan, just as
he had done two years before with the
Spanish army. The resulting works of
both trips share a common message: “I
want to transmit respect for those who
are risking their lives for a more civilized society. Georgians should be very
proud of their soldiers,” Dalmau told
Georgia Today.
Currently, Georgia has 885 servicemen deployed in Afghanistan, and is the
second largest troop contributor to the
NATO-led mission1. Apart from the casualties, over 435 Georgian soldiers
have been wounded, 35 of whom are
amputees.
Georgia started contributing to the
Afghan mission in 2004, a year after
NATO assumed leadership of the International Security Assistance Force
(ISAF) established by the United Nations Security Council. Every casualty
has sparked public debate in Georgia
regarding the size of the country’s de-
ployment in Afghanistan, especially
among those not favoring integration
with the West.
“The psychological and physical efforts of the Georgian troops in Afghanistan are huge. Just think of how it feels
walking in a sunblaze, 50 degrees Celsius, with very heavy equipment on your
shoulders, surrounded by landmines,
thinking that every minute could be your
last,” Nodar Kharshiladze, Senior Fellow at the Georgian Foundation of Strategic and International Studies, told
Georgia Today.
In Ferrer-Dalmau’s paintings these
hardships are embodied by a “generic
soldier” that looks alike in most paintings, his identity being given by the uniform and the flag. This contrasts with
the deeply individualized expression of
the local combatants: in their gaze
Ferrer-Dalmau’s brush stroke expresses
dignity and pride.
Local and international warriors are
deeply differentiated by their outfits and
how they are individualized. The common factor in every image is the weaponry, a presence that in the case of the
Georgians aims at giving a broader message: “In my paintings I wanted to show
that the Georgian army is well equipped
and organized, up to Western standards
and very far from any Soviet legacy”.
Ferrer-Dalmau expresses this pride not
only through his paintings but also in
Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau and Nino Ioseliani, Editor-in-Chief of OK! Magazine
the excitement of his voice every time
he speaks about Georgia and its potential.
Amidst the dusty aridity of the backgrounds in the paintings, two figures
stand out: one is the smiley expression
of camouflage-dressed Nino Ioseliani,
Editor-in-Chief of OK! Magazine, the
only woman portrayed in the exhibition. “She traveled with us to Afghanistan and with her portrait I wanted to
symbolize the presence of women
fighting there”. The other figure standing out is the Patriarch. “I included his
portrait just as I included a painting of
the King of Spain when I exposed my
visions of Spanish troops in Afghanistan. Ilya II is not just a religious figure, but an emblem of the country and
a symbol of unity”.
The presence of the Patriarch in the
exhibition symbolizes how present, in
the opinion of the artist, religion was
among the Georgian troops in Afghanistan, and how they had army priests and
chapels, just as the Spaniards did. “This
was one of the so many things that made
me feel at home, just as much as the
Georgian’s characters”.
“We are so similar, and have so much
in common in our attitude in Afghanistan, fighting in a mission that aims at
bringing peace to the Afghan people”.
Ferrer-Dalmau’s works can be seen
in Tbilisi until the 28th of June.
Geor
gian Or
ganiza
tions Committed to Wor
ld P
eace
Georgian
Org
anizations
orld
Peace
By Baia Dzagnidze
The Second Annual Commemoration
of the Declaration of World Peace initiated in Seoul, Republic of Korea,
reached Tbilisi together with 50 cities
in 30 countries worldwide on May 25
uniting 200,000 people. The event aims
to bring people together to work toward
peace, calling all youths, women, political, religious, and secular leaders to
come together to leave a legacy of a
peaceful world to future generations.
Organized by Georgian members of
the International Peace Youth Group,
five organizations (Young Progressive
Leader of Georgia, League of Young
Diplomats and Georgian Youth Development Association, DRONI and
Caucasus Youth Nexus) discussed the
importance of peace and presented their
peace-themed projects.
“One of the missions of our organization in Georgia and the Caucasus
is to develop peace in the region,”
Giorgia Azariashvili, the Founder and
Chairman of Caucasus Youth Nexus
told Georgia Today. “However, before
taking on global projects, we need to
establish peace in our own country
which is the main idea of today’s
event. Considering the fact that we
started operating only two years ago,
we could not do global projects, thus
we have implemented various events
in Georgia including “New Generation
for Peaceful Changes”, “Round Table
for Peaceful cohabitation”, intercultural dialogues and evenings and
“Draw for Peace”, explained
Azariashvili adding that recently the
organization became a member of
world famous peace organization
MasterPeace which will enable them
to become involved in more global
events and trainings.
The celebration of May 25 was initiated in 2013 by Man Hee Lee, the Chair-
man of the Heavenly Culture World
Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL), a
non-governmental organization that
works to bring an end to all wars in the
world and to achieve true world peace.
The organization also includes the International Women’s Peace Group
(IWPG) and International Peace Youth
Group (IPYG).
At the ceremony held in Seoul on the
same day, a letter from Chairman Lee
was presented before all members of
IPYG and IWPG, stated that “the youth’s
work will be the force that will put an
end to all wars on this earth and create
peace that will be left as a legacy for the
future generations. Let us not forget this
day and hold commemorative ceremonies. Let us announce this to the world
so that everyone may become a peace
messenger and work with us in creating
the light of glory.”
By the end of the event, the Declaration of World Peace was read out in
Georgian and attendees had the opportunity to sign the enactment of cessation of war.
CULTURE
Mana
gement Plan Pr
esented ffor
or UNESCO
Manag
Presented
ld Herita
ge Site Gela
ti Monaster
y
Wor
orld
Heritag
Gelati
Monastery
By David Lolidze
A presentation was held to discuss
the management plan of Gelati Monastery which is a cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO in 1994. The presentation was lead by head of the planning
committee, Davit Khoshtaria and was
attended by Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia, Levan Kharatishvili,
along with many other interested and
honorary guests.
Davit Khoshtaria, head of the planning
committee: “The management plan is
based on a value-led approach that includes cultural and natural values”. To
emphasise the necessity of his management plan, Khoshtaria went on to list the
most important aspects and values that
Gelati monastery and the buffer zone
holds, such as cultural heritage, landscape,
spiritual importance, and social and economic aspects. The main challenges, as
he said, remain the management as well
as threats such as natural hazards, air pollution, visitor pressure, accommodation
for the increasing numbers of monks and
risks of impact by military conflict. Regarding other issues to be taken into consideration, such as the value of stakeholders, he said: “Consultation through public
hearings is essential to allow stakeholders
to initiate output.”
“The authenticity of the Monastery
is fully preserved, Khoshtaria said. “The
Gelati Monastery Rehabilitation Project
– commonly known as the Conservation
Master Plan, has guided the most important rehabilitation works since 2008.
The Gelati Monastery Complex Rehabilitation Project has been the basis for
the preservation of the authenticity of
the monument, restoration and rehabilitation of all its components and the same
time its presentation to visitors and its
utilization by the clergy.”
Overall, what drew everyone’s full
attention was the matter of private ownerships near and within the Monastery
location, meaning some construction
sites may soon appear within the walls
of Gelati causing the view, which has
been there since the 12th century, to be
blocked and reducing the beauty of sites
such as the watch tower, the church of
St. Elijah, the Motsameta Monastery and
some bridges from the medieval period.
It is hoped that UNESCO will be satisfied with the progress that has been and
will be made in order to eradicate all
existing issues concerning the Monastery.
CULTURE
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
17
Little Georgia in Los Angeles
By M. Tsereteli
An art exhibition in Los Angeles
titled “Inner Pieces” is stimulating considerable media attention in one of the
main art hubs of the world. The show,
which opened this month at the M.D.
Art Gallery on the famous West 3rd
Street represents a physical manifesta-
tion of the spiritual that transcends the
temporal.
For Georgian readers this art exhibition is considerable because, on its interior, the show curators have put up paintings by Georgian artist Mirza Davitaia.
Davitaia, who was the State Minister of
Diaspora Issues of Georgia until 2012,
moved to Los Angeles to make art and
movies full time. Art critics think that the
painter, who has exhibited his works internationally, is as successful in contemporary arts as in his former political career. Recently, Ningbo Museum of Art in
China began exhibiting Davitaia’s “Spirit
Rain” as part of its permanent collection.
His works are further exhibited in ParisFrance, Nuremberg-Germany, TbilisiGeorgia and Vladimir-Russia.
Mirza Davitaia has been painting for
as long as he can remember. Back when
he was a boy, Davitaia Sr., also a painter,
ensconced his son in the Elementary
School of Art, in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Davitaia junior came of age when the
country was controlled by the Soviet
Union. The artist took the best of his
Georgian origin to Western Europe where
he studied painting at the Academy of
Nuremberg, West Germany, an experience which opened the young painter to
the extravagance of creative possibilities
in those with a Western mentality. He returned home and took his place in the
Georgian fight for independence from
Russia. “It was a fight for both political
and artistic freedom,” says the artist. “The
sweetness of line, color and texture and
the plastically of his painting mirrors
Davitaia’s inner exploration for non-linear independence,” says German art professor Christian Hamsea as he evaluates
Davitaia’s art.
“He has a sophisticated and at the
same time innovative style, his contribution is vital to Fine art in any country,” says Chevalier Tony Clarck, cura-
tor of the exhibition ‘Inner Pieces.’
“His compositions are dynamic and
emotional. Davitaia is an artist who has
grasped the technique of telling the story
behind his art. He isn’t just selling painting- he’s selling an experience, that’s
why I almost always buy paintings from
each new series,”says private collector
Khatia de Adams.
‘Inner pieces’ is a Fine Art exhibition of art from around the world. Besides Davitaia’s works, it shows the
paintings of worldly renowned artists
Anita Rosenberg, Hal Yaskulka, Ivan
Butoract and David Gardner. Curators
believe that what makes this exhibition
unique is that all artists within the show
share an interest in the wildly imaginative nature of storytelling, and the visual fusion of fantasy and reality in a
narrative context.
Mirza Davitaia feels he is experiencing a very important period in his art:
“South California has different energy,
different light, I am absorbing these experiences and transferring them into my
colors and shapes; this is the purpose of
being an artist,” he says.
Eur
ovision 2015 Finale: We R
ank the P
erf
or
mances
Euro
Rank
Perf
erfor
ormances
It’s hard to imagine that the current
Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) is the
very same competition which was once
dominated by such magnificent artists
as ABBA and Celine Dion. Over the
years, as the musical quality of the show
declined, the limelight drifted away
from the singers and the songs to the
countries, therefore creating a completely political song contest where all
the attention is directed towards the
waving flags of the European nations,
while the musical grandeur slowly fades
in contrast. Despite our disappointment
over ESC’s fall, we decided to “build a
bridge”, get over it and objectively rank
every single performance of the finale
(Grades A - F, the best being A+).
· Maraaya - Here for You
(Slovenia) – Lots of things about this
performance seemed out of place: the
headphones, the lighting, the bizarre
dancer and the piano guy. The song itself was very monotonic. D
· Lisa Angell - N’oubliez Pas
(France) – A very run-of-the-mill ballad, standing still the whole time. Sadly,
her high notes were not impressive
enough to save this humdrum performance. D
· Nadav Guedj - Golden Boy (Israel)
– Folk vibes couldn’t save this awfully
generic pop song and the choreography
was as unoriginal as it gets. D
· Elina Born & Stig Rästa Goodbye to Yesterday (Estonia) –
Couldn’t even determine what the singers were trying to accomplish with this
performance. Was it supposed to be sad?
Sexy? Mysterious? It surely was awkward. F
· Electro Velvet - Still in Love with
You (UK) – Electro Velvet tried to
bring in a few Jazz vibes, but very unsuccessfully. The choreography was
laughable and this seemingly old school
performance was simply disappointing.
A plus for trying something different,
though. C· Genealogy - Face the Shadow (Armenia) – Their voices were nice, but
each very different, therefore they didn’t
quite fit together. Some parts were surprisingly enjoyable, some were severely
low. C
· Monika Linkytë and Vaidas
Baumila - This Time (Lithuania) – The
song was forgettable and the performance
lacked a sense of verisimilitude in general. Unfortunately, didn’t feel the love. D
· Bojana Stamenov - Beauty Never
Lies (Serbia) – Bojana obviously has
the voice and her confidence shined
through the whole act. She definitely
delivered one of the most energetic performances of the night. They should
have got rid of those awful background
dancers, though. B+
· Mørland & Debrah Scarlett - A
Monster Like Me (Norway) – Both the
performers had very nice tones and
smoothly moved between registers.
However, the song and, generally, the
entire performance were unmemorable
due to the lack of variety. C
· Måns Zelmerlöw - Heroes (Sweden) – The number was effortless and
lively, with an interestingly different visual concept. Måns’ vocal consistency
is something to be applauded and he delivered the whole performance with an
admirable ease. A
· John Karayiannis - One Thing I
Should Have Done (Cyprus) – The
song was melodic and therefore quite
soothing. John’s tone was warm and
pleasing as well. However, zero stage
presence and monotony pushed this potential remarkably low. C
· Guy Sebastian - Tonight Again
(Australia) – Guy probably had the best
vocal technique this year. However, the
song sounded like every other R&B
song on the planet. A little originality
would have helped. B+
· Loïc Nottet - Rhythm Inside (Belgium) – Both the song and the performance were pushed too hard to be edgy,
therefore ending up a bit cringe-worthy
instead. Strong vocal cords though. C
· The Makemakes - I Am Yours
(Austria) – The beginning sounded
good, but it continued in the very same
spirit till the end, getting a bit boring.
Two of the band members looked painfully unneeded and there was hardly any
connection with the crowd. C· Maria Elena Kyriakou - One Last
Breath (Greece) – Another great voice
wasted on an ordinary, dull ballad. D
· Knez - Adio (Montenegro) – The
intro was great. Unfortunately, that was
the highlight of the number, which looked
like a strange Deja Vu of a number of the
night’s other performances. D
· Ann Sophie - Black Smoke (Germany) – Although this song didn’t deserve the 0 points it got during the final
vote, it wasn’t much of an accomplishment either. The performance was
overly calculated, therefore the connection and the emotion was lost. D
· Monika Kuszyñska - In the Name
of Love (Poland) – The song was quite
bland and the back singers were louder
than Monika in some parts. Quite disappointing. D
· Aminata Love - Injected (Latvia)
– The whole performance was definitely
different and stood out amongst the
crowd. Aminata’s vocal delivery was
also good. However, in some parts the
song sounded a bit unpleasant, after all
it was just a long beat sequence with a
couple of high notes here and there. B· Voltaj - De La Capat / All Over
Again (Romania) – Decent song, decent performance, decent grade. C
· Edurne - Amanecer (Spain) –
The singer looked absolutely stunning.
The song, however, was very disap-
pointing. D
· Boggie - Wars for Nothing (Hungary) – Boggie was also a very beautiful lady. Unfortunately, with the stage
presence of a table and the most tiresome song, Wars for Nothing was the
nadir of the night. F
· Nina Sublatti - Warrior (Georgia)
– What a great stage presence! The performance was bold, energetic and fiery.
Nina’s vocals were on point. Yet the show
makers covered her with too much smoke
and the director of photography had no
idea what he/she was shooting, but Nina
is not the one to blame for that. A
· Elnur Huseynov - Hour Of The
Wolf (Azerbaijan) – Great song and
nice, rich vocals. Elnur was too static
though. And the super active background dancers emphasized that even
more. A· Polina Gagarina - A Million
Voices (Russia) – Fantastic voice and
an enjoyable song. However, the visual
concept was a rip-off of Jennifer Lopez’s
American Idol performance and Polina
cannot act; her forced facial expressions
gave the whole number an artificial
overlay. B· Elhaida Dani - I’m Alive (Albania)
– Flawed vocal performance. Her falsetto
was very weak and some of the high notes
transitioned into screams. She did have a
nice stage presence, however. D
· Il Volo - Grande Amore (Italy)
– Many may say Il Volo were boring,
but we think they were actually splendid! A great example that classic singing never goes out of style. Their vocals were simply phenomenal and they
put on a performance which didn’t
need a load of pyrotechnics to be staggering. A
Note from the Author: As I keep a
close eye on nearly all of the above-mentioned countries’ local competition
shows, which are jam-packed with talent, it still remains a mystery why 90%
of Europe fails to send their level-best
performances to Eurovision. I guess few
desire to waste art on politics, which is
understandable.
Photos of Geor
gian IDPs Displa
yed
Georgian
Display
ter
s
at Ne
w Yor
k UN Headquar
New
ork
Headquarter
ters
By Nino Melikishvili
A photo exhibition showing the lives
of Georgian internally displaced persons
(IDPs) was opened at the United Nations
headquarters in New York on May 26th.
According to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the exhibition, entitled ‘A Story
of Internal Displacement Captured on
Camera,’ combines a photo exhibition
which reflects a wave of refugees from
Abkhazia and South Ossetia and their
current situations.
For the exhibition the Georgian Mission found photo documents dating back
to the early 1990s, when hundreds of
thousands of Georgian citizens of various ethnicities were forced to become
displaced as a painful consequence of
the conflict.
Focus was put on the works of three
foreign photographers: John Jones, a
British photographer from London’s
Sunday Times; British war photographer
Malcolm Linton; and American photographer and documentary filmmaker Anthony Suau from New York.
The exhibition was organized by the
Georgian Permanent Mission to the UN
who noted that the event aimed to contribute to an increased awareness of the
very important matter of displacement.
CULTURE
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
19
“Half an Hour of Musical Madness”
Christian McBride Trio Closes J
azz Series 2015
Jazz
By Maka Lomadze
Jazz Series 2015, an event enjoyed
by all generations, concluded with the
impressive Christian McBride Trio. As
well as local artists, the Tbilisi event had
showcased some foreign talents including the Kenny Garrett Quintet, Wallace
Roney Group with the first performance
for Tbilisi and Jeff Lorber Fusion.
For jazz enthusiasts, organizers Eastern Promotion will continue a year of
top class jazz events with the Black Sea
Jazz Festival in Batumi on July 23-26
This year’s event will see George
Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Liv
Warfield & NPG HORNZ, Snoop Dogg
and Giorgi Mikadze & NYC Groove
Aliens Feat. Dj Raydar Ellis top the bill.
Meanwhile, presenter of Jazz Series,
TV anchor Kakha Tolordava revealed the
winners of a poster competition for the
summer’s festival.. Two victors were chosen from 117 entries with second place
going to Luka Jiqia, who gained the most
likes on social media. Eastern Promotion
rewarded him with 1000 Lari and two season tickets for the Black Sea Jazz Festival. First place went to Teona Valieva who
won 2000 Lari and two season tickets
awarded by a representative of TBC Bank
whose product TBC Status is the official
presenter of the jazz series.
Christian McBride, who enchanted
Tbilisi crowds, says that acoustic bass
is like a mother and an electro bass is
like a restless child, who is more straightforward but lacks the wisdom of the
former. He has fulfilled a number of very
ambitious projects as a band leader,
composer, instrumentalist, enlightener
and curator. Lately, he has been performing in a trio.
Georgia Today spoke with Giorgi
Kereselidze, Director of Eastern Promotion just before the show: “This is the
classical trio. Christian McBride is a
very required musician. It’s been two
years already that this trio represents
headliners of different international jazz
festivals. They have jazz standards with
their own improvisation, but their own
music as well, as all big musicians. What
they perform varies and largely depends
on the audience.”
In his third visit to Tbilisi, McBride
greeted the city and expressed his
warmth to it at the beginning of the concert. He also mentioned that he has been
touring all around the world for five years
now. He introduced his two young colleagues – 29-year-old drummer Ulysses
Owens Jr. and 21-year-old Christian
Sands, who he called “a stylish pianist”.
At the dawn of his career, McBride
was mentored by his father Lee Smith
and Uncle Howard Cooper, who were
famous bassists from Philadelphia. As a
minor member of bands in his past,
McBride managed to sell the largest
quantity of records in his generation. He
is justly known as a virtuoso.
During the concert, when the performance was in full swing, we spoke to
Zurab Karumidze, Georgian writer and
jazz lover, author of the novel “Jazz
Blossoming” and documentary “Jazz
Life”: “I have always liked Christian
McBride. Earlier, in 2006, I listened to
him in Saint Louis. He is a marvelous
contrabassist with a significant technique
and sound. Moreover, he has a nice pianist, a young man whom I have never
listened to before tonight and a splendid
drummer too. I am delighted. Within the
last month, Tbilisi has hosted two great
contrabassists – Ron Carter and Christian. We are witnessing an equal participation of three of them tonight – this is
the trinity rather than a trio.”
They touched the very strings of the
soul all evening and performed the most
lyrical song of the whole soiree “The most
Beautiful Girl in the World”, recorded on
their current CD called “I have dreamed”.
It was met with a stream of applause.
This synergy between the audience and
the performers is astonishing – with both
expressing their gratitude.
“I am particularly fond of classical
jazz, namely, Louis Armstrong. It is impossible to talk about jazz without emotions. I am overwhelmed tonight. Christian McBride is at the peak of his career
at present. He is simultaneously reserved
and perfect in expressive manner. As for
his band members, they are rather young,
but in spite of this fact, they give spe-
cial features to the trio and make it more
expressive and emotional, turning it into
the musical madness that we have just
witnessed. The trio is intellectual and
conceptual, but it gives all members a
possibility to express themselves to the
full extent. Christian McBride is still a
young musician for jazz, though he is 42
already. Therefore, I would say that I
like him very much, but he is still like a
young wine. Therefore, I prefer Ron
carter at this stage. As you know, wine
is the older the better. So, I think everything is ahead for McBride,” Alona
Sinova from Batumi stated after enjoying the concert.
Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron,
Nicholas Hoult
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Language: Russian
Start time: 22:10
Ticket price: 11.50 – 12.50 Lari
MUSEUMS, THE GRISHASHVILI
TBILISI HISTORY MUSEUM
PRESENTS EXHIBITION
“SERGO PARAJANOVI - 21ST
CENTURY DREAM”.
May 18 – July 18
ART PALACE PRESENTS
THE EXHIBITION
UNIQUE TREASURE FROM
DADIANI PALACE
WHAT'S ON IN TBILISI
THEATRE
GABRIADZE THEATRE
Address: 13 Shavtelis St.
Telephone: 2 98 65 93
Directed by Guram Bregadze
Language: Russian
Start time: 12:00
Ticket price: from 5 Lari
May 29
THE AUTUMN OF MY SPRING
Directed by Revaz Gabriadze
With English subtitles
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: 10, 15 Lari
AMIRANI CINEMA
Address: 36 Kostava St.
Telephone: 299 99 55
www.kinoafisha.ge
May 30, 31, June 4
MARSHAL DE FANTIE’S
DIAMOND
Directed by Revaz Gabriadze
With English subtitles
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: 10, 15 Lari
STATE SHADOW THEATRE
“BUDRUGANA-GAGRA” –
APKHAZETI
Address: Rustaveli Ave. 17
(Rustaveli Theatre)
Telephone: 2 72 68 68
www.budrugana.com
www.rustavelitheatre.ge
June 3
ISN’T THIS A LOVELY DAY...
Gela Kandelaki
Directed by Gela Kandelaki
Performance in one act
Small Stage
Start time: 19:00
Ticket price: 6, 8 Lari
CINEMA
May 29 – June 4
SAN ANDREAS 3D
Directed by Brad Peyton
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino,
Alexandra Daddario
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Language: English
Start time: 19:30
Language: Russian
Start time: 12:00, 14:30, 17:00,
19:45, 22:20
Ticket price: 8.50 – 12.50 Lari
TOMORROWLAND
Directed by Brad Bird
Cast: George Clooney, Britt
Robertson, Hugh Laurie
Genre: Action, Adventure, Mystery
Language: Russian
Start time: 14:05, 16:55, 19:45
Ticket price: 8.50 – 12.50 Lari
TBILISI NODAR DUMBADZE
STATE CENTRAL CHILDREN'S
THEATRE
Address: 99/1 Agmashenebeli Ave.
Telephone: 295 39 27
SHAUN THE SHEEP
Directed by Mark Burton,
Richard Starzak
Cast: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes,
Omid Djalili
Genre: Animation, Adventure,
Comedy
Language: Russian
Start time: 12:00
Ticket price: 8.50 – 9.50 Lari
May 30
THE PRINCESS, FROG,
HANSEL AND GRETEL
Brothers Grimm
Directed by Dimitri Khvtisiashvili
Language: Russian
Start time: 12:00
Ticket price: from 6 Lari
THE AGE OF ADALINE
Directed by Lee Toland Krieger
Cast: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman,
Harrison Ford
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: Russian
Start time: 14:05, 16:50, 22:35
Ticket price: 8.50 – 12.50 Lari
June 1
ROYAL COW
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Directed by George Miller
RUSTAVELI CINEMA
Address: 5 Rustaveli Ave.
Telephone: 255 50 00
www.kinoafisha.ge
LOST IN KARASTAN
Directed by Ben Hopkins
Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, MyAnna
Buring, Noah Taylor
Genre: Comedy
Language: Russian
Start time: 18:00
Ticket price: 11.50 – 11.50 Lari
TOMORROWLAND
(Info above)
Language: Russian
Start time: 16:50, 19:40, 22:30
Ticket price: 8.50 – 12.50 Lari
SHAUN THE SHEEP
(Info above)
Language: Russian
Start time: 12:00, 14:30
Ticket price: 8.50 – 9.50 Lari
THE AGE OF ADALINE
(Info above)
Language: Russian
Start time: 16:35, 19:30, 22:15
Ticket price: 8.50 – 12.50 Lari
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
(Info above)
Language: Russian
Start time: 11:50, 14:30, 17:10,
19:50, 22:30
Ticket price: 7.50 – 12.50 Lari
MUSEUM
IOSEB GRISHASHVILI TBILISI
HISTORY MUSEUM - KARVASLA
Address: 8 Sioni St.
Telephone: 2 98 22 81
May 18 - June 16
ON THE OCCASION OF THE
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF
May 25 - June 4
EXHIBITION “ONLY INTUITION”
BY ZAZA TSITSKISHVILI
At the exposition will be presented the
artist’s distinguished paintings with
large format drawings and powerful
expression. Tsitskishvili belongs to a
generation of artists for whom the
desire to connect to the international
art scene and to understand the
novelty of raising innovations.
SHALVAAMIRANASHVILI
MUSEUM OF ART
Address: 1 Lado Gudiashvili St.
Telephone: 2 99 99 09
www.museum.ge
May 17 - June 7
ON THE OCCASION OF THE
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF
MUSEUMS THE SHALVA
AMIRANASHVILI MUSEUM OF
FINE ARTS INVITES YOU TO
VITALI KAPANADZE’S 70 YEARS
ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION.
MUSEUM OF SOVIET
OCCUPATION
Address: 1 Rustaveli ave.
Telephone: 2 99 80 22
Here, visitors can encounter the
state’s personal files of “subversive”
Georgian public figures, orders to
shoot or exile, and other artifacts
representing Soviet-era cultural and
political repression in Georgia.
SIMON JANASHIA MUSEUM
OF GEORGIA
Address: 3 Rustaveli Ave.
Telephone: 2 99 80 22
“ARCHAEOLOGICAL
TREASURE”
ART PALACE
Address: 6 Kargareteli st.
Telephone: 295 19 00
MUSIC
TBILISI CONCERT HALL
Address:1 Melikishvili St.
Telephone: 2 99 00 99
MAY 30
CHARITY CONCERT
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: 30, 40, 60, 100 Lari
June 2
ENSEMBLE RUSTAVI
Iavnana Charity Concert
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: 10, 15, 20, 25, 35, 45,
55, 75 Lari
CLUB 33 A
Address: Vake Park
Telephone: 577443313
May 30
NIKAKOI
Nika Machaidze
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: 10 Lari
SPORT PALACE
Address: 75 Kostava St.
Telephone: 571 99 99 77
June 4
TIMATI AND L’ONE
Live Concert
Start time: 21:00
Ticket price: From 25- 55 Lari
GRIBOEDOVI THEATRE
Address: 2 Rustaveli Ave.
Telephone: 2 93 43 36
June 1
CHARITY CONCERT
Children for Children
Start time: 19:00
Ticket price: from 10 Lari
SOCIETY
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
21
Free at Last: Etseri, Svaneti
By Tony Hanmer
I’m sure they can hardly believe it.
After twelve long years, the sentence has
run its course, and the Seven are at liberty
to stroll out the doors, never to return by
the same status. They will start new lives,
scattering in different directions: some to
further study in various institutions and
locations, some straight into paid professions if opportunities arise, others helping
their families at home or on the farm; a
few quickly into marriage and family life,
perhaps (alone if they’re unusually lucky;
more likely with in-laws, usually his parents, this with its own set of relational challenges particularly for the incumbent
young spouse).
School, for the grade 12s, is out.
They still have final exams in all their
subjects, though, determining who is
even eligible for higher education and
who not. They are sitting these now, by
internet, under the watchful eye of an
independent visiting supervisor. Results
come up as soon as each person leaves
the test, and are shared with the village
like wildfire. Some are a shock, in a
good or a bad way; others fall closely
within expectations.
The party was last week. It followed
hallowed traditions, involving grade one
as well as those outgoing. The little ones
asked their elders some pointed questions
about school life and beyond—what will
you become, what are your fondest or
strongest memories, what will you be
sorry to leave. What was the most incomprehensible phrase uttered to you, here?
Actually, a sentence of mine won in this
category, though whether its alien English
form or its translation was the main thing,
I still cannot say. I had told them in a recent class, “When you are older you will
understand,” which in Georgian must
have both verbs in future tense, not just
one. I added that these were my parting
words to them as my pupils.
The grade ones and twelves also pro-
vided some entertainment, and we made
some speeches and watched an emotional, musically accompanied slide
show of the latters’ first day as the formers. The grade sixes showed off their
growing collection of traditional dance
moves. Then, together, the oldest and
youngest rang the Last Bell, both in its
electrical and mechanical forms, signifying the real end of the era. My wife
had accompanied them as mentor for our
three years to date in the school, so this
was a special day for her too, as well as
for the school director, for whom simi-
larly a long period of influence was
drawing to a close.
Another thing was ending too. A
brother and sister in the graduating class
are the children of two of the teachers
and grandchildren of a third, so the generational chain here loses a link. To make
it even more interesting, their father is
also the gamgebeli, or mayor, of the village.
We all signed the special white shirts
which the twelves had put on, with best
wishes or amusing drawings. The elevens were tasked with preparing the final supra, or feast, at which they, the
twelves and we teachers sat in a festively
decorated room.
The event took on the atmosphere of
a game-show under the direction of the
grade elevens’ mentor, who also happened to be the aforementioned grandmother. Fun and games, toasts and good
food. My wife and I left with regrets
after the official part was over, but it
continued, as only a Georgian such occasion can, until falling darkness forced
a general retreat from the unlit room.
Out of pity to spoil such a positive
day, I left unsaid what I had been brooding over for days. It runs something like
this: Our village, not at all uniquely, suffers from a malaise, which it’s up to you
to name. There are only three options
open to you as far as your response to
this sickness. You can run, and save
yourselves. You can allow it to infect
you and become its carriers. Or you can
learn how to fight it and rid the place of
it, then remain standing guard to see that
it doesn’t return.
Perhaps these words, already becoming permanent thanks to the internet, will
be unearthed from some pixellated
archive one day by one of the Seven
twelves, when their English is far
enough advanced to grasp them, as I’ve
also lost my chance to say them in Georgian. Then we’ll see what happens.
Tony Hanmer runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with
over 1000 members, at
www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/ .
He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri:
www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti
Book and Music – Thr
ee-da
y
hree-da
ee-day
Lif
e in P
erf
ect Har
mon
y
Life
Perf
erfect
Harmon
mony
Unpr
ecedented F
esti
val ffor
or Geor
gia
Unprecedented
Festi
estiv
Georgia
By Maka Lomadze
On May 22-24, an absolutely unprecedented for Georgia event took place in
Tbilisi, at the Tbilisi Event Hall.
Organised by the Bakur Sulakauri and
Karchkhadze Publishing Houses, in one
and the same premise, the festival of
Book and Music was held at which many
book and music lovers gathered to have
fun, listen to different bands, buy books
in different languages with discounts,
taste dishes prepared according to the
recipes mentioned in different fictions
and relax with friends.
Nino Nadibaidze, Head of Public Relations of the Bakur Sulakauri Publishing House, told Georgia Today: “International Tbilisi Book Festivals are already a set-up tradition and have an annual character, whilst the Festival of Book
and Music is being held for the first time.
It also contains some culinary elements.
The program is planned so that the live
music performed by different music
bands is alternated by literary workers,
lectures, presentations, conversations
about literature, etc. One hour is dedicated to literature, and another – to music, and so on and so forth. We selected
those musicians that do not dramatically
differ from one another in genre and are
in melodic harmony with literary texts.”
Gia Karchkhadze, son of famous deceased writer Jemal Karchkhadze, is the
co-author of the idea of organizing the
festival. He is also the founder and the
owner of Karchkhadze Publishing House
and one of the former soloists of Soft
Eject, a Georgian folk-rock band that was
founded in 1989. Soft Eject debuted at a
Georgian rock festival in Batumi in 1990,
and then relocated to Germany. In 1995,
Soft Eject shot their first video for the
single “Please Just Carry On” which remains one of their most popular songs to
this day. The following year, the band
opened its own recording studio, S.E.
Studio. In the 2000s, they took part in all
important rock festivals in Georgia, organized nation-wide tours and performed
several times in the United Kingdom,
Ukraine and the United States. They exist today as well, but with a different staff.
Gia Karchkhadze is one of those who
says that he was playing guitar even before the famous band was formed and
continues onwards, even out of it. “Literature and music are in perfect harmony
with each other. They might be representing even one and the same language mentally, with different forms of expressions
– one is narrative and another one – musical style,” he told Georgia Today.
“I am fond of reading books and listening to music. Therefore, it was an attractive event for me to come and attend.
I purchased a lot of books, placed them in
my car and now I’m sitting comfortably
on this pouf, listening to music. I came
here with my friends and we’re going to
stick around for some literary presentations, as well,” said Nata Jghenti, one of
the enthusiastic guests of the festival.
On May 23, Irakli Chelishvili, nicknamed Petsho, who in the past sang in
Soft Eject, was the most popular soloist
and emerged lately on one of the famous
TV music shows, performed the band’s
hits “Please Just carry On” and “I’m on
my Way”, which were met with ovation.
He also sang a number of Beatles hits in
a duo with Lasha Topuria.
On the last day of the festival, a culinary show was held that represented the
favorite dishes of different fiction personages, prepared by the chefs of Culinary
Academy, functioning under the Free
University.
All in all, the festival proved to be a
success, representing a mix of different
realms of art and cooking discoveries,
plus the considerable discounts on books.
Let us hope that the event will become a
traditional one and, further, one of the
many occasions that liven up the cultural
life of Tbilisi city. If you missed it this
year- save the date for 2016!
SPORTS
MAY 29 - JUNE 4
23
Dinamo Salvage Silverware with
Cup Final Thrashing of Samtredia
By Alastair Watt
The headlines from the domestic season in Georgia have been dominated by
historic league winners Dila Gori, and
rightly so, but the country’s establishment
club Dinamo Tbilisi ended a disappointing season on an emphatically high note
with a stunning 5-0 demolition of
Samtredia in the Georgian Cup final on
May 26 at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium.
Dinamo, who recently underwent a
change in management with Kakha
Gogichaishvili being replaced by the experienced Gia Geguchadze, eased to the
biggest winning margin in Georgian Cup
final history and their third successive victory in the tournament named after one of
the club’s greatest sons – Davit Kipiani.
While this Dinamo vintage is a pale
shadow of Kipiani’s era in the late 1970s
and early 1980s when Dinamo reigned
supreme not only in the Soviet Union
but the whole of Europe, this was one
of the club’s more memorable perfor-
mances in recent years.
With the match scheduled on Independence Day and an afternoon storm
hitting the capital city it was not surprising that a crowd of little more than 2,000
braved the roofless Mikheil Meskhi Stadium for the final.
Within 14 minutes Dinamo broke the
deadlock with a deft header from Giorgi
Papunashvili to silence the erstwhile
noisy Samtredia contingent in the stands.
Despite having a clutch of experienced Georgian internationals in their
lineup including Zurab Khizanishvili
and Davit Kvirkvelia, Samtredia mustered little in response to a clinical
Dinamo side who were particularly ruthless in the second-half.
Spanish striker Manuel slotted past
Samtredia keeper Revi Tevdoradze five
minutes after the restart and when
Papunashvili struck a long-range shot
past the Imeretians’ stopper three minutes later, the engraving of the trophy
could already begin.
Manuel, a free transfer in the winter
window and yet another of the Spanish
wanderers to end up at Tbilisi in recent
years, produced his best display in a
Dinamo shirt yet and notched a second
of the game from a Papunashvili cross
in the 68th minute shortly before being
substituted to a rousing ovation from
Dinamo’s Gladiators fan group.
There was still time for substitute
Davit Volkovi to add a fifth in the closing stages to add some gloss to a convincing cup final triumph.
To add further misery to Samtredia’s
evening, the resounding loss means that
they will not compete in next season’s
Europa League, with the cup place going to fourth-placed Tskhinvali.
One interested spectator was Energy
Minister Kakha Kaladze who would
have had mixed loyalties having played
for Dinamo as a youngster and having
been born in Samtredia.
The following day he would also
have watched on as Jaba Kankava became the first Georgian player to participate in a major European final since
Kaladze himself in Milan’s 2-1 victory
over Liverpool on 2007, as Jaba
Kankava started for Dnipro in their 3-2
defeat to Sevilla in the Europa League
final in Warsaw.
Hopefully it is not another eight years
before the next Georgian adds to hat distinguished list but Dinamo’s aim will be
more modest next season as they enter
the Europa League at the first qualifying round which begins in five weeks.
Reaching the group stages, which
would require winning four ties, would
equate to a sensation for Georgian football and under Geguchadze the chances
of doing so ought to improve.
Se
ven FIF
A Of
olice
Sev
FIFA
Offficials Ar
Arrrested By Swiss P
Police
awarded the right to host the 2010 World
Cup. If convicted on racketeering
charges, he and other defendants could
face up to 20 years in prison.
By Joseph Larsen
Seven high-profile FIFA officials
filed into police cars on Wednesday following an operation conducted by
Zurich police. Police raided the Baur au
Lac hotel, a five-star establishment overlooking Lake Zurich and serving host
to a meeting of the organization’s top
leadership. The following officials –
several of whom have already pleaded
guilty to criminal charges – were arrested for allegedly violating US law:
FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb,
Eduardo Li, Eugenio Figueredo, Rafael
Esquivel, Jose Maria Marin, Julio
Rocha, and Costas Takkas.
The seven will be extradited to the
US to face trial on charges relating to
corruption, racketeering, and conspiracy. US Attorney General Loretta
Lynch commented that “the indictment
alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and
here in the United States. It spans at least
two generations of soccer officials, who,
as alleged, have abused their positions
of trust to acquire millions of dollars in
bribes and kickbacks.”
Why Extradite to the US?
FIFA is headquartered in Switzerland, the same country where all of the
arrests were made. The officials are to
be extradited to the United States, however, because the alleged financial
crimes were conducted using US bank
Sepp Blatter Not Charged
While the charges come as no surprise to followers of a sport which has
seemingly been mired in corruption for
decades, what is surprising is that FIFA
president Sepp Blatter is not among the
accused. The head of FIFA since 1999 –
and widely favored to be elected to a
fifth term at the helm on 29 May –
Blatter has long been suspected of bribetaking but never charged.
Many find it difficult to believe that
Blatter, as president of an organization
accused of rampant corruption, has
never committed criminal wrongdoing
himself. Swiss parliamentarian Roland
Buechel quipped that “nothing ever
sticks to him; there is always someone
between him and the bribes.”
Spor
ts R
esults and Tables
Sports
Results
accounts. Switzerland and the US have
an expansive extradition agreement in
which the former hands over criminal
cases to the latter, sometimes even when
it is involved only indirectly.
Also on Wednesday the FBI conducted a raid on Concacaf’s Miami offices (Concacaf is the Confederation of
North, Central America and Caribbean
Association Football, one of FIFA’s six
regional confederations). In addition to
being FIFA vice-president, Jeffrey Webb
is the head of Concacaf.
The Russian foreign ministry called
the US investigation an “illegal extraterritorial application” of US law.
Swiss Government Charges 14
In a separate but parallel action,
Swiss authorities opened criminal pro-
Fill in the grid so that every row, every column,
and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.
See answers in the next issue
www.sudoku.com
Answers to previous puzzles
ceedings against 14 FIFA officials in
connection with the 2018 and 2022
World Cups, which are to be held in
Qatar and Russia, respectively. A statement from the Swiss attorney general
affirmed that the suspects are being
charged on “suspicion of criminal mismanagement and of money laundering
in connection with the allocation of the
2018 and 2022 football World Cups.”
Despite the severity of the allegations, FIFA spokespeople have remained steadfast that the bidding for
the 2018 and 2022 games are not to be
reopened.
Former FIFA vice-president Jack
Warner of Trinidad and Tobago stands
accused of accepting a $10 million bribe
from the South African government in
connection with that country being
RUGBY UNION
Umaglesi Liga Table
1. Bolnisi Kochebi
2. Lelo Saracens
3. Batumi
4. Lokomotivi
5. Kharebi Rustavi
6. AIA Kutaisi
7. Armazi
8. Jiki Gori
9. Armia
10. Tibies
58
56
50
48
46
46
38
36
22
11
FOOTBALL
Umaglesi Liga Fixtures
May 22
Dila Gori 3-0 WIT Georgia; Sioni 3-2
Guria; Zestafoni 0-3 Zugdidi; Shukura
1-3 Dinamo Batumi; Rustavi 1-1 Torpedo Kutaisi; Dinamo Tbilisi 3-0
Chikhura; Samtredia 4-2 Merani
Martvili; Kolkheti Poti 1-1 Tskhinvali.
Umaglesi Liga Table (Final)
1. Dila Gori
64
2. Dinamo Batumi
58
3. Dinamo Tbilisi
55
4. Tskhinvali
53
5. Chikhura
46
6. Samtredia
45
7. Shukura
41
8. Torpedo Kutaisi
41
9. Guria
39
10. Kolkheti Poti
37
11. Merani Martvili
36
12. Zugdidi
33
13. Sioni
32
14. Rustavi
26
15. WIT Georgia
26
16. Zestafoni
26
Georgian Cup Final
Tuesday 26th May
Dinamo Tbilisi 5-0 Samtredia (7pm)
GENERAL MANAGER - George Sharashidze
BUSINESS MANAGER - Iva Merabishvili
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COPY EDITOR - Alastair Watt
JOURNALISTS: Beqa Kirtava, Baia Dzaginadze, Eka Karsaulidze, Alastair Watt,
Joseph Alexander Smith, Joseph Larsen, Zviad Adzinbaia, Tony Hanmer, Meri Taliashvili,
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