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June 5 - 11, 2015

Georgia Today 24 p.Price: GEL 2.50 ISSUE No.769

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Commercial or political? Georgia Today analyses asthe discussions push forward regarding the fate ofGeorgia’s Railway.

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Ukraine places hope on theGeorgian revolutionary to createa success story in Odessa, anarea which some believe is atarget for Russia’s Putin after lastyear’s annexation of Crimea.

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Last week’s leavers to offerthe Georgian public a boldnew program for economicdevelopment.

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The newly appointed Governor ofOdessa, Mikheil Saakashvili declared“zero tolerance for corruption” inUkraine, as the country appears to seekreforms similar to those of Georgia un-der Saakashvili’s presidency.

Ukraine’s Odessa, one of the largestseaports in the Black Sea region and aneconomic artery for Ukraine, has beentrusted to Saakashvili, currently alsooccupying the parallel position of a re-forms adviser to President Poroshenko.There are hopes that the Georgian revo-lutionary will create a success story inOdessa, an area which some believe isa target for Russia’s Putin after havingannexed Crimea last year.

Saakashvili’s activities have beenmet with mixed reactions from withinthe political world in his homeland. TheGeorgian Dream government, which hascondemned the country’s ex-Presidentfor his “bloody politics” during his 9-year tenure, have long opposedSaakashvili, describing his period inpower as a failure.

Interestingly, Saakashvili’s new oc-cupation grants him Ukrainian citizen-ship, which protects him from potentialprosecution from the Georgian authori-ties. All parties opposed to the formerpresident, including the current Presi-dent Margvelashvili criticized the deci-sion.

Saakashvili says Ukrainian law al-lows him to have a two-year transitoryperiod, when one can keep anothercountry’s citizenship concurrently withthe newly acquired Ukrainian citizen-ship. “Therefore, Ukrainian legislationdoes not represent a problem, and I thinkthat two years are more than enough,”

said the former Georgian president. “Depriving someone of his Georgian

citizenship is within the President’spower, but if the current President makes

JUNE 5 - 1122222 POLITICS

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this step, I’m sure it will not be a deci-sive factor, because by the time I comeback to Georgia (which will happenmuch sooner than many think), people

will make him rescind this decisionalong with all criminal charges leveledagainst me,” Saakashvili assumed.

“Eduard Shevardnadze was not a

Georgian citizen when he arrived inGeorgia, but he became the country’sleader. Nor did Ivanishvili have Geor-gian citizenship during his election cam-paign. So why this issue should becomean obstacle only for me?” the ex-presi-dent maintains.

Saakashvili currently equates hisGeorgian citizenship to being throwninto a cell together with his friends. “Ofcourse, I wanted to prevent things fromgoing this way, but in the current cir-cumstances – when I cannot visit Geor-gia due to a threat of arrest – my citi-zenship does not change anything,” henoted.

In fact, Georgian Foreign MinisterTamar Beruchashvili has not confirmedwhether former President Saakashvilicould arrive in Georgia with a diplo-matic passport as Governor of Odessa.

Georgian Justice Minister TeaTsulukiani has told media that no legalmeasures are available for Saakashvili’sextradition after his acceptance of Ukrai-nian citizenship.

Analysis by Georgia Today’s ZviadAdzinbaia:

The rivalry between Ivanishvili andSaakashvili continues, as there are prin-cipal differences between the personali-ties and the teams of UNM and GD intheir value systems. At the same time,Georgia has fallen into an abyss of eco-nomic and political crisis. The West,which has invested much in thecountry’s progress, expects relevant re-sults from the EU-associated state. Whatshould Georgians expect in the 2016elections? Does the country still have thepotential to traverse the murky groundon which it stands?

Former United National Movement(UNM) leaders, Zurab Japaridze, GogaKhachidze, Giorgi Meladze and PavleKublashvili, who have recently left theirofficial positions within the party, planto offer the Georgian public a bold newprogram for economic development in-stead of fighting for parliamentary man-dates in the 2016 elections.

“Our motivation has never amountedto expectations of receiving a parliamen-tary mandate in the 2016 elections.Moreover, none of my colleagues, whohave departed from the National Move-ment plan to fight for the mandate, asthey believe our society wants some-thing new,” Japaridze said.

“We still remain in a struggle, wemaintain the same position, we have thesame enemy - the oligarch, who cameinto power through lies and plunged thecountry into crisis. We think the politi-cal spectrum needs to be re-arranged assoon as possible in order to defeat theoligarch,” says the statement releasedjointly by the MPs last week.

“We plan to fight for the European,democratic future of united Georgia, toget rid of the oligarch, who ground theeconomic system to a halt, facilitatedpoverty and collapsed state institutions.We understand people’s worries abouteconomic problems and plan to create anew political center, attracting profes-sionals to engage in the political process,”the now independent MPs confirmed.

“The UNM is dissolving” was howPrime Minister Irakli Garibashvili as-sessed the departure of four UNM lead-

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ers last week. “It is surprising that theparty has not fallen apart completely yet.They are trying to masquerade as if theywere a team again, but the party is dis-solving as three more teams emergefrom within it,” Garibashvili stated.

Iveria, a Social Movement, which ismainly composed of the high-calibertechnocrats including Gregory Vasha-dze, the ex-Foreign Minister of Geor-gia, is expected to welcome these ex-UNM MPs in the near future.

Author analysis:There were allegations that the UNM

has entered its ‘final phase of dissolu-tion’, though the reality is different.Vashadze assumes that UNM, which has

endured three tough years since the 2012elections, will be able to continue itsefforts to ‘please’ the GD even more.Saakashvili, UNM founder and leader,who has recently become Odessa’s gov-ernor, says “people come and go” andthat MPs resigning did not amount to atragedy.

As for establishing a new politicalcenter, Georgia’s disappointed society isseeking some new force(s) to lead thecountry with competence, professional-ism and the right ideas. Experts sayGeorgia, in the face of its current hard-ships, is bracing itself for its most piv-otal period in terms of democracy, eco-nomic prosperity and overall develop-ment, including mental transformation.

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10 Galaktion StreetTel: (995 32) 2 45 08 08

E-mail: info@peoplescafe.ge

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 economicgrowth, 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.

By Levan Bzhalava and Eric Livny

“Creativity is a birthright, available toall, but used by few.” Catherine Courage– senior vice president at Citrix.

Creativity is the ability to producenew ideas and to find innovative solu-tions to problems. It is crucial for eco-nomic growth because creative ideastranslate into new products and more ef-ficient technological processes, which, inturn generate new (more productive) jobsand better (more competitive) products.

Besides, the “creative class” (e.g. sci-entists, engineers, writers, artists, design-ers, painters, actors, firm producers, mu-sicians, choreographers and just anybodyable to think out-of-the-box) affects eco-nomic performance in a myriad of indi-rect ways, through knowledge spilloversthat boost labor productivity and inno-vation activities throughout the economy(it is well-documented that innovativeideas are often born over beer).

While we all love creativity and in-novation, the million dollar question ishow to raise a new generation that willthink creatively. Which is related to an-other question: can creativity be learnedor, else, it is an innate talent.

CHILDREN ARE CURIOUS ANDCREATIVE!

Children are naturally curious, observ-ing and questioning everything they seeand hear. Moreover, the vast majority ofchildren have very well developed imagi-nation capability which is one of the mainsources for creativity. To measure justhow creative children are, George Landused a test similar to the one he devisedto help NASA select innovative engineersand scientists. His results are truly mindboggling! Around 98% of 4-5 year oldchildren have very strong creative imagi-nation and fall into the “genius” categoryaccording to the NASA test. When thesame children were re-tested at the ageof 10 and 15, however, only 30% and12% of them had creative capability, re-spectively. Still worse, when re-tested atthe age of 31, the share of creative indi-viduals shrank to only 2%!

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CREATIVITY?Sir Ken Robinson, an education spe-

cialist, argues that creativity and talentare effectively killed by … schools. Mod-ern schools have be created in the 19th

century to deliver basic education to theilliterate masses. What is increasinglyneeded in the 21 century, however, is anindividual approach.

Robinson’s favorite example is GillianLynne, a renowned ballerina who was di-agnosed with a learning disorder at the ageof eight. Lynne’s teachers were annoyed byher constant fidgeting and a lack of con-centration. A psychologist who was askedto examine her case was clever enough toturn on music and leave Gillian alone inthe room to observe her behavior. His ver-dict surprised Gillian’s parents: “yourdaughter is not sick – she is a dancer”.Gillian went on to a ballet school and be-came one of the greatest choreographers inhistory, authoring such musical productionsas “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera”.What Lynne’s story illustrates is the obvi-ous advantage of an individual approachto education, an approach that encouragescuriosity and develops innate talents.

Incidentally, this very idea has notbeen lost one of Georgia’s greatest edu-cators, Ilia Chavchavadze. The main pur-pose of a school, he would often say, isnot to educate children but to enhancetheir curiosity. And what was true alreadyat Ilya’s time is especially true today, at atime when ‘knowledge’ as such is easilyaccessible through the internet. What isdemanded is the ability to synthesize, toconnect seemingly unrelated pieces ofknowledge, concepts and theories, andcome up with new solutions.

With ‘literacy’ and ‘knowledge’ nolonger being the key challenges facinghumans, we have to make sure thattomorrow’s schools are fit for tomorrow’schallenges. Which is all about creativityand innovation.

AND GEORGIAN SCHOOLS?It is worth considering that Georgian

schools still follow the basic 19th centuryschool model with its emphasis on

This may be a key reason for poor atten-dance and, generally, a lack of interest ineducation that we often observe amongGeorgian schoolchildren (particularly inrural areas).

An additional problem with this out-dated model is that creativity requires amindset that considers failure as a legiti-mate part of the process, which is clearlynot how Georgian schools operate. As SirKen Robinson suggests, “children arecreative because they are not afraid tomake mistakes, but they are educated outof it with systems that make them afraidof making mistakes”. This is certainlytrue for most Georgian schools.

BUT AREN’T WE, GEORGIANS ACREATIVE PEOPLE?!

Georgians are a very artistic people.When a Georgian man suddenly discov-ers he has only one day to live he decidesto throw a huge party (as the Georgianclassic ‘Ar-daidardo’ knows to tell). In-deed, Georgians have an internationalreputation for being very good in arts anddesign, as well as in dancing, singing andwinemaking (and wine-drinking). Impor-tantly for the purpose of this essay, mostGeorgians are themselves convinced theyare a talented nation, believing, in addi-tion, that talent is passed on geneticallyfrom generation to generation.

For a typical Georgian, success is

rarely achieved through hard work.Moreover, as some popular jokes and sto-ries go, those people who work hard dem-onstrate a lack of talent. The role modelfor many a Georgian boys is the “talentedbut lazy” Nacarqeqia, the main charac-ter of popular fairy tale, who spends allhis time sitting in front of a fireplace(hence his name, which literally translatesas “Cinder-man) and doing nothing.Nacarqeqia finally gets his act togetherwhen thrown out of his house. Using hissmarts he defeats evil giants and becomesvery rich.

In contrast to Georgia, talent is notassumed in the Korean culture. Instead,Koreans believe in hard work and disci-pline, sometimes at the expense of cre-ativity. By copy-pasting and efficientlyapplying existing technological solutions,Korea has been for many years consid-ered a miracle of economic growth. Itsdevelopment, however, has slowed downonce true innovation was required in or-der to remain competitive.

Lacking in organizational skills anddiscipline, Georgia would not have anycomparative advantages in trying tocopy-paste existing technologies. We canonly rely on our fabled talents. Maybe,just last Nacarqeqia, we are waiting tobe kicked out of our house before out-smarting the most evil giant of all giants,our own laziness.

AN EXPERIMENT INNURTURING GENIUSES: THE

CASE OF JUDIT POLGARLaszlo Polgar, a Hungarian cogni-

tive psychologist, believed that “anyhealthy born child has the innate ca-pacity to become a genius”. Driven bythis idea, he examined the biographiesof 400 great intellectuals and con-cluded that “geniuses are made, notborn”. To test this theory, he chose tomarry a Ukrainian foreign languagesteacher who agreed to run an experi-ment. As crazy as it sounds, the pur-pose of the experiment was to checkwhether they could turn their childreninto geniuses using a very simple pre-scription: “early and intensive special-ization in a particular subject”.

Being homeschooled, the couple’sthree daughters (Susan, Sofia andJudit) specialized in chess at the ageof 6. By their early teens, the Polgarsisters started dominating the femalechess world. In particular, Judit is con-sidered to be the best woman chessplayer in history. She has also fasci-nating memory and is among the top10 most intelligent people of the worldaccording to an IQ brain test. Susanand Sofia came to be ranked 2nd and6th in the world.

Polgar and his wife said later that“they could do the same thing with anysubject, if a child starts early, spendlots of time and give great love to thatone subject”. In other words, they be-lieved that innate talent is less impor-tant for success. Instead, greatness isall about curiosity and hard work.

memorizing standard texts and formulasrather than independent thinking. Studentare rewarded for giving good (standard)answers rather than asking good (origi-nal) questions. Achievement is measuredbased on standardized test and grades.

In other words, learning is supposedbe driven by extrinsic incentives (e.g.tests and grades), whereas curiosity andcreativity are always a function of intrin-sic motives such as passion for a subject.

JUNE 5 - 1166666 POLITICS

By Zaza Jgharkava

The Russian-Georgian negotiationsthat started three years ago as a duet willsoon become a sextet. At the end of June,in Prague, Russia’s Deputy ForeignMinister Grigori Karasin and GeorgianPrime Minister’s Special RepresentativeZurab Abashidze will each be joined bytwo more representatives from their re-spective foreign and economic minis-tries at the negotiating table. The mainreason for this multiplication in numbersinvolved is simple as both sides seekgenuine economic progress. BothKarasin and Abashidze concur that thePrague negotiations had reached a pointwhere experts should become involvedin the process.

After the Russian state companyRosneft bought 49% of the Poti PortTerminal several months ago, the pur-chase of other strategic sites of Georgiaare on the agenda. The Prime Minister’sspecial representative in relations withRussia Abashidze told Commersant thatthere is talk of a railway, which wouldcross Georgia via Azerbaijan. Accord-ing to him, there are proposals from theRussian side to use Georgia as a transitcountry for the export of its products,including oil products. Transportation ofcargoes will take place in the ports ofPoti and Batumi. Cargo traffic on theGeorgian railways has decreased signifi-cantly – according to the Ministry ofEconomy, last year the cargo traffic onthe Georgian railways decreased by 8percent. At the same time, the numberof passengers decreased by 10 percentso the need for investment becomesclearer. A declining business, as a rule,has a lower price. Despite this, the Geor-gian Dream government claims that the

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Georgian railway is one of the mostpromising and profitable spheres in theGeorgian economy and cites the ex-ample of transiting Turkmenistan’s oilthrough it. According to the PrimeMinister ’s special representativeAbashidze, this was the first time in thelast 10 years where Central Asian oil wastransited through the Georgian railwaycorridor. In addition, consider the recentTV advertisements that promote thetransportation of Chinese cargoes on theGeorgian railway. Against this back-ground, the Georgian government’s de-cision to sell a profitable business ownedentirely by the Georgian state looksstrange.

Generally, Russia’s interest in theGeorgian railway is nothing new. Backin the period of President MikheilSaakashvili’s rule, Moscow showed in-terest in purchasing the railway. How-ever, following the wise words of thethen Minister of Economy KakhaBendukidze, “Everything can be soldexcept for conscience”– the railway wasremoved from a list of assets to be priva-tized. Talks over the railway were re-newed after the October 2012 elections.However, this time Moscow it was moreconcerned about restoring the Abkhaziastretch of the railway.

Bascially, Moscow wanted to some-how cut the railway corridor to Arme-nia in order to bring out the Gyumrimilitary base and its strategic partnerArmenia from transport isolation. De-spite these attempts, Moscow could notsucceed. Apart from several statementsof the Russian Foreign Minister, therehas been no advance. Curiously, themain barrier to this plan has been thede-facto government of the occupiedAbkhazia, which stubbornly demanded

recognition from Tbilisi before the open-ing of the railway. The second and mainbarrier was Azerbiajan who have no in-tention to support anything that mightin any way benefit Armenia. Therefore,the Kremlin easily shifted the vector ofits goal and turned the main opponentof the Abkhazian railway into its mainally. Cargoes will be transported toGeorgian ports from Azerbaijan.

The selling of the Georgian railwaysurely has a political aroma, somethingwhich the Georgian Dream supportinganalysts cannot hide. For Gia Khukha-shvili, former counsellor of the ex-Prime Minister, it is absolutely unclearas to why the issue of selling or notselling the railway should be discussedin Prague when the doors were neverclosed in Georgia to Russian business.“Transportation of cargoes can only bewelcomed. But I do not understand whyit is necessary to involve the state in it.Russian companies are using this cor-ridor anyway. If someone wants totransport more cargoes – let them doit. Why this has become a political is-sue I do not understand. Russian com-panies never had a ban on them andthey were always operating here. Thereare no regulations or differences amongrepresentatives of other companies.Railways cannot give preference oroppress any party – this is a purelycommercial business. As for passengertransportation, there can be no talkabout it as the passenger trains can onlygo through Abkhazia. Thus, this is aproblem that remains unsolved. It ispolitics already. There simply is noother route. Restoring the Abkhazianrailway includes a set of problems initself, including political ones,”Khukhashvili told a Rezonansi reporter.

On June 2, Giorgi Margvelashvili,President of Georgia, met with his Es-tonian counterpart Thomas HendrikIlves, and the two attended an expan-sive meeting between Georgian and Es-tonian delegations in Tbilisi.

Bilateral relationships between thecountries were discussed during themeetings as well as future prospects ofcooperation between Georgia andEstonia. One of the main topics of dis-cussion was the security environment inEurope including the situation inGeorgia’s occupied regions of Abkhaziaand Tskhinvali.

“Today, we are at a crossroads ofvery important historical events. TheEuropean security environment hascompletely changed, and what hap-pened in 2008 in Georgia can be re-garded as the starting point of this

change,” Toomas Hendrik Ilves said,adding that Russia’s invasion of Geor-gia triggered developments in othercountries as well. “This process af-fected us too - Latvians, Lithuanians,Estonians. In fact, as a result of this, anew security environment has been cre-ated,” Ilves maintained.

“It is excellent that I am still in Geor-gia. I visited Georgia in 2011, 1997 and1988, but of course, the biggest eventwas my visit to the country in 2008. Fly-ing over Russia was unsafe back then,and I had to come to Georgia fromAzerbaijan, through a bypass. We ar-rived here by car, in the middle of a war,”

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PrPrPrPrPresidentesidentesidentesidentesidentthe visiting president said.

“Estonia will spare no effort and willshow strong support to Georgia on thepath of European integration,” was theEstonian president’s promise toMargvelashvili.

Throughout the all-inclusive meet-ing, the parties also discussed Georgia’sEU aspirations, as Estonia’s experienceappears valuable for Georgia.

“EU membership is a good thing, butGeorgia must first do its homework if itwants to join,” said the visiting leader.“Do you take everything that comesfrom Russia seriously?” Ilves asked inresponse to a journalist’s question aboutan official Russian statement regardingthe recent Riga summit being “a newmeeting dancing to the same old tune”(IPN).

The President noted successful

completion of technical issues is neededa political decision to be made on visaliberalization by the end of the year,adding that “further implementation willtake several months”.

“Of course, it cannot instantly makeeveryone who wants to travel happy, asits implementation needs time. As forthe European perspective, it is here, butthe question is when and how will ithappen. We are supporters of Europeandemocracy, but, on the other hand, coun-tries should take into account that theyneed to harmonize their legal frameworkwith the European one,” the EstonianPresident assumed.

“Estonia will spare no effort and will showstrong support to Georgia on the path of

European integration.”- Thomas Hendrik Ilves,President of Estonia.

For some passersby, the Taste Britainfood fair that took place on Thursdaymorning in Vake Park was a great chancefor some to try Welsh specialities suchas laverbread (seaweed for breakfast) andberry liquour, as well as the typical fishand chips.

But there is much more to it: theevent in Tbilisi is just one leg of the cir-cuit that representatives of the FoodTechnology Center (FTC) in Wales aretaking across Georgia. Indeed, bothWales and Georgia share the fact that alarge proportion of their populationworks in the agro sector (30% theformer, 50% the latter). The FTC is aninitiative funded by the EU and theWelsh government, among others, inorder to enable food businesses to ac-cess technical support, practical solu-tions, advice and guidance on areaswhich are key to business growth. Oneof the aims of this visit is to set up linksbetween Welsh and Georgian farmers inorder to promote trade between them.

GeorGeorGeorGeorGeorgians gians gians gians gians TTTTTaste Britain in aste Britain in aste Britain in aste Britain in aste Britain in VVVVVakakakakake Pe Pe Pe Pe ParararararkkkkkAccording to Anna Butchart, Politi-

cal Officer at the British Embassy inTbilisi, the signing of the Deep andComprehensive Free Trade Agreementwith the EU will open huge possibili-ties for Georgian farmers and the Geor-gian Government is working hard toimplement the legislative changes andprocesses required to bring Georgianfood production into line with EU foodsafety standards which will facilitateincreased future trade.

But the team of the FTC also aims athelping Georgian farmers make theirproducts more sellable. Successful sto-ries of how the FTC helped Welsh farm-ers abound. Take the case of Hazel, afarmer with tones of berries growing inher lands. They were not sweet enoughto sell and at the FTC they suggested sev-eral choices, like for example, making aliquor with them, or make chocolate barswith berries. The idea worked out and heronce-useless berries are now the mainingredient of a flourishing business.

“The idea is to develop produce intoa product with added value; to createoriginal and successful businesses frombasic products”, Butchart said. The pos-sibilities of Georgian farmers developingspecial and original products are endless,as endless are the possibilities for collabo-ration: for example, what if a farmer pro-ducing blueberries could establish a part-nership with a muffin manufacturer in theUK?

Despite the challenges ahead, mainlythe lack of expertise and financing, thereis room for optimism. Martin Jardine,FTC Manager, told Georgia Today thatthis visit was a first contact in which theywere impressed by the quality of theGeorgian products and the enthusiasm ofthe farmers. The aim is to develop a longterm relationship, like the FTC did withEgypt, India or Tunisia.

The relationship between the FTC andGeorgia has just begun. On Friday an-other step will be taken when the Center’srepresentatives visit Kakheti.

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By Tatia Megeneishvili

For first time Georgia will be joiningthe rest of the world this year in cele-brating The International Day of Yoga.June 21st has been declared officially assuch by the United Nations GeneralAssembly.

A special press conference was heldin the National Youth and Children’sPalace in Tbilisi by the organizers of theInternational Day of Yoga in Georgia:the Embassy of India in Armenia andGeorgia, United Nations (UN) in Geor-gia, Tbilisi City Hall and Yoga CentreAnanda.

The event was attended by Ambas-sador of India to Armenia and Georgia,Suresh Babu; Head of the United Na-tions in Georgia, Niels Scott; DeputyMayor of Tbilisi, Irakli Lekvinadze; andEdita Dilanyan, the Head of Yoga Cen-tre Ananda.

According to organizers, outdoorevents, yoga master classes and work-shops will be happening not onlythroughout 50 countries around the globebut also in Rikhe Park, Georgia.

Lekvinadze stated that the Mayor’sOffice will support any activity whichaims to promote healthy living.

“Many people are doing Yoga inGeorgia. A healthy lifestyle is very im-portant for them and we will supportsuch events with great pleasure,” he said.

Ambassador of India to Armenia andGeorgia, Suresh Babu: “After declaringindependence, India for the first time got

Georgia to Celebrate

International Day

of Yoga

the opportunity to introduce informa-tion about Yoga to the world. Yoga is themost precious gift of Indian culture tohumanity.”

Head of the United Nations in Geor-gia, Niels Scott: “Everyone knows thatone of the main mandates of the UN isto bring peace to the world. Yoga is main-ly associated with peace, because peacemust be not only around us, but insideus too. That is why we are celebrating itworldwide.”

June 21 was declared as the Interna-tional Day of Yoga by the United Na-tions General Assembly on December11, 2014. Yoga, a 6,000+ year-old phys-ical, mental and spiritual practice origi-nating from India (Bharat), aims to trans-form body and mind. The declarationcame after the call for the adoption of 21June as International Day of Yoga byIndian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi-during in his address to the UN GeneralAssembly on September 27, 2014.

“Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’sancient tradition. It embodies unity ofmind and body, thought and action, re-straint and fulfillment, harmony betweenman and nature, a holistic approach tohealth and well-being. It is not aboutexercise but to discover the sense of one-ness with yourself, the world and na-ture. By changing our lifestyle and cre-ating consciousness, it can help us dealwith climate change. Let us work towardsadopting an International Yoga Day,”stated Modiduring at the UN GeneralAssembly.

Palliative Care Improvements

in Children’s New Clinic

The 29th of May marked the firststeps towards a promising future forGeorgia regarding palliative health careand the Children’s New Clinic, namedafter I.Tsitsishvili, is the provider of thiswonderful news.

Thanks to the innovation of NGOorganization Samaritan Association ofGeorgia, the Palliative Care Unit insidethe Clinic is now under reconstruction,and volunteer nurses have been able toreceive additional training in order toimprove their skills.

Many families in Georgia are over-whelmed with children with disabilitiesof all kinds. A strong stigma can still beseen against children with disabilities inGeorgia and often they are kept at homeor behind the walls of orphanages. Thereare no proper support services for dis-abled children and their families. There-fore, children with disabilities are oftenleft by their parents and become (de fac-to) orphans. Most of these children growup in orphanages, usually with no orinadequate medical and social support.If the orphanages are no longer able totake care of the children, they are trans-ferred to a hospital. In most cases thechildren are in a very bad condition.

In winter 2013 by order of the Minis-try of Health, Labour and Social Affairs,the Children’s New Clinic, Tbilisi estab-lished a central department for long-termhospitalised children. Currently, 25 chil-dren from four months to twelve yearsare taken care of in the Children’s New

Clinic Palliative Care Unit. They are allseverely disabled and need complete 24-hour care. Their mobility is severely lim-ited and communication is in most casesnon-verbal. Among those 25 children onlysix are regularly visited by their parents.Most of the other children have been aban-doned.

The parents who do visit their chil-dren are left on their own, hardly awareof the condition of their children, andreceive neither psychological nor pro-fessional support. In the five rooms, ineach of which five children are housed,the space is tight, resulting in a lack ofprivacy for parents visiting children.Although there is an availability of un-used space, it has to date been inappro-priate and either un-used or, in most cas-es, used as a storeroom.

The Samaritan’s project includes in-troducing European standards to theChildren’s New Clinic Palliative CareUnit and maintaining the system for twoyears and, although financial issues ex-ist, the Clinic hopes to keep up withimprovements. Training sessions havebeen and will be organized for nurses,doctors and hospital management in thehandling and holistic care and treatmentof the children, organized by the Net-work of International Samaritan. To en-courage the children targeted, and allowthem an alternative to being constantlybed-ridden, appropriate child-friendlyspaces are to be set up (with a full med-ically-adapted bath, therapy room,

lounge and family room) which will besuited to their needs and will allow bet-ter nursing and therapy by psycholo-gists, physiotherapists and occupation-al therapists. Finally, the project aimsto improve communication between doc-tors and nurses and to establish a con-sulting service for parents.

12 nurses took part in the recent ten-day training given by German nurseDelia Jakubik and the 29th of May wasthe celebration day of the successfulcompletion of the first training course,with all of the nurses becoming official-ly certified.

Two of the nurses were more thanhappy to share their emotions with us:“We have over 40 years working experi-ence but this specific training has madeour working specialty a lot more mean-ingful, interesting and satisfying. Wecan’t begin to thank the ones who havemade this whole project a reality!”

The Samaritans plan to further trainthe staff of the Unit and to purchasetherapeutic medical equipment with thefinancial assistance of the InternationalWomen’s Association (IWA) of Georgiaand ASB Germany. USD1 million willbe spent by the holding Evex, owners ofthe Clinic, while the Samaritans will con-tribute about USD55.000.

“Despite the many possible issueswe may face, the working team plans tokeep working on this wonderful project.We’re willing to see it to the end,” saidHead of the Clinic, David Rekviashvili.

The 2015 Global Retail DevelopmentIndex (GRDI) recognised Georgia asnumber one in the region and sixth outof 30 developing countries for retail in-vestment.

GRDI said Georgia’s “unsaturatedretail environment” was an extremelyattractive opportunity for internationalinvestors. Additionally, the report not-ed that Georgia had a “stable GDP, solidper capita spending growth over the pastfive years, and an underpenetrated retailmarket”.

“Carrefour and the local Goodwill(which sold a 60 percent stake to Italy’sMilan Investment) remain the only hy-permarket players, while the minimar-ket playing field is a bit more competi-tive.”

“SPAR entered the Georgian marketin the summer of 2014 by acquiring Pop-uli, the third largest retail chain, withplans to rebrand and expand its networkfrom 51 to 80 stores by 2018. Local foodretailer Nikora reinforced its leading po-sition by acquiring a small regional chainof 12 supermarkets in December 2014,”

GRDI: Georgia Number One in Regionread the report.

GRDI noted that a growing tourismsector had boosted the fast food marketin Georgia. McDonald’s, Subway, andWendy’s are now among the internationalbrands that have expanded in the capitalTbilisi, where 80 percent of the coun-try’s modern retail space is loca-ted. Georgia’s burgeoning apparel sec-tor was represented by more than 40

international brands, including Marks &Spencer, Gap, Banana Republic, ALDO,and the Inditex Group’s brands, saidGRDI.

But despite many positive develop-ments in recent years, the availability ofmodern retail space still poses a chal-lenge, with many spaces outdated andinappropriate for more premium retail,they concluded.

JUNE 5 - 111010101010 ECONOMY

The Galt & Taggart Research team comprises Georgian and Azerbaijani finance and economic experts who have broad experience of covering the macro and corporate sectors of the twocountries. Our current product offering includes Georgian and Azerbaijan macroeconomic research, Georgian sector research, and fixed income corporate research.

For free access to Galt & Taggart Research, please visit gtresearch.ge or contact us at gt@gt.ge.

By Giorgi Iremashvili

Tourism has been one of the mostimportant and fastest growing sectorsof the Georgian economy, posting animpressive 21% compound annualgrowth rate in the number of visitorsover 2000-2014. New York Times, Lone-ly Planet, the Guardian – just a few me-dia outlets that have praised Georgia asnot only an exotic destination, but alsoan increasingly cheap one, due to thecurrency devaluation of the recentmonths. Alongside exports, foreign re-mittances, and foreign direct investment,tourism has been the most significantsource of hard currency inflow into thecountry.

Amid the regional economic turbu-lence and currency depreciation, inter-national arrivals to Georgia have held upquite well, in comparison to other sourc-es of foreign currency inflow. Georgiahad seen weaker arrival numbers sincethe end of 2014, with FY14 annualgrowth coming in at to 2.3% to reach5.5mn total visitors. With neighbors ac-counting for roughly 90% of total visi-tors, a substantial drop (9.7% y/y) in

Tourism – Standing Strongvisitors from Turkey, the largest con-tributor in 2013, was the key reason forthe weaker growth in 2014. In 1Q15,while exports and foreign remittancestook significant hits, arrivals only de-creased by 2.2% y/y. Starting with April2015, tourist numbers have been on therise, first with a slight increase in April,followed by a significant jump in Mayarrivals of 14.7% y/y. Russia (+42.5%y/y) and Armenia (+33.1% y/y) werethe key contributors. The recovery inMay has brought the 5M15 result to a2.0% increase in 5M15 compared to thesame period last year.

Total travel inflows to Georgia in-creased by 3.9% y/y in 2014 to US$1.8bn, which translates into per visitorspending of US$ 324. Georgia is cur-rently visited by more lower-yieldingvisitors than higher-yielding ones. Ac-cording to the World Bank, average vis-itor spending stood at only US$ 355 in2013, significantly below that of Geor-gia’s peers such as Croatia (US$ 887),Montenegro (US$ 702), Bulgaria (US$671) and Estonia (US$ 624). The aver-age visitor to potential peers spends US$750, double that of average visitor spend-

Source: NBG, GeoStat

FIGURE 1: EXTERNAL ACCOUNTS, 2014

Source: WB

FIGURE 2: INTERNATIONAL TOURISM RECEIPTS, 2013 (US$/VISITOR)

ing in Georgia, leaving significant roomfor growth. The low per visitor spend-ing, in comparison to that in peer coun-tries, is partially explained by a lowshare of tourists in total visitors. In 2014,only 40% of total visitors stayed in thecountry for longer than 24 hours, thoughthe number is up from 38% in 2013.The country’s tourism policy to attracthigh spending visitors, which would en-tail growth in the share of such tourists,should help increase tourism spendingin the medium term.

Georgia’s National Tourism Admin-istration plans to spend around GEL7.7mn in 2015 on marketing campaignsin Eastern and Western Europe, as wellas China. Such marketing campaigns areexpected to result in arrival growth fromthose regions, attracting more high-spending visitors. Furthermore, there aremajor business and sports events linedup for 2015, which we estimate will bringin an additional 40-50,000 visitors andprovide a welcome boost to foreign in-flows. The EBRD Annual Meeting hasalready taken place in Tbilisi in May2015, attracting around 2,000 delegates

from over 60 countries. The meeting wasorganized for the first time in the SouthCaucasus region and included panel dis-cussions and country investment out-look sessions. The Black Sea Trade andDevelopment Bank will be holding itsannual meeting in Tbilisi in June. TheUEFA Football Super Cup and theOlympic Youth Festival will be takingplace in the capital this summer. Suchevents are of paramount importance inbuilding the country’s image so the worldcan discover Georgia as a real touristdestination.

Given recent tendencies, we expectarrivals to stay roughly flat in 2015.Despite the depreciation of regional cur-rencies, Georgia remains a cheap desti-nation. As a result, we do not expect asubstantial drop in visitors from neigh-boring countries and anticipate a reboundstarting next year from the lower base.On the spending side, we do not expectgrowth in total travel inflows to Georgiain 2015, but the country’s tourism pol-icy to attract high spending visitorsshould help increase tourism spendingin the medium term.

By Beqa Kirtava

The British-Georgian Chamber ofCommerce organized a special presen-tation on June 3, 2015 at Tbilisi RoomsHotel, delivered by Mel Ross. Rossonce led Disney Channel’s Marketingfor Emerging Markets and is now theDirector of Experience of her own en-terprise – Adapt2Digital (A2D). Rossspoke about the company’s history, theimportance of digital marketing, the evo-lution of businesses and more.

BGCC Introduces Adapt2DigitalFor those of you who may not have

heard about the aforementioned com-pany, Adapt2Digital is a digital busi-ness agency which was founded approx-imately 2.5 years ago and offers theirclients full advocacy on creating and im-plementing digital strategies. As, accord-ing to Mel Ross, over the years theworld has changed and people havechanged with it, this has resulted in adrastic shift in expectations which to-day’s companies must meet in order tosurvive, and it takes a lot more than

setting up a Facebook page to achievethe desirable digital level.

A2D’s Director placed special em-phasis on the importance of changesand clarified that organizations shouldembrace them, instead of observing withawe. If experts are to believed, therewill be only two types of company by2050 – the shape shifters and the ag-gregators, with the first overpoweringthe latter. Thus, the importance ofchange should not be underestimated,however, one must strive to find the

middle ground, as the necessity of chan-nel choice was another important issueof the meeting. “You shouldn’t be digi-tal by default, but adaptive by default.Just moving from one thing to anotherwill not work. So, we say: it isn’t aboutchannel shift, it’s actually about chan-nel choice, because you have custom-ers who will prefer to connect to youby mobile, while others will probablystill like to come in to the store/office,”said Ross, during her speech.

Adapt2Digital is ready to offer its

distinguished service not only to hugecorporations, but to small organizationsas well. In order to find out more aboutthe company and make your businesslook great from a digital perspective visit- http://www.adapt2digital.com/

Air Astana

Opens New

Route to

TbilisiBusinessJUNE 5 - 11

IFC SupportsBank of Georgiawith $90 MillionLoan to BoostGrowth P.13 P.13

The Rural Economic Development program(RED) is a joint development project of the Minis-try of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (DANIDA) andthe Swiss Agency for Development and Coopera-tion. The objective of the program is to increaseincome and employment through the developmentof potato and dairy/livestock value chains in KvemoKartli and Samtske-Javakheti.

Sorting, grading and packaging of potatoes andcutting costs for Georgian farmers by providingthem with an urban market in the country, is one ofthe objectives of the RED program based in Geor-gia. “Linking the city to the country reduces mar-keting costs and risks for the farmer and the urbanbuyers, improving the efficiency of moving higherquality potatoes to the consumer,” said a RED rep-resentative to Georgia Today.

As part of the program, 23 farmers and entrepre-neurs from Samtske Javakheti and Kvemo Kartliregions were shown the benefits of a modern, local-ly based sorting and packaging machine in a grad-ing center in Bolnisi, Kvemo Kartli. The demonstra-tion was conducted by consultants from the Germancompany Euro-Jabelmann, and coordinated by lo-cal firm DV + who also offered technical advice.

The participants were able to see for themselveshow this process will benefit them, by providingyear-round, fixed local markets, firm productioncontracts and identifiable, traceable packaging,which will lead to increased sales and revenue.

“There are plans for more such demonstrations

Expanding the Market to the Farmer –

RED Launches New Activities in Georgiaplanned by DV+ to attract more farmers to the prac-tical benefits of this modern value chain system, inwhich everyone wins,” RED says. “ RED hopesfor more types of facilities to be established in oth-er municipalities,” they add.

The RED program is one part of the value chaindevelopment assistance and support. Seven com-mercial model farms show potato growers how toincrease their production and quality while lower-ing farm production costs per metric ton. More-over, the hands-on and vocational training provid-ed by these commercial farms is expected to bene-fit an estimated 1,700 potato growers in SamtskeJavakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions of Georgia.

“Better production alone however does not leadto economic improvement for the farmer; it requiresreliable, efficient links to the market,” assumesRED. They think the first such links are the locallybased grading and packaging facilities to purchaseand move an estimated 20,000 tons of potatoes,nearly 10% of total production in these two regions,to the institutional buyers in the urban markets.

DV+LLC, founded in 2003, provides servicesto over 2,000 local farmers in the region. The com-pany is a main provider of potato seeds, fertilisers,pesticides and irrigation material. With assistancefrom the RED program, the aim is to make DV+ asignificant part of the potato business in KvemoKartli region, leading to improved market accessand revenues for local farmers and better qualityproduce for the consumer.

More and more people are using the online or-dering service foodpanda (www.foodpanda.ge).People of all ages and professions are enjoyingthis digitally advanced method of ordering foodwhen going out or spending time in the kitchenjust isn’t an option.

Foodpanda offers a secure and convenient va-riety of choice to the customer, making deliveryas comfortable as possible. And now the compa-ny is offering a fun raffle for its loyal users, whowill have a chance to become proud owners of anApple iPhone 6.

In order to participate, you will have to:Download the foodpanda application from the

App Store, Google Play, or the Windows Storefor your smartphone device. Place an orderthrough the app and use the voucher code: IP-HONEPANDA – more orders using the code givesyou more chances to win! The promotion will onlybe available through foodpanda’s mobile apps andrun until July 30th, 2015. The winner will be de-termined based on the number of orders and thesum of their expenses.

foodpanda together with its affiliated brandshellofood and Delivery Club, is the leading glo-bal online food delivery marketplace, active in38 countries on five continents. The company

Order More and Receive an

iPhone 6 from Foodpandaenables restaurants to become visible in the on-line and mobile world and provides them with aconstantly evolving online technology. For con-sumers, foodpanda/hellofood offer the conve-nience to order food online and the widest gas-tronomic range, from which they can choose theirfavorite meal on the web or via the app. food-panda operates in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Pa-kistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam,Taiwan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan,Hong Kong, Philippines, Russia, Poland,Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgiaand Serbia. hellofood operates in Brazil, Mexi-co, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Egypt,Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ivo-ry Coast, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Alge-ria. Delivery Club operates in Russia.

foodpanda is a consumer-oriented company.Using contemporary technological means like mo-bile applications, it makes food ordering muchmore simple and fun, ensuring user comfort. Over50 restaurants in Tbilisi, Mtskheta and Rustavi areready to deliver food to your doorstep when youorder froom foodpanda’s website (www.food-panda.ge) or its mobile application available forfree on iOS, Android and Windows Mobile.

www.foodpanda.ge

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HeidelbergBeton 3rd Interna-tional Quality Conference washeld on May 31 in Kvareli Re-gion. The main topic of thisyear’s Quality Conference wasResidential & Construction De-velopment. The conference wasattended by 160 representativesof the leading local and interna-tional construction companies,real estate developers, architects,specialists from building mate-rials and technology sectors, en-gineers, various international ex-perts and quality professionals,members of the Georgian Gov-ernment and Tbilisi City Hall.

One of the most importantpresenters there was Hadi Tehe-rani who is very experienced inplanning and building globalaward winning iconic projects,such as the Kölner Kranhäuserin Cologne, Zayed University inAbu Dabi, Dancing Towers inHamburg, and the Long-distanceStation at Frankfurt Airport.Among the many design awards,Hadi Teherani has been also hon-

HeidelbergCement

Georgia: Strong,

Sustainable Quality

ored with the Designpreis derBundesrepublik Deutschland, iFDesign Award and the Red DotDesign Award for Best of theBest. He is also a Neocon GoldWinner.

HeidelbergCement is the glo-bal market leader in aggregatesand a prominent player in thefields of cement, concrete andother downstream activities,making it one of the world’s larg-est manufacturers of buildingmaterials. The company employssome 52,500 people at 2,500 lo-cations in 40 countries.

At a local level, Heidelberg-Cement Georgia is a leadingBrand in the Georgian cementand concrete market. The com-pany has been carrying out itsactivities in Georgia since 2006and to date has made more than200 million Euro investmentsthat were mainly oriented on themodernization and expansion ofexisting cement plants in theconcrete business line.The com-pany supplies cement and con-

crete to almost every major con-struction project in Georgia.

Today the company operates4 cement plants with a total ca-pacity of 2 million tons of ce-ment and 10 concrete plants withoverall capacity of 500m³/h, andemploys more than 1200 peoplein Georgia.

As a global market playerHeidelbergCement has been fo-cusing on reducing dust emis-sions and climate protection.Over Euro 12 million was invest-ed for dust reduction filters inGeorgia. Moreover, the compa-ny invested money in technicaleducation, sponsored the Tech-nical University in Rustavi andpaid study fees for more than 100students. HeidelbergCement iscommitted to managing biodi-versity during and after extrac-tion and in more than 1000 quar-ries worldwide the companystrives to promote the exception-al local flora and fauna.

HeidelbergCement Georgiameets European standards in all

its fields of management andproduction activities. The com-pany is working according to 3pillars of sustainable develop-ment: Economy, Ecology andSocial Responsibility. The instal-lation of the new filters, scien-tific project “Quarry LifeAward”, charitable event“TbilisiMarathon”, projects re-lated to waste management – allare in response to HeidelbergCe-ment’s mission and sustainabledevelopment policy.

HeidelbergCement continuesits further expansion in the re-gion and due to the growth of thecement market in Georgia thecompany is planning to constructan additional kiln line in Kaspiwhich will be an investment ofaround 100mln Euros. “We areconvinced that Georgia willmake its way forward as a hubin the Caucasus region and thatthe best days of Georgia are stillto come” says Michael Hampel,General Director of Heidel-bergCement Caucasus.

Special Guest at the 3rd HeidelbergBeton International Quality Conference on Residential Construction and Development, Hadi Teherani.

ber states for the period to 2020, as wellas the plan for its implementation.

The prime ministers of CIS countriesadopted a number of documents relatingto enhanced cooperation in the field ofintellectual property, professional train-ing and skills development. In the hu-manitarian sphere issues of expansionof cooperation were discussed in theeducation field and the main cultural ac-tivities were approved for 2016-2020.

Following the Council meeting, theprime ministers met Nursultan Naz-arbayev, President of Kazakhstan. “Ihave always said and I believe that theCIS has great potential. The very meet-ing of Heads of State, their bilateral andmultilateral negotiations is of great val-ue, especially in times of global crisis,when more than ever we need to worktogether and cooperate,” stated Naz-arbaev.

Participants of the meeting signed about20 documents in total. The next meetingof the Council of CIS Heads of State willbe held in Dushanbe on October 30.

JUNE 5 - 11 1313131313BUSINESS

Aiming to help expand access to fi-nance in order to further diversify Geor-gia’s economy and boost growth, theInternational Finance Corporation (IFC),a member of the World Bank Group, hasprovided Bank of Georgia with a 10-year subordinated loan totalling $90 mil-lion, of which $20 million was providedby the European Fund for SoutheastEurope (EFSE), in order to help expandfinancial services in Georgia and increasethe flow of credit to micro, small andmedium enterprises (MSMEs).

“I am pleased to announce the com-pletion of one of the largest debt trans-actions for Bank of Georgia,” said IrakliGilauri, CEO of Bank of Georgia at theconference held on June 3. “This subor-

IFC SupporIFC SupporIFC SupporIFC SupporIFC Supports Bank ofts Bank ofts Bank ofts Bank ofts Bank of Geor Geor Geor Geor Georgia withgia withgia withgia withgia with

$90 Million Loan to Boost Gr$90 Million Loan to Boost Gr$90 Million Loan to Boost Gr$90 Million Loan to Boost Gr$90 Million Loan to Boost Grooooowthwthwthwthwth

dinated loan facility, which qualifies asTier II Capital under the Basel 2 frame-work, will improve the overall capitali-zation of the bank and support ourgrowth without compromising capitalratios. I would like to thank our long-time partner IFC for continuous collab-oration,” he continued.

The financing will help the bank toexpand its already large MSME customerbase and encourage growth in its retailbanking business. It will also contributeto the bank’s strategic goal of support-

ing entrepreneurship in Georgia.“The loan package will help Bank of

Georgia to finance more small business-es, which are a driving force for develop-ment but often lack the capital to grow,”said Jan van Bilsen, IFC Regional Man-ager for the South Caucasus. “This projectis yet another step forward in implement-ing our strategy in Georgia – one pillar ofwhich focuses on mobilizing our part-ners’ resources to help expand the finan-cial sector, boost access to finance, andreduce poverty,” he added.

By Eka Karsaulidze

Exactly four years after the first Al-maty-Tbilisi flight, Air Astana Airlineslaunched a new route that will link thecapitals of Kazakhstan and Georgia.Zurab Pataradze, Georgian AmbassadorExtraordinary and Plenipotentiary to theRepublic of Kazakhstan and YerbolOspanov, Senior Vice President Govern-ment, Regulatory Affairs and Securityof Air Astana flew by the first directflight from Astana to Tbilisi on June 2.

Since 2011, Air Astana has been op-erating regular flights between Almatyand Tbilisi five times a week and trans-ferring more than 120,000 passengers.Following a long analysis of passengerflow and tourist needs, which showedthat the interest in Georgia from Astanahas increased dramatically in the last fewyears, the company decided to launchthe new route. The service from Astanato Tbilisi is operated by an EmbraerE190 (9 Business Class/ 88 Economyclass seating configuration) every Tues-day and Saturday.

“We decided to start with flightstwice a week, but we have all opportu-nities to increase that number. Today wehave the first flight and the plane wasfilled by 98% - it is a great indicator. Forcomparison, a month ago we opened anAstana – Paris route, where we still havejust 48% of passengers. Also, last nightwe launched an Astana - Seoul flight,where we have fewer passengers again,so Tbilisi is a definitely leader,” saidOspanov

One of the most important reasonsfor opening an Astana-Tbilisi route was

Air Astana OpensAir Astana OpensAir Astana OpensAir Astana OpensAir Astana Opens

NeNeNeNeNew Rw Rw Rw Rw Route to oute to oute to oute to oute to TbilisiTbilisiTbilisiTbilisiTbilisi

the desire to meet the needs of loyal cus-tomers who had to fly frequently withtransfers. The new direct flight will savetime as well as money. According to BerikAbdrakhmanov, Country Manager ofAir Astana in Georgia, the company hasvery flexible pricing and if you purchasetickets in advance, the two way ticketprice will be around 350 USD.

Ambassador Pataradze noted that adirect flight between Astana – Tbilisiwould be a link to establishing closerrelations between the two countries.“Our countries have very close business,economic, cultural and humanitarian re-lations. Direct flights facilitate rap-prochement between the peoples andtravel opportunities for tourists andbusinessmen,” he said.

Pataradze particularly emphasized theimportance of cultural relations. “Due tothis route, soon we will have several cul-tural events. A few days ago Tbilisi Op-era and Ballet Theatre visited Astana.Soon we are going to hold Georgian days,a Wine Festival, and arrange exhibitions,film screenings and other cultural eventsin the capital of Kazakhstan, so this di-rect flight to Astana will greatly supportus,” stated the Ambassador.

“We are very pleased that Air As-tana, the leading airline in Central Asia,will carry out flights on the route As-tana-Tbilisi-Astana from today,” saidMete Erkal, General Manager of TAVGeorgia. “We welcome any new direc-tions to Tbilisi and Batumi Internation-al Airports, because new routes alwayscontribute to tourism development in thecountry and significantly increase thenumber of visitors.”

The traditional Caspian Oil and Gasconference, a key event in the oil and gasindustry in the region, was held in Bakuon June 3-4.

Caspian Oil and Gas has become arecognized international platform. Overmore than 20 years, it has brought to-gether the highest-level leaders to dis-cuss the key oil and gas projects andenergy security in the Caspian region.The annual conference this year was at-tended by over 500 delegates from morethan 30 countries, more than 50 repre-

22nd Caspian Oil & Gas Inter22nd Caspian Oil & Gas Inter22nd Caspian Oil & Gas Inter22nd Caspian Oil & Gas Inter22nd Caspian Oil & Gas Internananananationaltionaltionaltionaltional

Conference Held in BakuConference Held in BakuConference Held in BakuConference Held in BakuConference Held in Baku

sentatives of government agencies, lead-ing experts in the oil and gas industry,and the heads of major oil and gas com-panies from around the world.

The plenary session’s theme was“The role of Azerbaijan in energy secu-rity in Eurasia.” Natig Aliyev - the Min-ister of Energy of Azerbaijan, RovnagAbdullayev – the President of SOCARand many other guests spoke at the con-ference. President of Azerbaijan IlhamAliyev also attended the opening cere-mony.

Caspian Oil and Gas 2015’s maintopics were the expansion of interna-tional cooperation in oil and gasprojects, financing and sustainable de-velopment of major oil and gas projects,the diversification of oil and gas trans-portation from the Caspian region, theexpansion of the energy resource baseand opening up new opportunities, en-vironmental security in the Caspian re-gion, the review of petrochemical andoil refining in Azerbaijan and develop-ment prospects.

The Prime Ministers of the Com-monwealth of Independent States (CIS)discussed a wide range of issues of inte-gration cooperation and signed a num-ber of important intergovernmental doc-uments in Astana on May 29.

The Council of CIS Heads of Statemeet biannually in order to coordinatethe cooperation of executive bodies ineconomic, social, and other common ar-

CIS Heads Sign JCIS Heads Sign JCIS Heads Sign JCIS Heads Sign JCIS Heads Sign Joint Documentsoint Documentsoint Documentsoint Documentsoint Documents

eas of interest. The heads of all membercountries, except for Ukraine, attendedthe latest meeting.

The participants considered and ap-proved the joint actions plan of CIScountries in the financial and economicsphere, approved the strategy of trans-port security in CIS territories, and dis-cussed the concept of inter-regional andcross-border cooperation of CIS mem-

Reviving Damaged Forest

in Borjomi RegionBy Nino Melikishvili

During the five-day war in August2008, an area of natural forest in cen-tral Georgia’s Borjomi region sufferedmajor burn damage. Now, Borjomi re-gion is being brought back to life.

More than 168,000 new trees haveso far been planted on 80 hectares ofarea in Borjomi region following thevisit by an investigative commisionconducted in order to study the situa-tion. Georgia’s Ministry of Enviro-mental and Natural Resources is alsoworking to give new strength to the

forest that was destroyed during theRussian-Georgian war through itsBiodiversity Strategy and Action Plan(NBSAP) which involves collabora-tion with a number of nongovernmen-tal and governmental organizations, re-search and academic institutes, inter-national organizations and foreign andGeorgian experts.

Borjomi is a resort town in South-central Georgia. It’s warm climate,mineral water springs and forests havemade Borjomi a favorite summer re-sort and gave it its popular name of“the Pearl of the Caucasus”.

By Eka Karsaulidze

Corporation Georgian Wine LTD(CGW), one of the leading wine com-panies in the country, gathered its for-eign partners to celebrate its 15th anni-versary in Tsinandali village, Telavi re-gion, on May 30. The company’s repre-sentatives and guests were able to makechurchkhela, Georgian bread, and dis-cuss the CGW’s achievements and fu-ture plans.

Corporation Georgian Wine was es-tablished in 1999 by Dimitri Nozadze,a person who felt great love and respectfor Georgian wine and national tradi-tions. He set a goal to take wine abroadand give the whole world the opportu-nity to fall just as in love with it. Duringits history, the company has been en-gaged in exports, promoting the prod-ucts not only in post-Soviet countries,but also in America, China and Europe.

“Our wines appeared in a few bou-tique shops in Georgia, but they did notlast long. Our main clients are foreignersand we believe that it is particularly im-portant for promoting our wines abroadand getting [foreigners] familiar with ourtraditions,” said Maia Metreveli, Head ofMarketing and Sales Department of theCorporation Georgian Wine.

CGW’s factory is located inTsinandali village – the cradle of Geor-gian winemaking. From the first day, thecompany use the European technologyof wine production, and the factory it-self is equipped with the latest machines.Since 2012 CGW has also updated the

entire range of technology in its factory.According to Metreveli, modern tech-nologies are a guarantee of quality.

“Although we cannot ignore theneeds of the market. In recent years,wines from Qvevri (Georgian clay ves-sel) have become very popular, so in afew years I think we will be able to ex-pand and will have this kind of wine aswell,” she explained.

“Besides high quality equipment, wealso need excellent grapes for a goodwine. The company cares about its or-ganic state and carefully monitors it atall stages through the year. As a result,CGW produces 16- sorts of wine thatare bottled in different series. In 2014around 3 million bottles were releasedfor export.”

A variety of types of wine and seriesallows CGW to meet the needs of anycustomer. Metreveli said that despite thefact that the cost of grapes themselvesincreased in 2014 and also affected wineprices, the company continues to oper-ate and expand its market.

“For sure, the current economic cri-sis has lead to big problems. Exports ofwine in general declined, but our com-pany did not stop working; we have re-liable partners with whom we have longterm cooperation, so I think we will beable to overcome this crisis,” Metrevelistated.

One way out of the crisis is to findalternative markets. It is quite difficultto introduce and Georgian wine in Eu-rope, due the fact they have their ownwines, but progress can still be seen. The

JUNE 5 - 11 1515151515BUSINESS

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main indicator is CGW’s victories atvarious exhibitions. Recently, the 2012Mukuzani, series “Mikitani” by CGW,won the gold medal at the prestigiouscompetition Mundus Vini InternationalWine Award 2015 in Germany. AndSaperavi 2013 series “Mikitani” won thebronze prize at the IWSC 2015 (Inter-national Wine&Spirit Competition) inLondon.

“These victories are important for theEuropean market as they are a guaran-tee of quality. We also regularly partici-pate in exhibitions around the world. Forexample, every year take part in the larg-est Wine Exhibition in Dusseldorf. Andwe are very pleased to notice that inter-est in Georgian wines clearly increasedduring the last 2-3 years,” saidMetreveli.

WinExpo Georgia 2015 is also animportant platform for attracting newcustomers and markets, because manydistributors from different countriescome to Tbilisi on June 5. CGW willtraditionally take part in it, and the com-pany hopes that this year everything willbe successful and that it will contributeto the development and popularisationof Georgian wine in the world.

By Baia Dzagnidze

Uniting people, nations and culturesfor peace and a sustainable future hasbeen the mission for United World Col-leges (UWC) since its foundation in1962, which has spread across 15schools worldwide with more than50,000 alumni, including UWC DilijanCollege in Armenia.

Opened last year, UWC DilijanCollege in Armenia, is the first academicinstitution in Eastern Europe and the CISto join the UWC network and in its firstyear welcomed 96 students from 48countries, of which 2 were Georgian, 8Russian and 10 Armenian. It providesinstruction to students aged 16-19 inEnglish under the International Bacca-laureate (IB) Diploma Program recog-nized by the world’s best universities.

Founded by Ruben Vardanyan andVeronika Zonabend, with the support of

ArArArArArmenia menia menia menia menia WWWWWelcomes Firelcomes Firelcomes Firelcomes Firelcomes First Interst Interst Interst Interst Internananananational Boartional Boartional Boartional Boartional Boarding Scding Scding Scding Scding Schoolhoolhoolhoolhool

SOCIETY

other founding donors, the biggest ad-vantage of the college is being a large-scale philanthropic initiative makingstudy available to anyone, regardless oftheir socio-economic background.

John Puddefoot, the Founding Head ofthe college, explains that the reason forbringing such a school to Armenia is toset a world class benchmark in this part ofthe world, as well as becoming a ‘win-dow’ for the rest of the world to look intothe region. He also noted that expenditureon the school’s construction came entirelyfrom charitable donations, totalling $115million. Meanwhile, the school’s operat-ing budget over the next five years willaverage $8 million annually.

Covering 88 hectares of land, UWCDilijan College is partially locatedwithin Dilijan National Park, creating aperfect environment for educational pur-poses together with outstanding designand all the necessary equipment and in-

frastructure including a medical center,outdoor and indoor sports facilities andperforming arts center.

Tuition fees for UWC Dilijan cost$35,000 per year. However, as theschool is founded on donations, it canoffer full scholarships for certain stu-dents. For instance, 58 students of thecurrent 96 were on 100% grants thisacademic year.

Daria Brodnikovskaya, representa-tive of UWC National Committees inRussia, Armenia and Georgia, states thatthere were four places opened for Geor-gian students last year who were as-signed to three different colleges: twoto UWC Dilijan, and one to UWC Rob-ert Bosch College in Germany and oneto UWC Atlantic College in the UK.

“In 2015 seven more Georgian stu-dents will join the UWC community tostudy a 2-year IB Diploma Program.Three students will begin their studies

at UWC Dilijan and one at each of fourdifferent colleges: UWC Adriatic inItaly, UWC Maastricht in the Nether-lands, UWC Pearson College in Canadaand UWC Robert Bosch College in Ger-many,” she continued.

The reason for the small number ofplaces being offered to Georgian citi-zens, is the lack of donations from Geor-gian donors.

Puddefoot states that the college has25 lecturers from 10 different countries,of which 11 have previously taught inother UWC colleges. However, as 96other students are coming in August

2015, there will be a need to add to thefaculty. While talking about the campus,he notes that gradually the capacity ofthe college will increase, accommodat-ing up to 252 students.

It should be mentioned that theschool grounds were designed by a lead-ing, London-based architectural firmand built from environmentally-friendlymaterials, and is fitted with the latesttechnology. Due to this, the college hasbeen recognized by BREEAM – one ofthe world’s finest standards for sustain-able construction, making it the firstcertified “green” building in Armenia.

JUNE 5 - 11 1717171717SOCIETY

By Joseph Larsen

We live in troubled times. Technologi-cal changes are drastically altering the glo-bal economic landscape, and not in waysthat obviously benefit working people.Gone are the post-war fixtures of large in-dustries, generous benefits, and healthyannual wage hikes. As innovations intelecoms and robotics make more profes-sions obsolete, the phrase “job security”sounds more like sentimentality than real-ity. Young people around the world arestruggling to find their place in an economythat seemingly doesn’t want them.

But there is a silver lining amidst allthe gloom and doom. The new, post-in-dustrial economy creates as much as itdestroys, and the internet has openedlimitless doors for creative, enterprising,tech-savvy individuals. Fortunately forTbilisi-based role playing game creatorMark Rein-Hagen, he came to under-stand the creative economy long beforeit became a cliche.

“Any job worth doing requires cre-ativity. If you’re creative, you’ll be ableto do anything,” Mark tells me as wechat in the office that doubles as hisapartment. Two employees type away oncomputers. Role playing games, cards,children’s toys and books in several lan-guages – both fantasy and non – givethe room an air of comfortable clutter.

Mark learned early in life that hewanted to spend his life creating roleplaying games and fantasy content. Thebeginning of this story, in fact, is a clichéitself. One weekend, the then-adolescent’s father (a small-town Min-nesota Lutheran minister and theolo-gian) invited a colleague over for Sun-

day dinner. After the meal the guestasked if father and son would like to playDungeons and Dragons. Father ap-proved, and son never looked back: “Iknew at that exact moment what Iwanted to do with my life. I immedi-ately started designing my own adven-tures. I started what is now my career.”

Mark Rein-Hagen had a dream, andthat was to go to Hollywood, work as awriter, and see his boundless imagina-tion come to life on screen. Most peoplestruggle well into their 30s before find-ing professional success, if ever. Suc-cess came fairly early for Mark Rein-Hagen. His first release, a role-playinggame called Ars Magica, came during

Meet MarMeet MarMeet MarMeet MarMeet Mark Rk Rk Rk Rk Rein-Haein-Haein-Haein-Haein-Hagggggen,en,en,en,en,

Tbilisi’Tbilisi’Tbilisi’Tbilisi’Tbilisi’s Rs Rs Rs Rs Resident Game Masteresident Game Masteresident Game Masteresident Game Masteresident Game Masterhis undergraduate studies at Saint OlafCollege in Minnesota. It took him ninemonths to create.

In 1991, four years after his debutrelease, he dropped a bomb on the gam-ing industry. His second game, Vampire:The Masquerade, became an instant fix-ture in the RPG canon and left a lastingmark on the entertainment industry.When asked about this seminal work inthe vampire lit genre, Mark gushed.“This was a huge breakthrough,” hesaid. “It had a major effect on what cameafter. Twilight takes a lot from it.Stephanie Meyer was a player.”

Still in his early 20s, Mark had madea name for himself while getting closerto his dream of working in Hollywood.Then finally his big break came. Helanded a job writing for Kindred: TheEmbraced, a FOX TV series that ran foreight episodes in 1996. The show wasloosely based on Vampire: The Mas-querade, but Mark wasn’t happy withthe finished product. FOX’s producershad their own vision for the series. Avision that Mark didn’t agree with: “Theshow wasn’t as good as it could havebeen, if they only had listened to memore.” He worked in Hollywood forfour years total, but eventually becamedisillusioned. Fed up with the produc-tion process and tough slog of makingit as a writer, he decided to leave it be-hind. “It was the goal of my life, but fi-nally I just left,” he says.

Mark shows me some of the thingshe and his various companies (now theCEO of Make-Believe Games, he waspreviously co-owner of White Wolf Gam-ing Studio) have created over the years.There are graphic books, endless piles of

game cards, even videos. Curious as tohow someone goes from rural Minnesotato Hollywood, then to Tbilisi, I probe himabout his personal life. Mark and his wife,who is Georgian, met in New York. Af-ter marrying, the couple planned to settlein San Francisco, but ultimately endedup in Tbilisi. “I thought we would movehere for a year. That was eight years ago.”

As someone with an innate understand-ing of creativity and dynamism, Mark wasa perfect fit for his new home. The new,post-Rose Revolution Georgia was in themiddle of a rapid social transformation, andMikheil Sakaashvili’s government wasbringing in foreigners to spur along the pro-cess. Mark found himself working as a con-

sultant for Sakaashvili’s United NationalMovement. The experience gave him aninside look at the political process. It alsohad a major impact on his creative career,inspiring him to create Democracy: Ma-jority Rules, a board game released in 2014.

Touted by reviewers as a game of“debate, diplomacy and deal-making,”Democracy is the manifestation ofMark’s views on politics. “I was work-ing for Misha [Sakaashvili]. Almost ev-eryone I knew was in the opposition.Everyone seemed to think that democ-

racy means that one party gets into of-fice and then does whatever it wants.Then another party gets into office anddoes whatever it wants. I wrote the gameto articulate my vision of democracy.”

What is that vision? “An ongoing,never-ending series of deals.” Mark andMake-Believe Games intended for thegame to be equal parts education andentertainment, seeing it as a potentialteaching tool for school civics courses.While Democracy is his only game withan overtly political theme, he remarkedthat “all my games, in the end, are aboutpolitics.”

Speaking of politics, Mark’s back-ground as a business owner and former

By David Lolishvili

Giffoni Film Festival is truly a dreamcome true to all the teenagers who planto dedicate their lives to cinema. TheGiffoni experience not only involvescinematographic development but manyother necessary skills, like givingspeeches in front of huge audiences,which could be quite challenging (imag-ine standing in front of 3000 participantsand you can see a Hollywood actor onthe stage; everyone’s expecting you tosay something important and you haveto ask the question, even if your mind isspinning, because over 1000 jury mem-

WWWWWhahahahahat is Gift is Gift is Gift is Gift is Giffffffoni?oni?oni?oni?oni?bers are fighting over the microphoneyou’re holding!).

Giffoni also provides opportunitiesto make lifelong friendships with peoplefrom across the globe. Jury memberswatch a film at the beginning of eachday, followed by a discussion about thefilm. Participants can express their opin-ions openly and address questions di-rectly to a director. Films themselves areage appropriate and based on the psy-chology of the audience. After a hardday of work, jury members can then at-tend wonderful concerts, creative artfests and much more. Giffoni is 10 daysin film paradise!

political consultant makes him uniquelyqualified to comment on Georgia’s cur-rent situation. When I pressed him onthe issue, his perspective as a foreignerand international businessman camethrough bright and clear: “The economyis stagnating. Developing countries needcontinuous growth. It’s not entirely thecurrent government’s fault, but the newvisa regime is a huge problem.”

I asked if the visa issue, which hasmade life difficult for thousands ofwould-be investors and students over thepast year, had created problems for hisbusiness. His answer was surprising notfor its content, but for its urgency: “Nowwe’re totally thinking about [leaving].”Make Believe Games has been based inGeorgia for eight years, but the newregulations are creating unprecedentedproblems. “One employee had to returnto Denmark.”

Mark Rein-Hagen always has politicson his mind, but the next creation by

Make-Believe Games is more personalthan political. I AM ZOMBIE, scheduledfor release later this year, presents theorigin story of a race of zombies calledthe Amirani. According to the game’saccompanying literature, the Amirani hailfrom right here in Georgia.

Mark created characters modeled af-ter his creative team members andfriends in Georgia. When the game isreleased, don’t be surprised to see somezombified versions of familiar faces. ButI Am Zombie is much more than a cel-ebration of Mark’s adventures in Geor-gia. It has an agenda: “I want to bringtourists to Georgia.”

In the nearly three decades since hisdebut release, Mark Rein-Hagen’s careerhas taken him to Hollywood, Tbilisi, andeverywhere in between. On a final note,I asked this experienced creative guru toassess his current abilities. He didn’t holdback: “I’ve never been more creative anddedicated. I’m at the top of my game!”

CULTURE

JUNE 5 - 111818181818 SOCIETY

Georgia Celebrates International Children’s Dayther enhanced by numerous fairytale characters,singing and dancing.

Ten months after its establishment in July 2014,the Solidarity Fund has gathered more than 2.6million GEL and financed 97 young cancer-patients.The costs of treatments for 57 patients in Georgiaand 40 patients in international clinics in Germa-ny, Israel, France and Turkey have been fully fundedby the organization.

Garibashvili congratulated the children andwished them happiness, well being and health.

“Today is an extraordinary day. I’m seeing chil-dren and their parents happy, which makes me be-lieve that life is only going forward. We managedto give them the support they needed and that makesme especially happy. Kindness is contagious,” saidthe PM during the events.

Simultaneously, Georgia’s President GiorgiMargvelashvili, along his wife Maka Chachua,marked International Children’s Day at the MziuriPark in Tbilisi, and visited an Infant House.

By Nini Gegidze

Sun Festival “We See the Sun,” enjoyed its 10year anniversary on June 1st, marking the Interna-tional Day for the Protection of Children. On theday, as per tradition, the “Mzis Festival” (Sun Fes-tival) opened its doors to host juniors as well asadults at the Children’s City in Mziuri

Park, Vake, created by well-known writer No-dar Dumbadze in 1982. Guests were welcomed bya Sun-doll accompanied with characters from dif-ferent fairy-tales. The festival was founded by pho-tographer Ana Goguadze 10 years ago with the aimof turning Mziuri into Nodar Dumbadze’s originaldream-city with babbling kids running around andthe air full of overwhelming happiness. Like thesun, which gives its warm to everyone equally, theproject also aims to involve disabled children in anactive social life and to develop public social aware-ness. The Sun Festival has many supporters amongpublic authorities as well as the private sector. Since

Sun Festival Shines in Georgia

In celebration of International Children’s Dayvarious speeches, parties and programs revolvingaround children were held in Tbilisi, Georgia.

On June 1, populations around the globe cele-brate International Children’s Day and honour theiryoungest members.

In Georgia, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashviliand his family invited dozens of children living withcancer and their families to a special celebration ata Tbilisi park.

Children who had received cancer treatment fi-nanced by the state-initiated Solidarity Fund wereable to enjoy the celebratory mood that was fur-

2011, mobile company Geocell has been a co-or-ganizer and devoted friend to the Festival, hencethe purple colour of the Geocell brand amongst thesunny yellow of sun city “Mziuri.” This year Pres-ident of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili attended thefestival with his wife and interacted playfully withthe children.

JUNE 5 - 11 1919191919CULTURE

GABRIADZE THEATREAddress: 13 Shavtelis St.Telephone: 2 98 65 93

June 5THE AUTUMN OF MY SPRINGDirected by Rezo GabriadzeEnglish SubtitlesStart time: 20:00Ticket price: 10, 15 Lari

June 6, 7, 11RAMONADirected by Rezo GabriadzeEnglish SubtitlesStart time: 20:00Ticket price: 10, 15 Lari

MOVEMENT THEATREAddress: 182, Aghmashenebeli Ave.,Mushthaid parkTelephone: 599 555 260

June 5, 7SILENCE PLEASE, IT’S A REHEARSALDirected by Kakha BakuradzeStart time: 20:30Ticket price: From 7 lari

GEORGIAN STATE PANTOMIMETHEATRE

Address: 37 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 2 99 63 14

June 5TERENTI GRANELIRevaz MishveladzeDirected by Amiran ShalikashviliStart time: 19:00Ticket price: 5 Lari

June 9ST. GEORGERevaz MishveladzeDirected by Amiran ShalikashviliStart time: 19:00Ticket price: 5 Lari

SOUTH CAUCASUSCONTEMPORARY DANCE

FESTIVAL IN TBILISIAddress: Europe House, 1, Freedom sq.

June 5SOUTH CAUCASUSCONTEMPORARYCHOREOGRAPHERSStart time: 18:00Ticket price: 7-15 LariVenue: Rustaveli Theatre

June 6THEATRE BALLET MOSCOWAND BELORUSSIAN DANCECOMPANY SKVO ANDGEORGIAN CHOREOGRAPHERSStart time: 18:00Ticket price: 7-15 LariVenue: Rustaveli Theatre

June 07“ACTS” PERFORMANCE BYAURORA LUBOS, POLAND.Start time: 19:00Ticket price: 7-15 LariVenue: Europe House, 1, Freedom sq.

AMIRANI CINEMAAddress: 36 Kostava St.Telephone: 299 99 55www.kinoafisha.ge

June 5-11SPYDirected by Paul FeigCast: Melissa McCarthy, RoseByrne, Jude LawGenre: Action, ComedyLanguage: EnglishStart time: 19:30Language: RussianStart time: 12:00, 14:35, 17:10,19:50, 22:30Ticket price: 7.30 – 12:30 Lari

SAN ANDREAS 3DDirected by Brad PeytonCast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino,Alexandra DaddarioGenre: Action, Drama, ThrillerLanguage: RussianStart time: 16:45, 22:25Ticket price: 9.50 – 10.50 Lari

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Directed by George MillerCast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron,Nicholas HoultGenre: Action, Adventure, Sci-FiLanguage: RussianStart time: 14:05Ticket price: 8.50 – 9.50 Lari

TOMORROWLANDDirected by Brad BirdCast: George Clooney, BrittRobertson, Hugh LaurieGenre: Action, Adventure, MysteryLanguage: RussianStart time: 12:00, 14:50Ticket price: 7.50 – 9.50 Lari

INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3Directed by Leigh WhannellCast: Dermot Mulroney, StefanieScott, Angus SampsonGenre: HorrorLanguage: RussianStart time: 17:35, 19:45, 22:30Ticket price: 9.50 – 12.50 Lari

RUSTAVELI CINEMAAddress: 5 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 255 50 00www.kinoafisha.ge

June 5-11THE AGE OF ADALINEDirected by Lee Toland KriegerCast: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman,Harrison FordGenre: Drama, RomanceLanguage: RussianStart time: 17;15Ticket price: 9.50 – 10.50 Lari

LOST IN KARASTANDirected by Ben HopkinsCast: Matthew Macfadyen, MyAnnaBuring, Noah TaylorGenre: ComedyLanguage: RussianStart time: 16:00Ticket price: 9.50 – 10.50 Lari

SPY(Info Above)Language: Russian

THEATRE

WHAT'S ON IN TBILISI

Start time: 12:00, 14:40, 16:35,19:40, 22:30Ticket price: 7:30 – 12:30 Lari

SAN ANDREAS 3D(Info Above)Language: RussianStart time: 14:45, 20:00, 22:20Ticket price: 9.50 – 10.50 Lari

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD(Info Above)Language: RussianStart time: 16:55, 19:45Ticket price: 9.50 – 10.50 Lari

TOMORROWLAND(Info Above)Language: RussianStart time: 14:05, 14:50Ticket price: 7.50 – 9.50 Lari

INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3(Info Above)Language: RussianStart time: 12:00, 14:15, 17:20,19:45, 22:30Ticket price: 7.50 – 12.50 Lari

IOSEB GRISHASHVILI TBILISIHISTORY MUSEUM - KARVASLAAddress: 8 Sioni St.Telephone: 2 98 22 81

May 18 - June 16ON THE OCCASION OF THEINTERNATIONAL DAY OFMUSEUMS, THE GRISHASHVILITBILISI HISTORY MUSEUMPRESENTS EXHIBITION“SERGO PARAJANOVI - 21STCENTURY DREAM”.

THE NATIONAL GALLERYAddress: 11 Rustaveli Ave.www.museum.ge

June 3-17EXHIBITION “MAELSTROM:FRANZ MARK, GERMANEXPRESSIONISM ANDMODERNISM IN GEORGIA”On June 5 at 5 pm. - Ketevan

Kintsurashvili report on theexhibition.On June 13 at 3 pm. - Workshop“Franz Marc - animal” (for children8-13 yrs.).Author and curator: KetevanKintsurashvili.

SIMON JANASHIA MUSEUMOF GEORGIA

Address: 3 Rustaveli Ave.Telephone: 2 99 80 22

ARCHAEOLOGICAL TREASURE

ART PALACEAddress: 6 Kargareteli st.Telephone: 295 19 00

May 18 – July 18ART PALACE PRESENTSTHE EXHIBITIONUNIQUE TREASURE FROMDADIANI PALACE

6TH KAVKAZ JAZZ FESTIVAL2015

June 5JOANNA SLOWINSKA/ArchipelagoPolandNARINE & IMAGINE BANDArmeniaVenue: Movement Theatre, MushtaidGardenStart time: 20:00

June 6PAPIRAGIO BANDGeorgia-GermanyPapuna Sharikadze, Giorgi Kiknadze,Irakli CholadzeNEVCIVAN ÖZEL PROJECTTurkeyVenue: Movement Theatre, MushtaidGardenStart time: 20:00

June 7IRIAOGeorgiaAFGAN RASUL TRIOAzerbaijanGRAND JAM SESSIONVenue: CLUB 33A, Vake ParkStart time: 19:30

CINEMAMUSIC

MUSEUM

By Nino Melikishvili

Exciting news for those who loveJazz: the 6th annual Kavkaz Jazz Fes-tival is ready to go! Running from 4 to7 June, the Kavkaz Jazz Festival, tak-ing place in Georgia’s capital city, is setto host a plethora of young musiciansfrom around the Caucasus region andEurope.

The 6th annual Kavkaz

Jazz Festival in TbilisiYoung and well-known folk jazz

musicians from Armenia, Azerbaijan,Georgia Germany, Poland and Turkeywill this year take part in the festivaland perform in Tbilisi during the fourdays of the festival.

One of the rising jazz stars from theSouth Caucasus, Narine Povlatyan, willbe performing with Armenian band“Imagine”. Afgan Rasul, a Baku pianist,

The Ministry of Culture and Monu-ment Protection of Georgia and TheFolklore State Center of Georgia com-bined forces to hold the very first Geor-gian folk songs and traditional chant fes-tival for children and adults, in celebra-tion of International Children’s Day.

The number of participants was sur-prisingly high, with over 500 youngfolk singers showing interest and dedi-cation towards Georgian folk music.Among the audience we could easilyrecognize some professional folk mu-sic performers who willingly sharedtheir experiences with the youngdebutants. The festival has multipleobjectives, such as extending interesttowards traditional Georgian music inthe younger generation as well as re-viving local territories like those in theconflict zone.

Mr. Giorgi Gabunia, Deputy Ad-ministrator of the Folklore State Cen-ter of Georgia has announced that theconservation of traditional values suchas music is exceptionally important toGeorgians in the process of globaliza-tion. Music was not the only priorityof the festival, as an exhibition and saleof local art pieces was held near thefestival area.

Niqozi is also host of an annual ani-mation festival and now the number oflocal and exciting events has been raisedas the folk and traditional song festivalgained annual form and will draw at-tention for many years to come.

Niqozi 2015-Niqozi 2015-Niqozi 2015-Niqozi 2015-Niqozi 2015-

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TTTTTrrrrraditionsaditionsaditionsaditionsaditions

will also perform at the festival, as wellas famous Polish folk singer JoannaSlowinska, considered the modern faceof Polish traditional music.

From Georgia there will be Vake Parkand Georgian ethno Jazz Band Stumrebi.What’s more, three young Georgianmusicians, Papuna Sharikadze, IrakliCholadze and Giorgi Kiknadze will taketo the stage as the Papiragio Trio and

perform modern Jazz on behalf of Ger-many, where they are based.

Encouraging exchanges of experiencebetween jazz musicians from theCaucasus and Europe, and giving jazzaudiences the opportunity to listen tonew jazz talent of the region, is the mainmission of the festival, which has beensuccessfully implemented for the pastsix years.

JUNE 5 - 11 2121212121SOCIETY

By Tony Hanmer

The renovation guys have come andgone again, after dire phone warningsfrom us that they were late and the tour-ist season was starting. Literally a coupleof hours before, eleven men fromLithuania arrived for a night, the upstairswas completed enough for them to oc-cupy several rooms in their wallpapered,parqueted splendour. The next morningthey breakfasted, then hit the road onfoot towards Mazeri, the top of the vil-lage of Becho. I hoped that the forecastpatchy rain wouldn’t either dampen theirspirits or veil their view of Ushba’ssouthern peak, which can be spectacu-lar from the pass.

That interlude aside, the renovationcontinued, as many hours a day as wasnecessary, with little time for sympathyas May was nearly over, never mindApril.

At one point, admiring the work(which is really very good quality), I saidthat I had literally hundreds of photo-graphs waiting to be printed, framed andhung. There would be a separate worldlocation for each room as a theme, draw-ing on my 37 years as a photographer.Zimbabwe, Venice, the UK, Canada,Russia, all likely room choices. It wouldall be tied together by the house’s ac-tual location, Svaneti, running throughthe corridors and connecting them all.

Hang it All: Etseri, SvanetiHang it All: Etseri, SvanetiHang it All: Etseri, SvanetiHang it All: Etseri, SvanetiHang it All: Etseri, Svaneti

SO... don’t neglect the gallery rails,guys, that’s what they’re for!

What I was trying to say was that thishas been my dream for as long as I’vethought about owning my own house: thatit would also be my own gallery. No nailholes in the walls, just these rails fromwhich, by hooks and wire or string, I canhang anything I want, and even changeexhibitions as often as necessary too.

They got the message without fur-ther persuasion that the whole thing isjust a backdrop for the hanging appara-tus, no offence, and obligingly put upmy rails as almost the last item.

I’ll likely include some otherpeople’s work. I have a great longCaucasus panorama by the great VittorioSella; and some other 19th century workfrom an ancestor of mine, portraits bythe equally great Julia MargaretCameron, who might just end up on thenew UK 20-pound note.

There will be room for the displayof art or craft work from local peopletoo, so this could be somewhere forschoolchildren’s best art to go, for ex-ample. It could even be for sale, whynot? They seem to be good at needle-work and relief woodcarving.

I started collecting antique woodenwindow frames from abandoned housesin the area some years ago, hoping toturn these into born-again frames for mySvaneti photos. Some sanding and var-nishing and they’ll be as good as old.Alongside these, the odd local horseshoewhich I also collect from the ground,very rough but with a charm all of theirown. Anything I’d like to hang, in short,as long as I can persuade my wife thatI’m not crazy.

It was quite a job to choose wallpa-per, ceiling paper, floor boards, skirtingboards and doors to put these rooms to-gether... while visiting various shops inTbilisi (not just one) selling these items.Imagining how it would all fit together,trying to visualize the whole thing. Go-ing for some colour, mostly muted

browns and greens, hues which wouldwork well together in a calming atmo-sphere and not draw too much attentionto themselves and away from the arteverywhere. It seems to have worked; Ithink I pulled it off. My wife couldn’tbe with me, but she trusted me, she said,and seems to be very happy with the fin-ished look.

She even retracted a statement, onseeing blues and yellows together in tilesfor one bathroom, that she could nolonger trust my colour sense. I decided

Tony Hanmer runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now withover 1000 members, atwww.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/ .He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri:www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti

not to say anything at the time, and letthe results speak for themselves. Theyhave done so, and she has lapsed oncemore into accepting my judgements.

It will take some time (because of theexpense) to get everything printed,framed, delivered and hung; there mightbe well over a hundred items, large andsmall. But the dream is one huge stepcloser to reality: the Tony Hanmer Gal-lery, Etseri, Upper Svaneti. Be assured,I’ll let you know when it’s open. Wineand cheese on me.

CULTURE

By Nini Gegidze

The Sukhishvilebi National BalletEnsemble have demonstrated Georgia’sancient folk and culture near one of themost magnificent places in the world.The breathtaking view of the great pyra-mids of Giza and the fascinating twohour dance program of the GeorgianNational Ballet together combined tomake a spectacular show and embodiedthe ongoing story of the Georgian spirit.The special concert was proposed bythe Embassy of Georgia in Egypt to beheld on May 26 to mark Georgia’s Dayof Independence. The concert was at-tended by more than 3000 people includ-ing high officials, public figures andEgyptian media representatives. Theconcert was opened by Archil Dzulia-shvili, the Ambassador of Georgia toEgypt, who described the Georgian folkconcert as a vital event that celebratedthe friendly relations between Egypt andGeorgia, while promoting tourism be-tween the two nations at the same time.

UnfUnfUnfUnfUnforororororgggggettaettaettaettaettabbbbble Ple Ple Ple Ple Perferferferferfororororormance ofmance ofmance ofmance ofmance of

SukhishvileSukhishvileSukhishvileSukhishvileSukhishvilebi abi abi abi abi at the Pyrt the Pyrt the Pyrt the Pyrt the Pyramids in Egamids in Egamids in Egamids in Egamids in Egyptyptyptyptypt

The Georgian National Ballet, thefirst professional state dance companyin Georgia, was founded by Iliko Sukhi-shvili and Nino Ramishvili in 1945 andwas initially named The Georgian StateDance Company. The Georgian Na-tional Ballet has been represented bymany well-known global impresariosand companies and has appeared at theAlbert Hall, The Coliseum, The Metro-politan Opera, Madison Square, anddozens of other famous venues. Duringtheir Broadway tour, the performance ofthe National Ballet of Georgia wasnamed the performance of the year andthe ensemble itself – the best show ofthe year. In Australia, the company washailed as the “8th wonder of the world”!

During its existence the ensemble hasbeen on more than 500 tours across 5continents, with around 90 countries andover 10000 performances. Meanwhile,last July, Georgia’s Ministry of Cultureannounced 2015 as the year of Sukhi-shvilebi for its contribution to promot-ing Georgian culture.

By Tatia Megeneishvili

Georgia celebrated the annual festi-val Galaktionoba, dedicated to Georgianpoet Galaktion Tabidze, for the seventhtime on May 30 in Tchkvishi village inVani municipality.

Organized by Mtatsminda Moon (anorganization named after one ofTabidze’s poems) and the Ministry ofCulture and Monument Protection ofGeorgia, the event was held on Tabidze’s123 year anniversary in the format of acompetition and includedstudents of all accrediteduniversities and schools aswell as professional artists,all of whom created workson the topic of Tabidze’spoetry.

Other competitionswere held separatelyamong students and partici-pants (under 30s) in differ-ent nominations, such as

GeorGeorGeorGeorGeorgia Celegia Celegia Celegia Celegia Celebrbrbrbrbraaaaates Galaktionobates Galaktionobates Galaktionobates Galaktionobates Galaktionoba

verse readings, creating pictures inspiredby Tabidze’s poems, literature sketchesdedicated to Tabize and so on.

The winners received tomes ofTabidze’s poems, diplomas and a vari-ety of other prizes.

The festival also included horse rac-ing, Polo games and a concert by GioDzamukashvili and band Nikolshow.

Tabidze is a leading Georgian poetof the twentieth century whose writingsprofoundly influenced all subsequentgenerations of Georgian poets. He sur-

vived Joseph Stalin’s GreatPurge of the 1930s, whichclaimed the lives of many ofhis fellow writers, friendsand relatives, but came un-der heavy pressure from theSoviet authorities. Thoseyears plunged him into de-pression and alcoholism. Hewas placed in a psychiatrichospital in Tbilisi where helater committed suicide.

By Alastair Watt

Following Georgia’s respectable 2-0 defeat to world champions Germanyat the end of March, the first competi-tive match of Kakha Tskhadadze’s reignas head coach, there were whispers ofencouragement and a sense that thecountry may be able to halt its alarmingslide into international backwater status.

Tskhadadze, who is now exclusivelythe national head coach after a brief pe-riod of combining this with the InterBaku job, now faces a double header ofdifficult matches, a friendly againstUkraine in Linz, Austria on June 9 fol-lowed by a Euro 2016 qualifier againstPoland in Warsaw on June 13.

Nevertheless, the matches offer anopportunity to build upon the positivitygenerated by a perfectly acceptable per-formance in the defeat to the Germans.

Tskhadadze welcomes back SpartakMoscow playmaker Jano Ananidze tohis 23-man squad which also includessome surprising old names.

Midfielder Gogita Gogua, notoriousfor questionable behaviour and attitudeto a point that he was banished from thenational setup under Temur Ketsbaia,returns to the national squad looking towin his first cap for over four years.

Perhaps a factor in Gogua’s selection,his last appearance for Georgia came inthe historic 1-0 victory over Croatia inMarch 2011.

Another player returning to the squadis right-back Lasha Salukvadze whoplayed under Tskhadadze at Inter Baku.He too is seeking a first competitive in-ternational appearance since 2011.

Georgia’s first-choice goalkeeperGiorgi Loria joins up with the squad fol-lowing an impressive first season inGreece for OFI Crete. His displays forthe island club drew the attention of sev-eral European sides but the Georgianstopper opted to stay in Greece withchampions Olympiacos where he hassigned a two-year deal.

Unfortunately, Tskhadadze may haveto do without the services of captain JabaKankava, who competed for Dnipro inthe recent Europa League final defeatto Sevilla, for the match with Ukrainealthough he could return to face thePoles if suitably fit.

The form of at least two others in theGeorgian squad add to further cause foroptimism. On the last weekend of theItalian season, Empoli’s LevanMchedlidze scored twice against InterMilan in the San Siro and will surelyretain his place as Georgia’s lone striker.

Competition is mounting though asMate Vatsadze enjoying an impressivegoal-scoring season for Danish sideAarhus.

Elsewhere, Vitesse Arnhemmidfielder Valeri Qazaishvili has beenin sparkling form which helped theDutch side to a place in next season’sEuropa League via the play-offs.

Peculiarly, Qazaishvili (known asVako) has featured in only one ofGeorgia’s six qualifiers so far – the 1-0defeat to Scotland in Glasgow in Octo-ber last year.

The 22-year old is due more interna-tional recognition than he has been givenso far, and possesses all of the qualities(skill, shooting, passing, stamina) to suc-

JUNE 5 - 11 2323232323SPORTS

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See answers in the next issue

www.sudoku.comAnswers to previous puzzles

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ceed as a box-to-box midfield player, ashe has been demonstrating consistentlyfor over a year with Vitesse.

Analysis of Georgia Today’s AlastairWatt:

“While Georgia may be out of the run-ning for a place in Euro 2016, there isplenty at stake for the national team andtheir new head coach. The likes of Loria,Kankava, Kashia and Qazaishvili haveenjoyed excellent seasons in strongleagues and/or top-level European com-petition so there is some encouragementfor Georgian individuals. What Tskha-dadze must do now is build a team aroundthese dependable members of his squad.

“Finding a goal-scorer has been aseemingly endless assignment forGeorgia’s head coaches since ShotaArveladze retired in the late 2000s, andTskhadadze’s options in the striking de-partment remain lean. Mchedlidze iscurrently the front runner with four SerieA goals to his name this year, but hehasn’t managed a competitive goal forGeorgia since scoring against Scotlandin 2007.

“In Ananidze, Chanturia, Kenia andOkriashvili, Georgia are blessed with anassortment of talented dribblers and/orplaymakers but against superior oppo-sition they can scarcely afford more than

two of them in the lineup. Ananidze andOkriashvili have the lead in terms ofcaps, but Kenia shone in Tskhadadze’sfirst two matches with Malta and Ger-many. Chanturia remains an enigmawith undoubted ability but a reluctanceto pass that renders him difficult to in-sert into a functioning team unit.

“Tskhadadze’s aim may not be quali-fication any more, but rather to have asay in who does qualify and an unlikelypoint or three in Warsaw would elicit acombination of appreciation and con-cern from Georgia’s other two mostplausible victims – Scotland and Ire-land.”

BlaBlaBlaBlaBlatter Rtter Rtter Rtter Rtter Resigns as FIFesigns as FIFesigns as FIFesigns as FIFesigns as FIFA PrA PrA PrA PrA PresidentesidentesidentesidentesidentBy Joseph Larsen

Sepp Blatter served as FIFA presi-dent for almost two decades, but hisfifth term in the organization’s top spotlasted only three days. Re-elected on29 May with more than 70 percent ofthe vote, the 79-year old Blatter an-nounced his resignation on Tuesday.“FIFA needs profound restructuring,”he said during the snap press confer-ence.

THE LATEST DOMINO TO FALLBlatter’s resignation comes while a

corruption scandal rocks the governingbody of the world’s most popular sport.He has been president since 1998, pre-siding over a period many associatewith rampant bribe-taking. Blatter hasnever been charged with any wrongdo-ing but, hours after the resignation, it

became known that he is under inves-tigation by the US Department of Jus-tice.

On 27 May Swiss police arrestedseven high-ranking FIFA officials in thecity of Zurich – among them FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb. The arrestedare to be extradited to the United Statesto face charges relating to corruption,racketeering, and conspiracy.

In a parallel action, the Swiss au-thorities filed criminal charges against18 FIFA officials on “suspicion ofcriminal mismanagement and of moneylaundering” during the bidding pro-cesses for the 2018 and 2022 WorldCups.

It has also been alleged that formervice-president Jack Warner, now a poli-tician in his home country of Trinidadand Tobago, accepted $10 million fromthe South African government during

the bidding for the 2010 World Cup.

WHAT PUSHED BLATTEROVER THE EDGE?

Blatter was neither among the sevenarrested in Zurich nor among the 18charged by the Swiss authorities. Sowhat was behind his decision to stepdown?

The organization has allegedly beencorrupt for decades. Blatter was ableto maintain leadership, believing him-self to be the best person to clean it up.The recent scandal shows he was un-able to do so.

The long-standing president’s repu-tation had become irreparable: “I do notfeel that I have a mandate for the en-tire world of football – the fans, theplays, the clubs, the people who live,breathe and love football as much aswe all do at FIFA.”

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF - Katie Ruth DaviesCOPY EDITOR - Alastair WattJOURNALISTS: Beqa Kirtava, Baia Dzaginadze, Eka Karsaulidze, Alastair Watt,Joseph Alexander Smith, Joseph Larsen, Zviad Adzinbaia, Tony Hanmer, Meri Taliashvili,Zaza Jgharkava, Maka Bibilashvili, Nino Melikishvili, Ana Lomtadze, Teona Surmava,Tatia MegeneishviliPHOTOGRAPHER: Zviad NikolaishviliTECHNICAL SUPPORT: Misha MchedlishviliCIRCULATION MANAGERS: David Kerdikashvili, David Djandjgava

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