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October 23 - 29, 2015
WEEKLY
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God’
s Gift R
evealed:
God’s
Re
BUSINESS HEADLINES
Ministr
y of Finance Summariz
es
Ministry
Summarizes
Past Thr
ee
Y
ear
s
hree ears
P.12
Geor
gia Could Become a K
ey
Georgia
Ke
Eur
opean Ener
gy Supplier
European
Energ
ISSUE No.789
IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE
Tbilisi: the New
Regional Shopping
Bonanza or Wha
t?
hat?
P.4
Niels Scott: UN’
s
UN’s
70 Year
s Wor
king
ears
orking
to Mak
e the Wor
ld
Make
orld
a Better Place
70 years of UN
empowerment: not taking
people to heaven but
delivering them from hell. P.17
Ongoing exploration studies open a historic new chapter in
Georgia’s move towards energy independence and gas
provision to markets beyond its borders.
P.2
South Ossetian
Ref
er
endum - Who car
es?
efer
erendum
cares?
As the 'South Ossetians'
prepare to decide on their
status, and the Hague
investigate alleged 2008
war crimes, Georgian
experts ask: who is paying
attention?
P.6
Meet L
yn Cof
Lyn
Cofffin Enr
aptur
ed in
Enra
ptured
Transla
tion
anslation
Georgia Today interviews
the latest translator of Shota
Rustaveli’s The Knight in the
P.23
Panther's Skin.
2
POLITICS
OCTOBER 23 - 29
Pr
esident: Sta
tement b
y PM on
President:
Statement
by
sens Ci
vic Unr
est
Rusta
vi 2 Wor
ustavi
orsens
Civic
Unrest
Today, the President of Georgia,
Giorgi Margvelashvili, made a special
statement concerning the developing
situation of TV company Rustavi 2
“The recent developments have escalated the political climate in the country, which created a precondition for
civic unrest and a breach of its constitutional order.”
The President declared that it is
everyone’s responsibility to follow the
Constitution, in particular the Georgian
government.
“Unfortunately, the statement made
by the head of the government did not
endeavor to deescalate the situation, in-
stead it further contributed to worsening the tough situation,” Margvelashvili
declared.
“I call on every party to refrain from
radical steps and to calm down. Take
care of the civic peace,” Margvelashvili
said.
The President called on the Judge to
prevent a rapid and obstinate decision,
“which will further worsen the situation.”
Following the above-said, the President announced that he is initiating consultations with political parties, the diplomatic corps, and the non-governmental sector to protect civic peace.
UN R
ewar
ds Ministr
y of Ag
ricultur
e
Re
ards
Ministry
Agricultur
riculture
of Geor
gia with 8mln Eur
o
Georgia
Euro
Otar Danelia, Minister of Agriculture, and Janos Herman, UN ambassador, at the joint
press briefing regarding the new financial aid.
By Meri Talishvili
With the help of the European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and
Rural Development (ENPARD) the
Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia has
been able to take important steps forward by forming an 888 farmer cooperative and creating 54 regional information-consultation centers throughout
the country. Compared to previous
years, the number of agricultural products has increased by 10%. In recognition of this achievement, the UN has allocated ˆ8 million from the European
Union funded ENPARD program to the
Government of Georgia.
“The ENPARD program in Georgia
aims at agricultural sector revitalization.
We set clear objectives which should be
achieved in the following years. There
was a lot of doubt as to whether they
were achievable but I am glad to note
that the accomplishments exceed what
was planned. The new tranche is further
evidence of the fact that Georgia is capable of getting closer to the EU and the
EU is ready to support this process. Agriculture will remain among our priorities,” said EU Ambassador to Georgia,
Janos Herman.
The Minister of Agriculture of Georgia, Otar Danelia, thanked the Ambassador of the European Union for the support and noted that this will further boost
agricultural development in Georgia.
“Today, it was officially announced
that the EU Commission has issued a
new tranche worth 8 million Euros to
Georgia. This includes the part of 52
million euros allocated under the program- ENPARD 1. We have also agreed
to launch the ENPARD II program
which is awaiting official approval. The
total amount of the second program is
60 million euros.
ENPARD was launched in 2013 with
a total budget of 52 million euros. The
Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia had
to fulfill certain obligations under the
program. Macroeconomic stability, public financial management system (PFM),
transparency and a unified government
policy for the development of agriculture in Georgia were the initial goals of
the program covering the part of the
ENPARD budget support; so far the assessment team has identified top results
in all three areas.
The Ministry of Agriculture, along
with the ENPARD, also attained the
set goals in other components. 888
rural-agricultural cooperatives were
registered by 19 May, 2015, which
differs much from the planned number of 50. Four of them are considered
“second-level” cooperatives, which
provide an effective high value chain
system, and the number of cooperatives is constantly growing in Georgia. Another requirement of the European Union has been over-met: more
than 30 regional information and consultation centers had to be established
under the program, however, the Ministry of Agriculture has set up 54 regional information and consultation
service centers throughout Georgia
since 2013, all of which meet international standards.
God’
s Gift R
evealed: Geor
gia Could
God’s
Re
Georgia
Become a K
ey Eur
opean Ener
gy Supplier
Ke
European
Energ
Source: www.business-gas.net
By Zviad Adzinbaia
A US independent oil and gas exploration and production company early this
month revealed that extensive geologic
and geophysical studies within and between the Mtsare Khevi Gas Complex
and the Taribani Field Complex areas
could be part of a common geologic complex. As a result, ongoing exploration
studies have confirmed an extensive integrated gas resource potential that is
much larger than previously identified.
On October 8, Frontera Resources
Corporation, an independent oil and gas
exploration and production company, released the groundbreaking announcement
of a significant upgrade to gas resources
associated with its ongoing exploration
and production efforts in Georgia.
The Company says that it had continued to advance its natural gas focus within
its eastern Georgia holdings by combining the technical focus of its Mtsare
Khevi Gas Complex and Taribani Field
Complex into one integrated 2,000 square
kilometer geologic unit named the South
Kakheti Gas Complex.
It is surprising that, in addition to gas
resources previously identified for subsets of this combined area, Frontera’s
ongoing work recently concluded a new
estimation of as much as 135 trillion cubic feet (3.8 trillion cubic meters) of gas
in place of reservoir targets found between 300 metres and 5,000 metres in
depth.
The official information disclosed by
Frontera early this month on its website
says that extensive geologic and geophysical studies continued within and
between the Mtsare Khevi Gas Complex
and the Taribani Field Complex areas as
the Company has believed that these areas are part of a common geologic complex. “As a result, ongoing exploration
studies have confirmed an extensive integrated gas resource potential that is
much larger than previously identified.”
Frontera claims that continuous gas
sales from the area have represented firsttime domestically produced non-associated gas being continuously marketed to
Georgia’s national consumption
market. “Together with extensive technical analysis associated with the greater
South Kakheti Gas Complex, this work
has opened an historic new chapter in
Georgia’s move towards energy independence as well as providing gas to markets
beyond its borders,” Frontera declares.
On 13 July 2015, the Frontera Resources Corporation signed a strategic
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
with Ukraine’s national energy company,
National Joint Stock Company Naftogaz
of Ukraine, whereby an engineering
FEED study is underway related to the
possibility of bringing liquefied natural
gas (LNG) to Ukraine from Frontera’s
ongoing upstream gas works in
Georgia. Frontera says similar studies are
in progress related to other trans-Black
Sea markets as well as contemplated regional pipeline routes.
Several months prior to this recent
revolutionary finding, Frontera disclosed
information, saying: “The MOU serves
to establish a focused joint effort to work
together in upstream exploration and production projects in Ukraine, as well as to
study the possibility to bring liquefied
natural gas (LNG) to Ukraine from
Frontera’s ongoing work in Georgia.”
As Steve C. Nicandros, Frontera’s
Chairman and CEO says, [their] ongoing investments in Georgia have continued to reveal the emergence of what
[they] believe to be a world class gas play
with the identification of the South
Kakheti Gas Complex.
Much like the recent evolution of
similarly prolific gas plays in the United
States that have transformed the country’s
energy independence trajectory,
Frontera’s results continue to indicate that
Georgia has the natural gas resources to
follow a similar path. “We believe that
our ongoing work will further serve to
establish Georgia’s domestic energy independence in the years to come and also
make it a strategic supplier of gas to Turkish and European consumption markets,”
the company’s CEO concludes.
For the Frontera Press Release, see
page 13.
ANALYSIS BY GEORGIA
TODAY’S ZVIAD ADZINBAIA
The recent nontrivial discovery by
Frontera will almost certainly confirm
that this field is in the top 10 largest gas
fields on the planet. Some American experts say that it is likely to be confirmed
at around 100 trillion cubic feet recoverable and will therefore rank as the
6th largest, just behind Russia’s giant
Shtokman field, while Azerbaijan’s Shah
Deniz field is currently ranked 18th largest
at 42 tcf (Trillion Cubic Feet).
The Shah Deniz field is currently the
key reserve for the Southern Gas Corridor project, an initiative of the European
Commission for gas supply from Caspian
and Middle Eastern regions to Europe.
Conveniently, the designated pipeline
route of the Southern Gas Corridor travels across this new field in Georgia using
existing infrastructure; relatively, the status of Georgia as a transit country will
quickly be redefined as ‘key supplier.’
Energy experts believe that even
though the South Kakheti Gas Complex is still in relatively early stages of
development, possible high-caliber global interest is likely to guarantee that this
strategic asset will be very quickly developed.
The occasion may literally change the
entire geostrategic picture not only in the
region of the Caucasus, but also the Black
Sea and Europe. More lucidly, Europe,
which currently suffers from an over-de-
pendence on Russian energy resources,
will be able to diversify its energy sector
through Georgia, previously considered
no more than a transit corridor for various projects including Trans Anatolia
Pipeline (TANAP – that will open in
2018).
At the same time, it is critically questionable that neither the Georgian political establishment nor other system properties, such as the official US or the European side, has commented on a matter
which can drastically transform the existing Russian energy domination on
wider Europe.
Instead, Georgian Energy Minister
Kakha Kaladze has been negotiating with
Russia’s energy giant Gazprom, which is
believed to be widely utilized for fulfilling Putin’s government’s political and
Geopolitical interests. The Minister declares that Gazprom could fill a “gap
caused by the energy shortage of
Azerbaijan”, Georgia’s main gas and oil
supplier since 2006, when Russia endeavored Georgia to pay its political price for
Euro-Atlantic aspiration and, as a result,
cut gas supply in the cold winter.
There is a reasonable notion that the
case could be politically ‘muted’. One
could recall an example of a miserable
person winning a billion on the lottery
and eventually finds herself in such agony
that neither believes in the authenticity
of the fact nor is fully aware of what this
could mean for his future. Moreover, at
this stage, disclosing this world-shattering information could be exceedingly
risky for both the Georgian government
and the country’s national security.
Likewise, this possible “god’s gift” for
economically vulnerable Georgians will
most likely make Russia less than
pleased. In fact, as the business looks
quite multifaceted, it could be no mere
coincidence that Georgia’s occupied region of Tskhinvali has announced a possible referendum to join the Russian Federation and Georgian Energy Minister has
announced the Gazprom deal. Notably,
within two days of Frontera’s announcement, Georgian Prime Minister visited
Baku in an urgent manner to meet his
Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev. The
President of Azerbaijan is set to visit
Georgia in the beginning of November.
Georgia Today will keep you updated.
Zviad Adzinbaia is an Analyst at
newspaper Georgia Today (covering regional politics, security, Russia-Georgia
affairs and issues of Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration). He is also a fellow of
a number of high-caliber programs at
Georgian Foundation for Strategic and
International Studies (GFSIS).
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4
ECONOMY
OCTOBER 23 - 29
www
.iset-pi.g
e/b
lo
g
www.iset-pi.g
.iset-pi.ge/b
e/blo
log
The ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI, www.iset-pi.ge) is an independent think-tank associated with the International School of Economics at TSU (ISET). Our blog carries economic analysis of current events and policies in Georgia and the South Caucasus region ranging from agriculture, to economic
growth, energy, labor markets and the nexus of economics, culture and religion. Thought-provoking and fun to read, our blog posts are written by international faculty teaching at ISET and recent graduates representing the new generation of Georgian, Azerbaijani and Armenian economists.
Tbilisi: the Ne
wR
egional Shopping Bonanza or Wha
t?
New
Re
hat?
By Irakli Shalikashvili
Table 1: 2015 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI)
As suggested by ISET’s most recent
Consumer Confidence report, Georgian
consumers are in no mood for shopping.
And, yet, Tbilisi is abuzz with excitement
about the recent lavish opening of East
Point - a giant new shopping and entertainment center, the largest of its kind in
the country. Thus, while consumer confidence is hitting new lows, supply of
retail space and world class shopping
malls continues to hit its highs. A natural
question arises: is Georgia’s retail market able to accommodate this surge in the
supply of retail space?
SUPPLY OF MODERN RETAIL
SPACE RUNNING AHEAD OF
THE GEORGIAN ECONOMY
The Georgian retail sector currently
stands at approximately 11% of total turnover, representing the largest share in the
economy. Moreover, growth in retail
spending and retail space supply has been
steadily exceeding Georgia’s economic
growth performance in recent years.
Yet, there is still a long way to go. According to the Retail Market Report by
Colliers International, the total amount of
retail space in three main Georgian cities,
Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi, reached
around 1.1 million square meters in 2014,
but only slightly more than a quarter of it
is occupied by “shopping centers”. Moreover, about 80% of total retail space is concentrated in the capital.
The opening of Tbilisi Mall in 2012
by Rakeen Development (a real-estate
development company based in the
United Arab Emirates) was a major
breakthrough. Located on the northern
end of Tbilisi, this shopping center was
the first one to provide substantial space
fully complying with the quality standard
set by international retailers. Supply of
modern shopping center space grew by
around 28% in each of the following
years, reaching 292,000 square meters by
the end of 2014.
Sounds like a lot? Well, not quite.
With only 79 sqm per 1000 inhabitants,
Georgia still lags far behind the Western
European average of 200 sqm per 1,000
inhabitants. The opening of East Point (an
investment project by Quadrum, a global private equity investment and advisory group) and a few smaller developments will increase Georgia’s stock of
10 Galaktion Street
Sources: Economist Intelligence Unit, Euromoney, International Monetary Fund, Planet
retail, Population Reference Bureau, World Bank, World Economic Forum; A.T. Kearney
analysis
modern shopping center space by 42%
till the end of 2015, and by another 10%
in 2016.
Shopping Center Space Supply in
Tbilisi and Georgia’s Total Retail Turnover, 2010-2016 Source: Colliers International; National Statistics Office of
Georgia(2015 and 2016 figures of shopping center space are forecasted by
Collier International)
ion brands, supermarkets, fast food chains
and consumer electronics. A big share of
international retail is operated by
franchisers managed by a handful of local and international companies.
Georgia’s up-and-coming retail clothing sector is now populated by more than
40 international brands. One of the major players on Georgia’s fashion market
is Retail Group Georgia, owned by Saudi
Arabian Alhokair Fashion Retail. This
AND HOW ABOUT DEMAND?
group manages a variety of brands, inThis week, I went to see the movie
cluding Zara, Marks & Spencer, Gap, Ba“The Walk” with friends at East Point.
nana Republic, etc. Another big player
We were the only ones in the theater and
on the Georgian fashion market is Interthey wouldn’t have played the movie if
national Cooperation ICR representing
we didn’t get tickets. Thus, we had a primajor European brands, such as Ecco,
vate screening for just 10 GEL.
Geox, Bata, Okaidi & Obaibi, etc. ADress
Indeed, the Georgian public is yet to
LTD – representatives of Celio, Etam,
discover the concept of modern shopping
Promod, and other international brands
centers. This, as well as the fast increase
– also occupies a significant share of the
in the supply of new space, may explain
fashion retail market. Finally, due to geowhy the average vacancy
graphic proximity and the
Franchising or creating your
rates at Georgia’s shopfree trade agreement with
own brand? Franchising is the
ping centers have been practice of the right to use a firm’s Georgia, many Turkish
decreasing gradually for business model and brand for a retailers (both local and
the last couple of years. prescribed period of time as an al- international, such the
However, East Point, the ternative to building own brand Turkish franchiser of
most recent addition to and marketing strategy. In ex- Burger King) are also
the retail real estate mar- change, the company granting present in the Georgian
ket, was around 70% pre- franchises can avoid the invest- market.
ment and liability associated with
leased even before its
Food retail has also
opening a chain. Many successful
opening in September. companies, including McDonalds, experienced an influx of
Thus, retailers clearly be- Subway, Coca-Cola, have chosen international players inlieve in its potential.
to operate and enter international cluding: Majid al Futtaim
The bulk of demand or local markets through franchis- Retail, a Dubai-based
for shopping center ing rather than through direct in- partner of Carrefour,
space comes from fash- vestments.
SPAR Georgia, as well as
Tel: (995 32) 2 45 08 08
E-mail: [email protected]
local food retailers such as Smart and
Fresco. Thanks to strong growth in tourism as well as healthy local demand for
fast food, Georgia has seen the arrival of
all the usual suspects: McDonald’s, Subway, Wendy’s, KFC, Dunkin Donuts,
Burger King and others.
And, of course, there are still plenty
of open air markets and bazaars that cater to Georgia’s traditional consumers.
GEORGIA: AN ECONOMIC
OASIS!
This (at least potential) boom in consumerism is reflected in Georgia’s ranking in the 2015 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) by A.T. Kearney’s.
GRDI ranks Georgia at number six
among the top 30 developing countries
for retail investment based on more than
20 macroeconomic and retail-specific
variables. The higher the ranking, the
more attractive is a country’s retail sector from the entry point of view.
Georgia is an Economic Oasis, according to GRDI, not so much on the
current strength of its economy, but on
the promise of its unsaturated and rapidly growing retail sector, as well as its
achievements in creating a businessfriendly environment. Despite the recent
influx of international retailers, the share
of modern retail (hypermarkets, supermarkets, department stores, etc.) in
Georgia’s total remains quite low, well
behind other Central and Eastern European countries. While Georgia does not
score very highly on market attractiveness and country risk, it stands out on
market saturation and time pressure.
According to Nino Kipiani, Country
Director for Cushman & Wakefield (the
biggest real estate consulting company
in charge of Tbilisi Mall management),
the ease of doing business in Georgia
along with its robust macroeconomic
performance were among the key factors
in attracting prominent international retailers, such as the Alhokair Fashion Re-
tail group. Other factors were Georgia’s
strategic location, the presence of major
international investors, and, of course, the
well-educated but (still) cheap labor
force.
LOOKING AHEAD
A few international brands left the
Georgian retail market in spring 2015, with
some shopping centers seeing an increase
in vacancy rates. This was reason enough
for some media outlets and political opposition to start blaming the government
for mismanaging the economy. While
there is no arguing that this is not the best
of times for the Georgian consumers, at
least some of the exodus is due to healthy
competition created by the entry of new
high quality shopping centers and better
managed new brands. According to
sources in the industry, stronger competition is a sign of growing maturity in
Georgia’s retail sector, ultimately benefiting Georgian customers.
Though local consumer demand is
currently at its lowest point, Georgia has
the strategic location to serve the retail
hub role for the broader region, provided
its transparent and hassle-free business
environment remains untainted. In particular, the steady surge in tourism is a
major source growth for Georgia’s retail
market. According to Colliers International, the number of non-resident visitors that arrived for shopping in Georgia
increased about 5(!) times after 2010,
reaching almost half a million persons in
2014 (about 9% of total visitors).
Georgian consumers may have all the
reasons in the world to be worried today.
Yet, the outlook for the Georgian
economy and its retail sector remains
quite encouraging. To make good on its
promise as a regional shopping bonanza,
Georgia needs to sustain and further advance its reputation as a corruption-free,
business-friendly and hospitable environment. We hope this is not too much to be
asked for in an election year.
6
POLITICS
OCTOBER 23 - 29
OP-ED
South Ossetian
Referendum - Who cares?
By Zaza Jgharkava
The de-facto government of occupied Tskhinvali has started preparing for
the next referendum. The question that
the 25 thousand people who still remain
in the region must decided whether or
not they want the South Ossetian state
to join the Russian Federation with the
status of Subject of the Federation. As
the de-facto ruler of the occupied region,
Leonid Tibilov, explains: “It is necessary to hold a referendum as the results
of the previous two referendums were
the same.”
A referendum on South Ossetia joining the Russian Federation was held by
the de-facto rulers of the separatist region as early as 1992, several weeks after the first and last president of the Soviet Union Mikheil Gorbachov declared
the dissolution of the Soviet state. On
January 19, 1992, a number of the South
Ossetian population, mostly ethnic
Ossetians (approximately 28 thousand
people) supported the withdrawal of the
region from Georgia and ethnic Georgians ousted from Tskhinvali. Eighteen
thousand Georgians compactly residing
in the region boycotted the referendum.
Four months after that referendum, a
new flag appeared over Tskhinvali,
which informed the world about the birth
of the so-called South Ossetian state.
Soon, the Russian so-called peacekeepers entered the area and the conflict remained frozen until the August 2008
war. However, in December 2006, the
de-facto governors of Tskhinvali reminded the remaining 35 thousand ethnic Ossetian population through a referendum that they live in an independent state. The question now was
whether they wanted the independent
development of independent South
Ossetia. Two years after this referendum,
on August 26 2008, the Kremlin recognized independence of the so-called
South Ossetia and today Tibilov claims
that there is a need to hold a new refer-
endum requesting integration with Russia. The news of preparation of a new
referendum was spread in occupied
Tskhinvali after the visit of President
Putin’s Assistant, Vladimer Surkov.
Surkov is coordinating affairs of the socalled independent South Ossetia and
the so-called independent Abkhazia in
the Kremlin and was in Tskhinvali on
an official visit. However, after the Russian media announced Tibilov’s news,
the Kremlin voiced the real reasons for
Surkov’s visit. President Putin’s press
secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that
Surkov was in Tskhinvali to study the
financial situation of the friend state,
with who they “have close integrated
relations in many directions.” They
spoke only about this issue of “integration” in Tskhinvali since in “South
Ossetia” many people support such integration with Russia and it has been
known for a while. “As I learned, this is
what Mr. Tibilov spoke about with Mr.
Surkov,” Peskov said.
Official Tbilisi has yet to respond to
the new initiative of the occupied
region’s head with an official statement.
It seems the Georgian Dream government is too busy and does not have time
for the occupied territories at present. If
we put it in ex-Prime Minister
Ivanishvili’s words, the Garibashvili
government is busy with [mijirkvn-ing]
Rustavi 2. Only Georgian media, political opposition and analysts shared their
opinion about Tibilov’s initiative. Comments from Tbilisi can, as a rule, be divided into several areas. However, everyone agrees that in a similar situation
the government should act more radically. Expert in economic issues, Demur
Giorkhelidze, calls for the public and
government representatives to perceive
the reality adequately and have respective reactions. “Is the prison case
enough, a pointless fuss? Have you
heard anything from Official Tbilisi
about this? I haven’t. What does it
mean? What will our ‘fathers of the na-
De-facto ruler of occupied South Ossetia, Leonid Tibilov, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year. Source: EPA/
www.rferl.org
tion’ say about it?” Giorkhelidze asks.
Expert in Caucasus issues, Mamuka
Areshidze, connects the active discussion of the topic on the Russian side with
the visit of the Hague prosecutor to
Tbilisi and the investigation of the August 2008 war. Areshidze thinks that it
all coincided; thus, it is not excluded that
the Kremlin is trying to sabotage the
Georgian government in exchange for
the Hague court investigation with the
issue of integrating the so-called South
Ossetia. My version is that the decision
of Tibilov to hold a referendum on South
Ossetia joining Russia is dictated from
Moscow. Active discussion of this topic
on the Kremlin’s side is determined by
the appearance of the Hague prosecutor
in Georgia and re-emergence of the August 2008 war investigation issue. Rebel
ex-speaker, Nino Burjanadze, leader of
the Democratic Georgia Party, did not
miss her chance to comment about the
referendum in Tskhinvali. She is known
in Georgian politics as a person whom
President Putin knows well and if we
put it in Georgian slang “she has her
ways to the man.” The head of the
Democratic Georgia Party outlined this
in her statement and recalled her last
meeting with Putin. “Following my visits it did not surprise me when the Russian side made careful statements favoring Georgia, but the Georgian government failed to notice it and it seems the
government wants to speak to Russia
only on issues of its commercial interest. As for the country’s interests, the
government is not taking any steps towards it. I am obliged to warn our people
once again and tell them that we are losing precious time. I am certain that if
the government had started direct dialogue with the Abkhazian and Ossetian
sides, we would have a different reality
now and such statements would not have
been made,” Burjanadze said.
Whether the referendum is held on
the occupied territory does not have
such importance. Financially, the remaining 25 thousand ethnic Ossetians
are fully dependent on Russia and there
is a 10 thousand-man Russian military
base located there. This is why any serious talk about a referendum asking
about integration with the Russian Federation is redundant. This question was
answered when, after the ethnic cleansing in the region in 2008, the last ethnic Georgians left the territory. Russia
has occupied the territory. Now the
main question is whether it is favorable
for the Kremlin to unite North Ossetia
and South Ossetia and this question has
remained unanswered for amost 90
years.
Georgians Still Undecided about
Their Political Preferences
By Eka Karsaulidze
The National Democratic Institute
(NDI), in partnership with CRRC Georgia and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), has
conducted a study regarding political
issues according to which most Georgians continue to support EU membership (61%), and the majority of citizens
remain undecided and ill-prepared for
parliamentary elections 2016.
NDI’s representatives say that they
survey public opinion in order to help
Georgian stakeholders diagnose and
address issues of public concern by providing accurate, unbiased and statistically-sound data. All their polls were
developed in consultation with party,
government and civil society leaders,
and aim to capture the most relevant information to foster the development of
responsive policies and governance. The
latest such poll was conducted from
August 8 to September 10 and included
4,448 completed interviews.
Beside the fact that the majority of
respondents claimed they would like to
be a part of the European Union, some
citizens are considering alternatives such
as the Eurasian Union, which earned
31% support. Those Georgians approving of Eurasian Union membership primarily cite perceived economic benefits
(71%), not political or governance improvements, while 68% of European
Union supporters say the same about
joining the EU. In comparison, only 7%
of Eurasian Union supporters think that
Eurasian Union membership would
strengthen democratic development.
Moreover, 21% of EU supporters believe that we can reach this demarcating development with EU membership.
“When you probe more deeply into
the reasons for Georgian opinion visà-vis the EU and Eurasian Union, you
can see that the drivers are largely the
same – Georgians are motivated by
economic, not political, considerations
and express increased willingness to
explore any possibilities for improving economic development,” said
Laura Thornton, NDI’s senior coun-
try director in Georgia.
Another part of the poll focused on
the upcoming parliamentary elections in
2016. The study found that 14% of all
citizens identified Georgian Dream as
the party they were most supportive of,
while 13% identified the United National Movement (UNM). Irakli
Alasania-Free Democrats and the Alliance of Patriots both have 4% support,
although Irakli Alasania-Free Democrats is the most popular second choice
at 6 percent.
Responding to the question “If parliamentary elections were held tomorrow, would you say you are decided or
undecided?” 59% of citizens said they
are undecided, including 41% of likely
voters. Of likely voters, 15% would vote
for the United National Movement
(UNM) and 14% would vote for the
Georgian Dream Coalition.
The poll also revealed that most
Georgians still do not have a preferred
political party. Responding to the question “If parliamentary elections were
held tomorrow, who would you vote
for?” 35% said ‘don’t know,’ 14% said
‘no party’ and 13% refused to answer.
“As shown in our last poll, the electoral playing field is still wide open and
no party is ahead in Georgia. Georgians
are completely undecided about their
political preferences, presenting an opportunity for all parties to spend the next
year leading up to the parliamentary
elections earning citizens’ backing
through responsive platforms and policies,” added Thornton.
Thornton also stated that NDI would
continue polling, the next study being
scheduled for this November.
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8
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OCTOBER 23 - 29
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 two
countries. 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 [email protected].
Sweet Business – Growth Prospects for Georgian Honey
By Tamara Kurdadze
Georgian honey could soon appear
on the shelves of European supermarkets. Honey is one of the few Georgian
animal products, along with sea fish,
that could meet EU phytosanitary requirements with relative ease, unlike
meat and dairy products. The main concerns are antibiotics and traces of pesticides in honey, which are relatively
easy for producers to eradicate.
In 2014, Georgia produced 4,100
metric tons of honey, but only exported 5, generating export revenue of US$
54,000, with Saudi Arabia accounting
for 87% of total exports, followed by
China (10%), and the Republic of Korea (1%). While currently negligible,
honey exports have the potential to
expand in coming years, granted the local beekeepers scale up, increase efficiency, and comply with international
certification standards. According to the
Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture,
up to 1,500 metric tons of honey can
be exported to the EU under the DCFTA, which implies a potential $10mn
in annual export revenue.
Georgian honey will face tough price
competition on foreign markets. International players such as China, Argentina, Vietnam, Mexico, and Ukraine
dominate the global honey trade. Average price of Chinese honey on the European market is EUR 2/kg, while honey from Argentina and Mexico is sold
for EUR 3/kg on average. Local retail
price of Georgian honey is significant-
ly higher (~EUR 6.5/kg), while exported Georgian honey commanded an average price of EUR 8.1/kg in 2014.
According to Juan Echanove, EU
attaché for agriculture, food safety, and
rural development, Georgian honey
could still find its place on the European market despite the higher price
tag. To that end, the country’s long
history of beekeeping and unique characteristics of the Georgian product
must be leveraged in the eyes of the
European consumer. Renowned as the
cradle of wine, Georgia is also the
birthplace of honey. After a recent discovery in Sakire, Southern Georgia,
archaeologists declared that the 5,500year-old honey samples are, in fact,
the world’s oldest. The Georgian honeybee is known for its long proboscis
(tongue), allowing it to retrieve flower
nectar from a depth that other honeybee breeds are unable to reach. Furthermore, Georgian flora is of rare diversity and the honey is packed with
vitamins. Slovenia recently started
commercializing beekeeping, has protected and trademarked its native bee,
and is now marketing its trademarked
product to visitors from around the
world. Notably, the average price of
Slovenian honey, directed mostly to
the EU, was EUR 6.4/kg in 2014. Proper marketing of the Georgian honeybee and traditional beekeeping would
go a long way toward justifying the
price premium. With that said, Georgian beekeepers cannot count on the
high price that their product commands
in Saudi Arabia (~EUR 8/kg in 2014)
to persist once they enter the European market. Efficiency gains will be necessary to bring down costs and increase
competitiveness.
Almost 100% of the honey produced
in Georgia is produced by amateur beekeepers, who own less than 300 beehives (professional beekeeping minimum), and have no scale or financial
capacity to implement best practices
and increase efficiency, i.e yield per
beehive. The Ministry of Agriculture
has estimated the initial investment for
a 300 colony beekeeping business to be
GEL 120,000, with a 4 year payback
period. Commercial beekeeping provides higher yields and allows for a
broader choice of bee products that beekeepers can offer the consumer. There
is a demand on the market for pollen,
royal jelly (bee milk), propolis, beeswax, and bee venom. These products
are used for various medicinal purposes and are widely marketed for their
health benefits.
Individual local beekeepers in Geor-
gia are unable to provide honey in
amounts that would interest international buyers. Furthermore, in some
cases, importers require honey to be
monofloral, meaning the honey should
be predominantly from the nectar of
one plant species, which is typically
not the case with Georgian honey. Donor assistance is provided to local beekeepers to advance their skills and gain
awareness of international markets and
modern technologies in beekeeping. The
Ministry of Agriculture is currently cofinancing a beehive census for better
tracking of Georgian honey and its point
of origin. The ministry is also fully subsidizing the costs of honey sample analysis at the local state-sponsored laboratory through the end of December
2015. Importantly, the laboratory is
currently not equipped to test for antibiotic and pesticide residues – a requirement under EU regulations (EC 37/
2010); samples have to be sent abroad
for such testing. It is expected that the
laboratory will have such capability by
the end of 2015.
Bees also play an important role in
ensuring the survival of humanity.
About one third of the human diet is
derived from insect-pollinated plants,
with honeybees responsible for 80%
of this pollination. Pollination services
provided by the beekeepers are extremely important for the production of certain crops. According to estimates by
the US Department of Agriculture, average pollination fee in 2006 in the US
was US$136/colony. In countries where
there are not enough insects or colonies
keep dying, e.g. China, pollination services are performed by humans and are
naturally associated with sizable costs
and human resources. This opens up a
window of opportunity for beekeepers and farmers to cooperate. Blueberries, for example, benefit a great deal
from the pollination services provided
by bees.
Current conditions in the beekeeping
industry are far from perfect, but the
potential is there to be explored. If the
points of weakness are addressed, Georgian honey could become a niche product and penetrate new markets. Georgia
needs a well-equipped, accredited laboratory capable of conducting the tests
necessary for product certification in
compliance with EU standards; scaling
the production will support growth in
yields, which are currently significantly
below industry standards; and implementation of new technologies and improvement of beekeepers’ skills will further strengthen the sector’s competitiveness.
George Japaridze for Georgia Today
Cushman & Wakefield | Veritas
Brown on the Silk Road Cross Road
On October 15-16th Tbilisi proved
itself as the place where east meets west
and it is noteworthy that more than 800
high ranking officials attended the “Tbilisi Silk Road Forum” to discuss the prospects of the new Silk Road and how to
best use Georgia’s transit potential. Important prospects were set in such areas as trade, energy, transport, tourism,
infrastructure and real estate.
Georgia Today had the privilege of
meeting George Japaridze, the Director
of the International Desk, Caucasus, at
Cushman & Wakefield | Veritas Brown
(CW|VB). He shared with us information and his opinion regarding the “Tbilisi
Silk Road Forum”. CW|VB gave a comprehensive presentation on the real estate market in Georgia, and informed the
forum delegates about the existing climate.
Q: Did the forum meet your expectations?
A: Actually, it served as an excellent
opportunity to establish a platform for
annual high level meetings for all interested states and international organizations with the view of future mutually
beneficial cooperation. The forum was
attended by delegates from 31 countries.
The high rate of attendance shows the
George Japaridze, Director of the
International Desk, Caucasus, at Cushman
& Wakefield | Veritas Brown (CW|VB).
interest towards our country’s investment opportunities. There are many directions that will significantly benefit not
only Georgia but also the region as a
whole. The country has a good location
which will help it to play an important
role as a regional hub.
Obviously, such events do lead to the
country’s international recognition and
serve as a platform to raising awareness
of its investment opportunities – to drive
foreign direct investment which will lead
the country to economic growth.
As I already mentioned, a lot of significant guests visited the country in the
frames of the forum and therefore our
contacts at the international market were
extended. I’m glad the forum will be organized annually.
It is clear that such events should be
extremely beneficial for all parties involved. Therefore, next year I hope to
see a great number of participants from
the business sector presenting their investment opportunities. This refers
mainly to the local players. The forum
needs to be practical and more flexible,
focused on business deals.
Q: We understand your company
made a presentation on the real estate market in Georgia. Which topics were covered?
A: On behalf of CW|VB I’m glad to
say that we had the privilege of taking
part in the forum based on the fact that
it is a commercial real estate company.
We gave a general overview of the real
estate market in Georgia, particularly the
retail market, office market, hospitality
and residential markets. Moreover, we
classified the factors that most effect the
market and the tendencies of the resent
period. We underlined advantages that
foreign investors may receive whilst investing in Georgia.
The Government of Georgia is offering a lot of incentives for newcomers: a
flexible investment environment, tax and
legislative benefits, simplified company
registration procedures, liberalized man-
ufactured regulations and a positive approach to foreign investors- it’s a real
step forward for the country.
Q: The major participant company of the forum “Hualing Group” was
one of your clients. What type of professional relationship did you have?
A: Sure, we had an opportunity to
work with the “Hualing Group”. We did
the market study for the already existing shopping mall and provided recommendations regarding the zoning of the
center, indicating a rational rearrangement of the blocks in the overall space.
Moreover, we shared our international
and professional experience with regards
to the retail market. We wish them luck
and will support them in further development.
It is worth mentioning that since we
are operating on the Georgian real estate
market, we have been lucky to have largescale clients such as “TBC Bank”, “Hualing Group”, “Silk Road Group”, “Wissol Group” and “Bank of Georgia”.
Moreover, after consultations with our
company, and with co-financing from
“Axis Development” and the “Georgian
Co-investment Fund,” the construction
of Axis Towers on Chavchavadze Avenue was restarted and the presentation of
the project was held on the 20th of October in Tbilisi. It can be identified as one
of the success stories of our company.
Q: What results do you expect
from the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum?
A: Delegate feedback was highly positive, though you cannot get the results
immediately since it is long lasting process that will show results within some
months. One thing that is clear is that
Georgia has demonstrated repeated readiness to serve as a positive investment
environment.
Overall, the forum proved to be a
great platform for our country’s international awareness. On behalf of CW|VB
I can say that we are expecting positive
results and the implementation of specific projects that are in the pipeline.
http://veritasbrown.com
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Business Cafe –
Joint Project of
Insource and
PASHA Bank
P.12
Ministry of
Finance
Summarizes Past
Three Years
P.12
Georgian Tapas
Menu at g.Vino
0322 93 21 21
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Qatar Airways Reaffirms Its Commitment To Georgia
Route Offical Airline Partner To Embassy Celebrations
More than 100 attendees take part in celebrations at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha to mark this year’s Tbilisoba celebrations
DOHA, Qatar - Qatar Airways was this week
Official Airline Partner to an exciting day of celebrations at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha to mark
the official weekend celebrations of Tbilisoba,
hosted by the Georgian Embassy of Qatar.
Tbilisoba is an annual festival held in Georgia
in October every year to celebrate the diverse history of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. First celebrated in 1979, the event has become synonymous
in Georgia with open air concerts and music from
the country’s rich cultural history.
To mark the event in Qatar, the Georgian Embassy hosted a day of celebrations which culminated in a special performance of traditional folk
songs by the Georgian choir, Georgika, with
guests enjoying a reception in the garden area of
the newly refurbished Sheraton Hotel.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker said: “Qatar Airways’ services to Tbilisi continue to cater to a
growing demand of passengers attracted by the
hospitality and quality of our on board product,
as well as the seamless connectivity offered by
Hamad International Airport, an airport designed
by an airline with the passenger experience firmly in mind.”
Speaking at the event, Her Excellency Ekaterine Meiering - Mikadze, Ambassador of Georgia
to the State of Qatar, highlighted the importance
of celebrating the history of Georgia, a country
connected to Qatar Airways’ global network with
daily scheduled flights.
Her Excellency Ekaterine Meiering – Mikadze
said “Since starting daily flights to Georgia in
2011, Qatar Airways has brought the two countries much closer to each other. As a result, contacts among people from all walks of life have
multiplied, in business, diplomacy, and tourism. I
am delighted to see Qataris and expatriates working in Doha flocking to Georgia in ever increas-
ing numbers and I am grateful to Qatar Airways
for the pioneering role and ongoing support in
helping others to discover Georgia.”
Qatar Airways currently operates daily flights
to Tbilisi from its home and hub, Hamad International Airport, connecting passengers onwards to
more than 150 destinations around the world.
At the annual Skytrax 2015 World Airline
Awards in June, Qatar Airways was awarded
World’s Best Airline, Best Business Class Airline
Seat, and Best Airline in the Middle East.
Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 18
years of operation and today flies a modern fleet
of 166 aircraft to 152 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa,
Asia Pacific, North America and South America.
12
OCTOBER 23 - 29
BUSINESS
Business Cafe – Joint Project of Insource and PASHA Bank
On October 21st Insource and
PASHA Bank launched their
joint project “Business Cafe”
and organized its first gathering.
The project aims to organize
meetings of middle and topmanagement representatives
from different companies where
they will be able to discuss specific work-related subjects and
share experience with each other. The first meeting was held
at Holiday Inn Tbilisi and the
two companies are planning to
organize another meeting by the
end of the year.
It is the first time for this
kind of meeting to be held in
Georgia and future such meetings will serve as a place for
discussions regarding the current processes and news from
different fields of business.
The meetings will host up 20
participants and will be moderated by a special guest who
will share their own experi-
Hotel
Sympatia
ence with others.
The subject of the first meeting was management of human
resources with David Gogichaishvili as moderator.
“Insource as a business consulting company always tries to
contribute to the development
process of Georgian business.
Business Cafe is a meeting place
in which top and middle level
managers will be able to share
their best practice, know-how
and discuss the future changes
and improvements in management and people management,”
said founder of Insource, Medea
Tabatadze.
“Supporting this project is a
part of the strategy that PASHA
Bank has been realizing since its
foundation in Georgia: we al-
ways try to contribute to such
projects and events that assist
professional growth and business development in Georgia.
We are more than happy to
have had the opportunity to
join Insource in initiating such
an interesting and useful
project,” said Anano Korkia,
Head of the PR and Marketing
Department at PASHA Bank.
Ministry of Finance Summarizes Past Three Years
By Ana Akhalaia
The Minister of Finance, Nodar Khaduri, presented the results
of three years of work on October 19 at the hotel Tbilisi Marriott, in the framework of the Georgian Government for Open
Governance project.
According to the report presented by the Ministry, in 20132015 the correct distribution of
the state budget changed the
structure of the state budget and
the country’s main financial document. It was planned to increase
social programs and finance
projects that would ensure the
economic development and stability of the country in the medium and the long term periods. For
three years, the Ministry of Finance has taken important steps
towards social support.
“I believe that despite the difficulties, the past three years were
successful for the Ministry of Finance. Significant reforms in public finance management were
implemented in terms of transparency. Serious efforts have been
made in terms of legislative liberalization. Most importantly, the
Ministry of Finance protects the
right of property and we don’t
enforce measures until the end of
a tax dispute,” stated Minister
Khaduri.
He believes that increased financing of the ministries of Education, Health and Agriculture is
an achievement. Funding of ministries has increased most rapidly
since the Georgian Dream came
to power. Compared to 2012, financing healthcare increased by
55%, education by 35% and agriculture by 81%.
Minister Khaduri spoke about
international studies on budget
transparency. According to the
results of the ‘Budget Transparency 2015’ published by International Budget Partnership, Georgia has 66 points and is in 16th
place among the world’s 102
countries, thus greatly improving
its position compared to a similar poll conducted in 2012 (according to the 2012 Index, 33th
place).
According to the report, the
Ministry of Finance has taken significant steps in the direction of
tax liberalization. The tax exemption of the construction sector, accumulated until 2008, is
one of the factors for the high economic growth in this sector. The
Ministry, together with old tax
exemption, plans to reform profit taxation. However, according to
the draft budget for next year,
cancellation of profit taxes is not
planned. According to the Minister, the Ministry is working on
profit tax projects.
The Minister further stated that
they don’t want to talk about the
matter in advance, “but everyone
knows that we are working on
profit tax to improve investment.”
He also talked about the nontaxable minimum program. In
2014-2015, issued non-taxable
minimum amounted to 254 million
GEL. However, the government
plans to cancel this project in 2016.
Minister Khaduri also spoke
about the Budget and Treasury
reform, through which state agencies have been united in the unified treasury account. As a result,
the annual turnover of public finances, more than 3 billion GEL,
came under budget treasury regulations.
The Minister considers the
events of the international financial institutions as a special
achievement in Georgia, including
the annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD); annual
meeting of the Black Sea Trade
and Development Bank (BSTDB); hosting of the Silk Road Forum; becoming a member of Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB) and opening the Georgian
representation of the European
Investment Bank (EIB).
Galt & Taggar
vestment Bank in Geor
gia
artt Named Best In
Inv
Georgia
Galt & Taggart was recently
named the Best Investment Bank
in Georgia 2015 by the International Finance Magazine. This is
the latest in a series of recent
awards recognizing G&T and its
achievements in the Georgian investment banking sphere.
G&T is the investment banking subsidiary of Bank of Georgia Holdings PLC, the only entity from Georgia listed on the premium segment of the London
Stock Exchange. G&T has established itself as the leading investment bank in Georgia, offering a
full range of investment banking
services, including Corporate
Advisory, Capital Markets, Asset
and Wealth Management, Brokerage, and Research.
Over the past year, G&T acted as the sole placement agent for
the EBRD and IFC local bond
issuances and successfully placed
corporate bonds for m2 Real Estate, Evex, and Georgian Water
and Power (GWP), all listed on
the Georgian Stock Exchange.
The US$ 20 million m2 Real Estate bond issuance in March 2015
was the largest public fixed income placement in Georgia to
date. The development of Georgian capital markets is crucial as
it will enable better risk sharing
and more efficient allocation of
capital, while attracting foreign
capital, which can lower the cost
of funding for local companies.
Around 50% of total funds raised
through bond issuances placed by
G&T in 2015 were financed by
non-resident investors.
G&T’s Corporate Advisory
department provides M&A, valuation, strategic advisory, debt
structuring, and rating advisory
services in both domestic and
cross-border transactions. G&T
assists companies in obtaining financing from local and international banks and other financial
institutions. It has a significant
track record in this field with
more than 15 transactions. The
latest major transaction was the
acquisition of 25% shareholding
in Georgian Global Utilities, the
mother company of GWP, by
Bank of Georgia Holdings in
December 2014.
Galt & Taggart Research is a
pioneer of investment research in
Georgia, providing timely analysis and insights for its clients. The
research team provides coverage
of Georgian and Azerbaijani
economies, Georgian business
sectors, and Georgian Eurobond
issuers – Georgian Railway and
GOGC. The business sectors currently covered are energy, tourism, agriculture, wine, and retail
and office real estate, with new
major sectors in the pipeline.
G&T Research is the trusted
source of information on the
Georgian market for not only
Georgian companies and investors, but also foreign investors
interested in the region, international organizations, foreign government representatives in the
country, and Georgian missions
abroad.
G&T’s brokerage division
provides unparalleled regional
expertise and trading capabilities
in frontier markets. The company recently announced a landmark deal with Saxo Bank A/S.
The agreement will allow G&T
clients to access global capital
markets and invest on a multi asset basis, providing a highly adaptive trading experience with professional tools, insights, and
world-class execution to its users.
The partnership with Saxo Bank
will allow the company to bring
the latest technology to the market and extend its track record of
offering the best trading capabilities in the country.
“The awards that we have received over the past year serve as
recognition of Galt & Taggart’s
leadership role in the development of capital markets and investment banking in Georgia, as
well as our commitment to innovative and professional service.
We see significant potential in this
sector and will continue to play a
leading role as the major intermediary on the market,” said Archil
Gachechiladze, Chairman of Galt
& Taggart and Deputy CEO of
Bank of Georgia.
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Tel./Fax: (995 32) 2 37 62 63
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E-mail: [email protected]
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BUSINESS
OCTOBER 23 - 29
13
FRONTERA RESOURCES CORPORATION
Houston, Texas, U.S.A. –
8 October 2015
FRONTERA RESOURCES
UPGRADES GAS POTENTIAL IN
GEORGIA OPERATIONS
Frontera Resources Corporation
(London Stock Exchange, AIM Market
– Symbol: FRR), an independent oil and
gas exploration and production company (“Frontera” or the “Company”), today provided an announcement of a significant upgrade to gas resources associated with its ongoing exploration and
production efforts in the country of
Georgia.
The Company recently announced
that it had continued to advance its natural gas focus within its eastern Georgia holdings by combining the technical focus of its Mtsare Kheve Gas Complex and Taribani Field Complex into
one integrated 2,000 square kilometer
geologic unit called the South Kakheti
Gas Complex. In addition to gas resources previously identified for subsets
of this combined area, Frontera’s ongoing work recently concluded new estimation of as much as 135 trillion cubic
feet (3.8 trillion cubic meters) of gas in
place from reservoir targets found between 300 metres and 5,000 metres in
depth. An independent assessment of
Frontera’s new internal estimates is now
underway.
Earlier this year, during the month
of April, Frontera announced results of
a report it commissioned by the U.S.based independent consulting firm of
Netherland, Sewell & Associates that
confirmed combined prospective natural gas resources of as much as 12.9 trillion cubic feet (365 billion cubic meters)
of gas-in-place, with as much as 9.4 tril-
lion cubic feet (266 billion cubic meters)
of recoverable prospective natural gas
resources at the Mtsare Khevi Gas Complex and Taribani Field Complex.
Following on from this assessment,
extensive geologic and geophysical
studies continued within and between
the Mtsare Khevi Gas Complex and the
Taribani Field Complex areas as the
Company has believed that these areas
are part of a common geologic complex.
As a result, ongoing exploration studies
have confirmed an extensive integrated
gas resource potential that is much larger than previously identified.
In 2014, Frontera’s installation of a
14-kilometer network of gathering, processing and pipeline transportation facilities culminated in the initiation of gas
production operations from the Company’s ongoing drilling operations. Since
commencing gas production operations
in April of last year from its operations
in eastern Georgia, Frontera has successfully marked eighteen months of gas
production operations. Continuous gas
sales from the area have represented the
first time domestically produced nonassociated gas has been continuously
marketed to Georgia’s national consumption market. Together with extensive technical analysis associated with
the greater South Kakheti Gas Complex,
this work has opened a historic new
chapter in Georgia’s move towards energy independence as well as providing
gas to markets beyond its borders.
Frontera is advancing evaluation of
commercialization options to expand
and accelerate efforts to bring this resource to not only Georgia’s domestic
market, but also to nearby regional markets in Turkey and Europe. In this context, during the month of July, Frontera
entered into to a strategic Memorandum
of Understanding with Ukraine’s national energy company, National Joint Stock
Company Naftogaz of Ukraine whereby an engineering FEED study is underway related to the possibility of bringing liquefied natural gas (LNG) to
Ukraine from Frontera’s ongoing upstream gas work in Georgia. Similar
studies are in progress related to other
trans-Black Sea markets as well as contemplated regional pipeline routes.
Steve C. Nicandros, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer commented:
“Our ongoing investments in Georgia have continued to reveal the emergence of what we believe to be a world
class gas play with the identification of
the South Kakheti Gas Complex. Much
like the recent evolution of similarly
prolific gas plays in the United States
that have transformed the U.S.A.’s energy independence trajectory, our results
continue to indicate that Georgia has the
natural gas resources to follow a similar path. We believe that our ongoing
work will further serve to establish
Georgia’s domestic energy independence in the years to come and also make
it a strategic supplier of gas to Turkish
and European consumption markets.”
Enquiries:
Frontera Resources Corporation:
Liz Williamson
Vice President, Investor Relations and
Corporate Communications
+1 713 585 3216
[email protected]
Financial PR:
Buchanan
Helen Chan
+44 (0) 20 7466 5000
[email protected]
Notes to Editors:
About Frontera Resources Corporation
Frontera Resources Corporation is
an independent Houston, Texas, U.S.A.based international oil and gas exploration and production company whose
strategy is to identify opportunities and
operate in emerging markets in Eastern
Europe around the Black Sea. Frontera
Resources Corporation shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange, AIM
Market – Symbol: FRR. For more information, please visit www.fronteraresources.com.
2. The Mtsare Khevi Gas Complex is
an area of approximately 140 square
kilometers and encompasses gas reservoir targets found between 300 meters
and 5,000 meters in depth. Based on
Frontera’s internal estimates, analysis
has revealed significant gas potential
throughout this area of up to approximately 11 TCF of gas-in-place and up
to approximately 9 TCF of recoverable
gas resources. An April 2015 report by
the independent consulting firm of Netherland, Sewell & Associates confirms
prospective resources of as much as 8.29
TCF of gas-in-place for the Mtsare
Khevi Gas Complex, with as much as
6.15 TCF of recoverable prospective
resources.
3. The Taribani Field Complex is an
area that encompasses approximately
1,400 square kilometers and includes the
discovered yet undeveloped Taribani,
Kila Kupra, Bayda and Iori fields within Block 12. Internal preliminary analysis suggests that there could be as much
as 18 billion barrels of oil in place
throughout this complex. Ongoing work
continues to study and assess the viability of this analysis and larger scale
development potential. Situated within
the Taribani Field Complex, the Taribani Field’s oil potential consists of 788
million barrels of original oil in place
(“OOIP”) at depths between 2,000
meters and 3,300 meters, independently assessed by Netherland, Sewell &
Associates (“NSA”) in 2005. In addition, Frontera estimates gas-in-place
resources associated with deeper horizons at the Taribani Field to be as much
as approximately 9 tcf from reservoir
targets found between 3,400 meters and
5,000 meters in depth. An April 2015
report by NSA confirms prospective resources of as much as 4.62 TCF of gasin-place associated with deeper gas
bearing sands at the Taribani Field, with
as much as 3.23 TCF of recoverable
prospective resources from horizons situated between 3,400 meters and 5,400
meters in depth.
4. Information on Resource Estimates: The contingent and prospective
resources estimates contained in this
announcement were determined by the
independent consulting firm of Netherland, Sewell & Associates (NSA) in accordance with the definitions and guidelines set forth in the 2007 Petroleum
Resources Management System (PRMS)
adopted by the Society of Petroleum
Engineers (SPE). Gerard Bono,
Frontera’s Vice President and Chief
Reservoir Engineer, who is a member
of the SPE, is the qualified person who
reviewed and approved the statements
in this announcement.
5. This release may contain certain
forward-looking statements, including,
without limitation, expectations, beliefs,
plans and objectives regarding the
transactions, work programs and other
matters discussed in this release. Exploration for oil is a speculative business
that involves a high degree of risk.
Among the important factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially
from those indicated by such forwardlooking statements are: risks inherent in
oil and gas production operations;
availability and performance of needed
equipment and personnel; the Company’s ability to raise capital to fund its
exploration and development programs;
seismic data; evaluation of logs, cores
and other data from wells drilled; inherent uncertainty in estimation of oil
and gas resources; fluctuations in oil
and gas prices; weather conditions; general economic conditions; the political
situation in Georgia and relations with
neighboring countries; and other factors listed in Frontera’s financial reports, which are available at
www.fronteraresources.com. There is
no assurance that Frontera’s expectations will be realized, and actual results
may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.
6. Glossary of Terms: BCF – means
Billion Cubic Feet of gas. TCF – means
Trillion Cubic Feet of gas. Mcf – means
Thousand Cubic Feet of gas. OOIP –
means Original Oil in Place. Bopd –
means Barrels of Oil Per Day.
SOCIETY
Georgia Did it – Sergeenko Presents
Three Years of Healthcare Reforms
The Minister of Labour, Health and
Social Affairs of Georgia has presented
three years of reforms in health care to
the public.
Minister Sergeenko accentuated the
Hepatitis C elimination program as the
main achievement of the country’s
healthcare sector. “It is important that
in the frames of this program 3100 patients are undergoing treatment,” the
Minister noted. He also presented the
results of the Healthcare Universal program.
Other future prospects such as Primary healthcare, implementation of a
Universal Healthcare cost sustainable
system, quality control and electronic
prescription systems were discussed and
presented during the event.
“A high proportion of drugs in the
overall healthcare system reveals the
main problem and we have to decrease
it with transparent ways not with mechanic restrictions,” said Minister Sergeenko.
According to the Minister, one of the
main priorities of the Ministry is reinforcement of drug quality control.
The Ministry of Health is planning
to establish new standards in terms of
quality control of drugs. How quality
control and new regulations will affect
increased price, Minister Sergeenko explains:
The pharmaceutical industry is one
of the most strictly regulated spheres in
the world. Unfortunately, here this sec-
The Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia
tor is deregulated. A lack of quality control creates a problem as we do not know
what quality of drugs people use. Absence of quality of control systems prevent us from purchasing the Generics
because we do not have objective evidence of quality.”
The Minister notes that the introduction of Generics will considerably decrease the prices of drug. “Society is
sensitive to increasing prices of products, including drugs, the prices of which
are a burden to a society unable to con-
tinue their treatments. That’s why we
need to decrease pharmacy expenditures, and in this case Generic drugs are
the most optimal way out.”
Minister Sergeenko considers that
expanding the Generic segment is inevitable in order to increase drug availability and to encourage local production.
“However, for implementation, we need
to execute a system of quality control
of drugs. The Ministry has started working intensively on such reforms and the
results will be known soon.”
Take a Breath with Hope – Georgia Marks
Week of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
IPF is a very rare and irreversible
disease that has a higher mortality rate
than other malignant cancers. Georgia,
together with the whole world marking
a week of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), held a special press conference
organized by the IPF Patient Union and
Georgia’s Respiratory Association and
Foundation of Genetic and Rare Diseases at Radisson Blue Iveria Hotel.
The main purpose of the press conference was to inform the public about
the rare IPF, in order to timely diagnose
and correctly treat and control the disease. Participants of the press conference discussed and highlighted the severity of the disease and the importance
of receiving the right treatment. The slogan of this campaign is “Take a Breath
with Hope” with soap bubbles used to
symbolize the program.
“Our aim today is to inform society
about one of the rarest respiratory diseases, an irreversible progressive disease,” Dr. Elene Sherozia said during the
conference. “More than 5 million peo-
ple around the world have been diagnosed with IPF, with approximately
110,000 people battling it in Europe as
we speak.”
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was
marked as a world day in 2012. Georgia actively joined them this year in
what it considers a very important
event through which the public will
receive much needed disease awareness- it is estimated that 60% of patients have not yet been accounted for
and are not in contact with a doctor.
“The disease is quite severe and if
not treated it has fatal results,” Kakha
Kvachadze, representative of the Georgian Respiratory Association, said.
“The Fund of Genetic and Rare Diseases offers its support to those patient
organizations that have formed recently. We hope that this decision will result in the desired result being achieved
with the collaboration of healthcare
structures,” Anna Bokolishvili, President of the Georgian Foundation for
Genetic and Rare Diseases noted.
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SOCIETY
OCTOBER 23 - 29
17
Niels Scott: UN’
s 70 Year
s Wor
king to Mak
e the Wor
ld a Better Place
UN’s
ears
orking
Make
orld
By Meri Taliashvili
“The Former Secretary-General of
UN, Dag Hammarskjold, said that the UN
was not designed to take people to heaven
but to prevent them from going to hell
and I think he was very right to say this.
We make sure that people are empowered to improve their lives.”- Niels Scott,
UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia.
In 1945, representatives from 50
countries met in San Francisco at the
United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up the
United Nations Charter. It was signed
by those countries on June 26th 1945,
but the Organization officially came into
existence on 24 October 1945 when the
Charter was ratified by China, France,
the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom,
the United States and by a majority of
other signatories. The UN was created
to prevent such devastating conflicts as
World War II. Its aims are maintaining
international peace and security, promoting human rights, fostering social and
economic development, protecting the
environment, and providing humanitarian aid in cases of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict. United Nations Day has been celebrated on 24th
October each year. Georgia Today met
Niels Scott, UN Resident Coordinator
and UNDP Resident Representative in
Georgia, to speak about the achievements of the UN in Georgia and globally
and the challenges it faces.
Q: Mr. Scott, exactly 70 years ago
the United Nations was established in
order to make the world a better place
to live in. What has changed since its
establishment?
A: Hopefully, it is actually a better
place! The United Nations was set up to
do three main things: one is ensure human rights, then peace and security and
the third is development. Let’s take it
one by one. We’ve recently seen unfortunate controversies over basic human
rights in the Middle East. These
shouldn’t become an exception to the
rights in the world. I think people nowa-
Niels Scott, UN Resident
Coordinator in Georgia.
days better understand what their rights
are - right to education, right to free expression. All of these we enjoy here in
Georgia. A number of countries where
human rights were challenged before
now see people demanding that they
have freedom of assembly, freedom of
expression, freedom of speech. It’s come
a long, long way and, like everything
that the UN supports, it has to come a
long way before it reaches a point of
perfection. Conflicts are taking place
as we speak: every day we read the stories in the news and are sad to hear about
such events as those in the Middle East,
Afghanistan, where conflict still continues. The ability to mediate, to discuss,
to try to limit the impact of these events
is vital. Sometimes we (at the UN) feel
powerless to prevent the conflict but we
have never left the table- aiming at minimum to reduce the number of conflicts
by encouraging the increase of time
people take to discuss a solution. When
we think of Georgia, we immediately
think of the Abkhazia and Ossetia situation, which is very unfortunate, though
we are working to find a solution. In
terms of development in Georgia, we set
ambitious goals to halve poverty, eradicate some of the key diseases and to
make sure that illiteracy becomes a thing
of a past. Recently, at the New York
General Assembly, the sustainable development goals showed us ways to
make sure that such development is seen
right across the globe with no-one left
behind- and this includes Georgia, which
has enjoyed good solid economic
growth. The United Nations is here to
make sure that everybody benefits from
these opportunities.
Q: How is it possible for everybody
to enjoy the opportunities the UN offers?
A: The most important thing is to
have peace, security and stability, on the
basis of which you establish human
rights. Next comes development. In
Georgia the challenge is to first ensure
security, by which I mean regional stability above all. Once we’ve done that
then we can set to ensuring human
rights. Another basic human right is
women’s rights, including having equal
opportunity in the political arena, in
business and in society. Unfortunately,
there is a certain stigma [in Georgia] that
prevents women from enjoying such
opportunities. We are working on it and
will persevere. We see development
around us yet we can still do more to
make sure that everyone benefits from
such things as a good education- education that gets jobs - and healthcare that
maintains a good lifestyle.
Q: What about women living in the
rural areas whose conditions are more
exacerbated?
A: A child who lives outside of Tbilisi
has four times the chance of dying within
its first four months of life than a child in
Tbilisi; double the probability of death
within the next four months. This is huge
barrier to development. The reason we’ve
been supported the local government
alongside the central government is because people need to have a voice. We
want those in the high mountains to have
the same life opportunity as somebody
has in central Tbilisi and we can achieve
that through people actually taking more
responsibility for it. It requires the reallocation of resources and the UN in
Tbilisi should be more careful in this as
it is easy to advise somebody to reallocate resources but not necessarily so easy
to do so- having resources is a challenge
in itself and this should be recognized!
But what’s more important is that people
are actually given the opportunity in the
rural areas and mountains and generally
in Georgia to be able to say: “This is one
of our priorities!” A little change, true,
but still a change.
Q: The United Nations is celebrating its 70th anniversary and 20th in
Georgia. What are its plans?
A: You are right to point this out. The
fact that the UN has been in Georgia for
twenty years is more important than the
fact that Georgia’s been in the UN for
twenty years. We’d like to get a good discussion of what it means for Georgia to
get through its first twenty years and its
second round of independence. How it
relates to what happened in the world
during the last 70 years and what Georgia has achieved is quite substantial. If
we go back to the early 1990s we can be
proud of what has been accomplished
since. Georgia’s European approach is
another aspect. I don’t mean aiming for
tanks and guns, I mean what Europe can
do in terms advocating for security and
peace. By maintaining its close developing phase with Europe, Georgia increases
security. Also notable is the very responsible approach which Georgia has taken
to the discussion around Abkhazia and
Ossetia. The Government of Georgia
played an essential role in trying to encourage some kind of dialogue to reach
a solution without provoking. Such actions have served to increase the security
of the average Georgian. Yet it is natural
to think of the great challenges that remain. Human rights have progressed but
there sadly remain challenges in terms
of peace and security. We would love to
have a debate on what Georgia wants to
achieve in the next five years, with all
generations present- people of twenty and
seventy years gathering together and asking each other: how do you see Georgia?
What do you want? As for the UN, seventy- the age when a person would normally retire- is our time to consider what
we have learnt during our time and to
analyze how we’ve progressed. But one
of the things we’ve learnt in our seventy
years is that the United Nations is necessary, increasingly necessary. The Former
Secretary-General of UN, Dag Hammarskjold, said that the UN was not designed
to take people to heaven but to prevent
them from going to hell and I think he
was very right to say this. We make sure
that people are empowered to improve
their lives.
5th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan
Dialogue of Religious Leaders and
Politicians for Peace and Development
at the 5th Congress of Leaders of
World and Traditional Religions in
Kazakhstan.
Today Astana is not merely a representation of exquisite architecture, but a
cultural and intellectual center of Eurasia,
as Kazakhstan has become a symbol of
independence and a global success of a
young republic in a very short period of
time. Over the last couple of years the
international community has been largely
focused on Kazakhstan, since various
forums, congresses and events of international importance like OSCE, SCO and
OIC summits are held in the country. The
capital has friendly ties with more than
twenty cities in the world and was
awarded the UNESCO “City of Peace”
prize in 1999. In 2011, it hosted participants and guests of the 7th Asian Winter
Games and currently is among the favorites in the competition for hosting the
International EXPO-2017 exhibition.
Among others, at the initiative of the
President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Astana
hosts an important event: the Congress
of Leaders of the World and Traditional
Religions, the participants of which demonstrate that dialogue, mutual understanding and respect are a powerful creative force capable of ensuring the wellbeing and peaceful coexistence of people
of different cultures and religions. Dialogue of Religious Leaders and Politicians for Peace and Development was the
theme of the fifth congress held on 1011th June, 2015. The growing importance
of the forum has been proven by the confirmed participation of 80 delegations
from 42 countries. There were two ple-
nary and four breakout sessions held with
the participation of leaders. Throughout
the framework, the President of
Kazakhstan had an official meeting with
the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The session was accompanied by
speeches delivered by H.E. Mr. N. AlNasser, the UN High Representative for
the Alliance of Civilizations, Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavsky, Patriarchal
Exarch of All Belarus Paul, OSCE Secretary General L. Zannier, the Bishop of
Bedford, representative of the Anglican
Church R. Atkinson, Managing Director
of the Association of Shinto Shrines
“Jinja Honcho” T. Terai, the ISESCO
Director General A. O. Altwaijri, the
President Bishop of World Lutheran Federation Dr. M. Younan and many others.
“Another step has been taken towards
each other, towards mutual understanding of the crucial importance that peace
and harmony among religions, nations
and countries carries,” said President
Nazarbayev. “Honest dialogue on the interaction of religions and their role in global development has been continued. A
deep, shared interest in cooperation for
the stability and security in the world
community has been demonstrated. The
Declaration of the Congress, reflecting
common or similar approaches of all the
participants toward the issues regarding
our existence on earth, has been agreed
and adopted. Although said in different
languages and deriving from different
traditions, substantially, a common prayer
could be heard for two days from the capital of Kazakhstan: for peace, harmony,
justice, forgiveness and love towards our
neighbors.”
In his speech, the President paid at-
tention to the participation of Jordan’s
King Abdullah II in the meeting, and the
consonance of the “Amman Message”
initiated by him, as well as the importance of the Congress of Leaders of World
and Traditional Religions serving as platforms for the development of a constructive dialogue between civilizations and
religions. The President of Kazakhstan
thanked all the participants for the fruitful work of the Congress.
“I express my gratitude to all the ministers of different religions, because in
your appeals to God, you asked about the
prosperity and happiness of our
Kazakhstan. I sincerely appreciate all the
secular guests of the Congress - politicians, public figures, experts and journalists - for their invaluable contribution to
its success and the promotion of our
ideas,” President Nazarbayev told the
Congress. “There is nothing stronger than
the truth, which unites faith and reason.
Congresses of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions are held in the format
of a dialogue between religious leaders
and politicians. Hence, we strive to ensure that the force of morality and spirituality strengthens righteousness of ac-
tions in matters of peace and harmony
between people. I urge all members of
the Congress to bring this good and
peaceful atmosphere to your followers
and adherents.”
The Head of State stressed that the 5th
Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions once again clearly
demonstrated the relevance and increased
demand for a global dialogue.
“The word and speech, communication and dialogue is a divine gift to humankind. And it is our duty to make full
use of its power in peacekeeping and
resolution. Today, at the fifth Congress
we took another step towards an era of
universal peace and consideration, justice and spiritual harmony. We have
proved that in the period of global distrust, only through talking to each other,
can we find hope and confidence in the
future,” said the President of Kazakhstan.
He also noted the importance of encouraging people to promote dialogue
among religions and cultures. In this regard, the Head of State proposed to establish a prize “For contribution to the development and strengthening of spiritual
peace and harmony” and that it could be
awarded at the decision of the Board of
religious leaders and presented at the plenary sessions of the Congress. Furthermore, the President stressed that the work
of this two-day Congress has enriched the
world with the hope to avoid the development of worse scenarios, with faith in the
wisdom and responsibility of Mankind.
“Our Congress has a rich history. We
have accumulated solid experience in direct dialogue. We have established a tradition of dialogue and mutual understanding. Other sites of interaction of religions
and civilizations are being formed. Therefore, I propose the creation of a Museum
of Peace and Accord in Astana. Such a
good attitude to the history of our congresses, generalizing the experience of
consolidated decisions on issues of human
development, will be important for the
strengthening of peace and mutual understanding among religions and peoples. The
Museum of Peace and Accord will be, at
the same time, a scientific institution under the Congress, studying the history of
dialogue between religions and cultures,”
– said President Nazabayev.
In his concluding speech, the Chairman of the Senate Kassym-Zhomart
Tokayev cited the statement of the President of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev:
“‘The Congresses have contributed a lot
to the fact that the world did not fall into
an abyss of “clash of civilizations”’. The
balance in the world largely depends on
dialogue and harmony between people.
Therefore, we pose a dialogue of religions, culture of spiritual unity and the
accord of the Mankind against hostility
and hatred on religious grounds. And let
good luck be with us in this noble cause,”
said the Chairman.
CULTURE
OCTOBER 23 - 29
19
“Eye of Istanbul” at National Galler y
One of the Se
ven Best Wor
ld-R
eno
wned Photo
grapher
sF
ea
tur
es Tur
kish Lif
estyle and Mor
e
Sev
orld-R
ld-Reno
enowned
Photog
phers
Fea
eatur
tures
urkish
Lifestyle
More
By Maka Lomadze with the
contribution of Eka Karsaulidze
The Georgian National Museum and
the Embassy of Turkey in Georgia
opened the personal exhibition of Ara
Guler at the National Gallery on October 16. Widely recognized as the “Eye
of Istanbul,” he is an Armenian-Turkish
photographer.
Ara Guler was involved in drama
circles. However, his thirst for journalism urged him to abandon cinema and
theatre. Soon, he met Master HenriCartier-Bresson who later invited him
to join Magnum Photos.
In his opening speech, the Turkish
Ambassador in Georgia, H.E. Mr. Zeki
Levent Gumrukcu pointed out that when
Orhan Pamuk, Nobel Prize laureate and
best-selling Turkish writer, was working on his book “Istanbul: Memories and
the City’” he did it in the archives of Ara
Guler. Pamuk himself confessed that he
always perceived the Istanbul of his
childhood as a black-and-white photograph. “In Ara Guler’s photographs
Istanbul appears like a melancholic city,
reflected also on its dwellers’ faces, in
an environment where poverty and modesty merge, under the aging sounds of
the old and new,” said Pamuk in one of
his interviews.
“Not only Istanbul, but also some of
the most important landmarks of Turkey have been brought to the world’s attention through Ara Guler’s photographs,
including the ancient city of Aphrodisias,
legend of Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat
and others,” said Ambassador Gumrukcu.
“Until 1962, nobody knew that the city
of Aphrodisias existed until Ara Guler
discovered it.” Reportedly, when Guler
accidentally found himself there, villagers were sitting not on normal chairs but
some ancient columns turned upside
down. When the photographer asked
them where they had taken them from,
they took him to the place – an ancient
city beneath the ground, which soon,
through his photos, became an attractive
destination for archeologists.
The exposition also features breathtaking pictures of Istanbul as well as the
portraits of very famous personalities
of the 20th century, including Maria
Kalas, Pablo Picasso and William
Saroyan. Ambassador Gumrukcu said
that Ara Guler always remembers his
roots and wanted to attend the opening
of the exhibition in Tbilisi, but was unable to come due to his poor health. “He
was so sorry not to be here this day, but
to mark his presence, he personally
signed each photo that we brought to
this exhibition,” said the Turkish Ambassador.
Mikheil Tsereteli, Deputy Director
General of the Georgian National Museum said: “This is of the utmost importance for us as he is a great photographer. For Georgia, as for all countries, it
is an honor to host such a photographer,
who at the same time comes from our
neighbor country and represents its
population and its cultural heritage.”
Levan Kharatishvili, Deputy Minister of Culture, told Georgia Today: “We
are always happy to promote cultural
exchange between sister countries. This
tightens our bilateral relations. Correspondingly, we do not miss the opportunity to give them room. We express
condolences to those who suffered from
the October 10 tragedy in Ankara. By
looking at these photos, I am once again
reminded how important the life of any
human is, as there is hardly any photo
here without a human on it.“
Ara Guler, the most important living
representative of creative photography
in Turkey today, has a well-established
international reputation. He became a
photo-journalist for Paris Match and
Stern in 1958. In the British Journal of
Photography Year Book published in the
UK in 1961, Guler was named one of
the seven best photographers of the
world. In the same year, he was accepted
as a member of ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers) and was
its only Turkish member. In 1962, he
received the Master of Leica award in
Germany. In 1974, he was invited to the
US where he photographed a number of
famous Americans, photos that were
later exhibited under the title “Creative
Americans” in many cities around the
world.
Ara Guler, an Armenian-Turkish
photo journalist from Istanbul, was born
in August 16, 1928. He started his career
as a photo journalist and worked in several leading newspapers in Turkey. Although he always presented himself as a
photo journalist or even a “visual histo-
rian”, capturing historical events with his
camera, his photographs are among the
best artistic images of Istanbul and Turkey. What’s more, his portrait photographs of some of the most famous personalities of the 20th century with whom
he made interviews are also among the
best examples of the combination of photography and journalism. He was awarded
by various countries for his lifetime
achievements and outstanding services in
the field of photography including Legion
d’Honneur Officier des Arts et des Lettres.
The exhibition in Tbilisi is Ara Guler’s
first in Georgia, and the selection of more
than 100 black and white photographs
provides a unique reflection of his work
on Istanbul, Turkey and his portraits. Do not miss the large and imposing exhibition, open until October 31.
THE WALK 3D
(Info Above)
Start time: 11:45, 14:25
Ticket price: 7.50 – 8.50 Lari
Only VIP Tickets
Venue: Event Hall
WHAT'S ON IN TBILISI
THEATRE
GEORGIAN INTERNATIONAL
FESTIVAL OF ARTS
‘GIFT’ IN TBILISI
Address: 164 Agmashenebeli Ave.
Telephone: 235 0203, 551 17 68 18
www.giftfestival.ge
October 27
TRAVELOGUE I – TWENTY TO EIGHT
Direction/concept: Sasha Waltz
Stage design: Barbara Steppe
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: From 10 Lari
Venue: Rustaveli State Academic
Theatre, 17 Rustaveli Ave.
GABRIADZE THEATRE
Address: 13 Shavtelis St.
Telephone: 298 65 93
October 23
AUTUMN OF MY SPRING
Rezo Gabriadze
Directed by Rezo Gabriadze
English Subtitles
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: 10, 15, 20 Lari
October 24
MARSHAL DE FANTIE’S DIAMOND
Rezo Gabriadze
Directed by Rezo Gabriadze
English Subtitles
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: 10, 15, 20 Lari
October 25
RAMONA
Rezo Gabriadze
Directed by Rezo Gabriadze
English Subtitles
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: 10, 15, 20 Lari
STATE SHADOW THEATRE
“BUDRUGANA-GAGRA”
ABKHAZIA
Address: 17 Rustaveli Ave.
Telephone: 2 72 68 68
www.rustavelitheatre.ge
October 25
BEAR CUB’S ADVENTURES
FROM SPRING TO WINTER
Performances of the Budrugana-Gagra
Theatre are based on music and handshadow movements, no translation
required.
Directed by Gela Kandelaki
Composer: Teimuraz Bakuradze
Start time: 19:00
Ticket price: From 7 Lari
TBILISI ZAKARIA PALIASHVILI
OPERA AND BALLET THEATRE
Address: 25 Rustaveli Ave.
Telephone: 299 04 56
October 24
SEASON OPENING GALA CONCERT
Participants: Salome Jikia, Irina
Taboridze, Marika Machitidze, Ira
Iosebidze-Mamaladze, Irina
Aleksidze, Nana Dzidziguri, Otar
Jorjikia, Irakli Murjikneli, Nikoloz
Lagvilava, Lasha Sesitashvili, Gocha
Datusani-Jigauri, Kakhaber Tetvadze,
Mariam Turashvili, Mariam
Nachkebia.
Gala concert will be accompanied by
Tbilisi Z.Paliashvili Opera and Ballet
State Theatre orchestra
Start time: 19:00
Ticket price: From 15 Lari
Venue: Conservatoire Grand Hall
MOVEMENT THEATRE
Address: 182, Aghmashenebeli Ave.,
Mushthaid park
Telephone: 599 555 260
CIRCUS
Address: 1 The Heroes Sq.
Telephone: 2 98 58 61
www.krakatuk.eu
October 23, 24, 25
INTRO
Directed by Kakha Bakuradze
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: From 10 Lari
October 24, 25
CLOWNS ASSEMBLY
Start time: October 24 – 17:00
October 25 – 13:00
Ticket price: From 10 Lari
CINEMA
AMIRANI CINEMA
Address: 36 Kostava St.
Telephone: 299 99 55
www.kinoafisha.ge
October 23-29
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE
GHOST DIMENSION 3D
Directed by Gregory Plotkin
Cast: Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, Ivy
George
Genre: Horror
Language: English
Start time: 20:30
Language: Russian
Start time: 20:00, 22:20
Ticket price: 11.50 – 12.50 Lari
CRIMSON PEAK
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Jessica
Chastain, Tom Hiddleston
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Language: Russian
Start time: 20:00, 22:30
Ticket price: 11.50 – 12.50 Lari
THE MARTIAN 3D
Directed by Ridley Scott
Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain,
Kristen Wiig
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Language: Russian
Start time: 11:45, 22:45
Ticket price: 7.50 – 12.50 Lari
THE WALK
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
Charlotte Le Bon, Guillaume
Baillargeon
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama
Language: Russian
Start time: 14:45
Ticket price: 8.50 – 9.50 Lari
RUSTAVELI CINEMA
Address: 5 Rustaveli Ave.
Telephone: 255 50 00
www.kinoafisha.ge
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE
GHOST DIMENSION 3D
(Info Above)
Start time: 19:20, 22:30
Ticket price: 11.50 – 12.50 Lari
CRIMSON PEAK
(Info Above)
Start time:19:45, 22:20
Ticket price: 11.50 – 12.50 Lari
THE MARTIAN 3D
(Info Above)
Start time: 12:30, 16:00, 19:40, 22:30
Ticket price: 7.50 – 12.50 Lari
EVEREST 3D
Directed by Baltasar Kormakur
Cast: Jason Clarke, Ang Phula
Sherpa, Thomas M. Wright
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Language: Russian
Start time: 17:05
Ticket price: 9.50 – 10.50 Lari
MUSEUM
MOMA TBILISI ZURAB
TSERETELI
Address: 27 Rustaveli Ave.
Telephone: 298 60 30
October 9 – November 15
OLEG TIMCHENKO’S EXHIBITION
MUSIC
TBILISI JAZZ FESTIVAL
Address: 1 Melikishvili Str.
Telephone: 299 00 99
October 23
DIANA KRALL
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: 60, 100, 150 Lari
October 25
ESPERANZA SPALDING
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: 50, 70, 100 Lari
October 26
JEFF BALLARD TRIO
Start time: 20:00
October 27
AVISHAI COHEN Triveni
Start time: 20:00
Only VIP Tickets
Venue: Event Hall
October 28
EDMAR CASTANEDA TRIO
Start time: 20:00
Only VIP Tickets
Venue: Event Hall
October 29
FOURPLAY - Celebrating 25 Years
on Stage
Start time: 20:00
Ticket price: 50, 70, 100 Lari
INTERNATIONAL
MUSIC FESTIVAL
“AUTUMN TBILSI” – 2015
Address: Dj. Kakhidze Tbilisi Center
for Music and Culture,
125 Agmashenebeli Ave.
Telephone: 296 12 43
October 24
Concert dedicated to the 90th
anniversary of Sulkhan Tsinitsadze
TBILISI SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA
Soloists – NEKA SEBISKVERADZE
MAKA ZAMBAKHIDZE
GEORGE SUKHIRASHVILI
Conductor –VAKHTANG
KAKHIDZE
SOUNDTRACKS OF SULKHAN
TSINTSADZE
Start time: 19:30
Ticket price: 4-20 Lari
YARD OF FORMER FILMSTUDIA
Address: 164 D. Agmashenebeli Ave.
October 23
LEONID WEIDEMANN
Start time: 22:00
Ticket price: 30-40 Lari
SOCIETY
By Tony Hanmer
For all I know, the names of the year’s
seasons may have entirely different
meanings in Svan than even in Georgian;
there don’t have to be four of them, even.
After all, different languages even have
different amounts of colors, but it doesn’t
mean that their speakers are blind to the
unnamed colors!
For me, one of the meanings of “autumn” or “fall” in Svaneti must be “(season of) Lost Cows”. Alongside the glories of leaves changing color and mountain tops getting their first dusting of
snow, cows go walkabout.
I’m told that this is because the local
autumn fruits, pears, apples and plums, are
ripening now and beginning to fall, both
in people’s fenced off orchards and in the
open fields and forests. Coupled with a
lack of really good grass or hay to eat, this
leads the cows to all sorts of different
places to forage, and even to wait for the
blessed fruit to drop for them. They might
stay out all night waiting.
We try and encourage our bovines
home with an evening meal of warm
salted grain mash and whatever we’ve put
into the kitchen scraps container for
them—fruit and vegetable cores, ends or
skins, but nothing from the onion, garlic
or hot pepper families. Do they remember that this is waiting for them? I hope
so.
In any case, where the mother cow
goes, her daughter—now pregnant with
her first calf, we think—follows. Not so
the bullock, though; he, though younger
at a year and a half, is definitely a boy,
OCTOBER 23 - 29
Lost Co
w Season: Sv
aneti
Cow
Svaneti
with a mind and manners all his own. I
send the three of them out from the barn
every morning, accompanying them to
whatever forage starting point is necessary, but he may end up far from the ladies by evening. And is much less likely
to return at all, that twilight meal notwithstanding.
The bell on the mother cow definitely
helps most of the time. We found it on
our honeymoon in Racha, and it’s been
on her since summer this year, with its
distinctive sweet musical tinkle alerting
me if she’s anywhere within quite a large
radius. As she, unfailingly so her daughter, so that’s two down for the price of
one. If my eyes deceive me about who is
who from a distance, my ears never do.
Other bells may clank, ring lower; one
even sounds a bit like a church bell to
me. But each to its owner is unmistakable.
Last night, though, not one of the three
returned. I gave up at about 10 pm, well
past dark. It was a bit stressful, because
mother should be milked twice a day.
Nothing this morning, either; just rumors
of sightings by neighbors. Off to school,
and now I’m faced with another search
starting earlier, mid-afternoon.
Thinking all the while: why do we all
allow this, do this to ourselves? Is it just
a tradition which we could do better to
change or improve, but cling to because
it is “the way it’s done”, and evermore
shall be so? What would I change for my
own little herd of three?
For autumn, I’d take either a low-tech
or a high-tech approach. Either buy a field
just for their exclusive use for this season, or... “chip” each of them with a tiny,
non-removable (by them) GPS device
which would let me track them anywhere.
Either is possible, and I’m not sure which
I prefer. Both require money, and I’m not
sure that the GPS one would work well
enough up here in a range of weathers.
In any case, it’s just necessary from late
summer until the snow hits the ground
and stays, between the seasons of “good
foraging” and “hay-in-the-barn”.
GPS, assuming it remained consistent,
would be a one-time for always fix. The
field would also be a one-time purchase,
though. I could scythe its hay once and
then let the cows have it after that. Its fence
would need replacing only once a decade
or less, so, perhaps it would be a longerterm solution than the GPS one.
These are the thoughts running
through my mind as the bovines put me
21
through my paces of an evening or afternoon. I may not be able to change anyone else’s tradition, but if it doesn’t work
for me and there are obvious better ways
available to me, why not? I may even
persuade someone else progressive to
follow suit. All I know is, if she goes long
enough without a milking, she’ll dry up.
And the longer I don’t see them, the
greater the risk that someone near or far
will rustle them from me, unbranded
(though recognizably unique) as all cows
here are, and eat them quickly to hide the
evidence. So, while we don’t wish the
long snowy season to descend upon us
any earlier than necessary, something
must be done!
Tony Hanmer runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with
over 1250 members, at
www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/
He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri:
www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti
UNDP Cele
br
ates Inter
na
tional Da
y of R
ur
al Women
Celebr
bra
Interna
national
Day
Rur
ural
Shombi Sharp, Deputy Head of the UNDP in Georgia visiting Kachreti on the International
Day of Rural Women.
By Meri Taliashvili
The United Nations Development Program in Georgia celebrated the International
Day of Rural Women in Kachreti on October 15th. The event was carried out within
the framework of a joint program of the
United Nations and Swedish Government
“Gender Equality in Georgia”. The aim is
to promote women farmers, and to increase
their knowledge and education, self-reliance and self-awareness.
More than 100 women from different
parts of Georgia took part in the event.
Additionally, the UNDP presented its
new ambitious strategy and said it would
go beyond the borders of the region and
will continue to work as the Georgian Association of Women Farmers.
Shombi Sharp, Deputy Head of
UNDP in Georgia: “Women in Georgian
villages often carry the greatest share of
responsibility for the well-being of their
families, while at the same time playing
a key role in agricultural production. Yet
women still face unnecessary barriers to
taking equal part in economic and political decision-making, depriving communities and the country as a whole of an
enormous amount of human potential,
skill and knowledge to develop. Our partner, the Association of Women Farmers,
is busy showing how these barriers can
be broken down to the benefit of all,
women and men alike.”
The Association was established by
the Swedish Government and UNDP and
has supported its development for two
years.
Women farmers are convinced that a
strong agriculture will contribute to the
advancement of Georgia. They also believe that the country will not be successful without the equal participation of
women. And of course, here, the UNDP
stand for them.
TSU Students Demand R
esigna
tion of R
ector
Resigna
esignation
Rector
Students of the Tbilisi Ivane
Javakhishvili State University (TSU) are
demanding the resignation of Rector
Vladimer Papava and have given him until 10pm tonight before they launch a hunger strike. The students claim that there
are many problems, including infrastructure disorders, which the Rector is failing
to resolve. They allege there is a bureaucratic machine that hampers the rapid development of the university. Georgia Today spoke to Nikoloz Metreveli, the Head
of the Free Students Union, about the situation.
Q: Do the students in the group demanding the resignation of Rector Academician Lado Papava, represent the
majority of TSU students?
A: I can say that the group protesting
the rector does not represent the interests
of all TSU students. Otherwise, why
would they need to invite supporters from
Ilia University’s self-governing department?
As the Head of the Free Students
Union, it is one of my main responsibilities to establish systematic relations with
different faculty students within our university. It is unacceptable to most students
the form and motivation of the current protest being driven by the present self-governing group. However, there are many
problems inside the university which we
continue to observe. Also, I would like to
mention that in this regard the rector of
the University has never had any communication problems with his students.
Vladimer Papava, Rector of the Tbilisi
Ivane Javakhishvili State University
(TSU).
Q: The rector states that he to some
extent shares the students’ demands.
A: Naturally, part of the request is legitimate, and finding a solution to these
problems is the primary goal of the rector from the first day of his work as rector. Yet the allegations of a deliberate action to prevent progress are either absurd
or serve the personal interests of the students in the protest group.
Q: It was suggested that the protest could be supported by other parties and some politicians.
A: This group of students under the
previous government represented the
“United National Movement” stronghold. Other youth organizations, together
with the “Union of Free Students” systematically protested their demands. One
thing I can say clearly, the politicization
of the university must not be allowed. Our
country has firmly taken a path towards
the European Union, from which a large
contribution comes to the Tbilisi State
University.
SOCIETY
OCTOBER 23 - 29
23
CSR: Grant Thor nton Helps Tbilisi Zoo
Grant Thornton helped Tbilisi Zoo
on Global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Day, 17 September, as part
of a global Grant Thornton initiative to
unlock potential for growth in local communities.
Grant Thornton spent the day helping the Tbilisi Zoo on 17 Septembermarked as Global CSR Day which Grant
Thornton recognizes as a chance to help
local communities unlock their potential for growth.
“Growing together in the community,” is part of a global initiative to help
communities unlock their potential for
growth in the 130 countries in which
Grant Thornton operates.
Members of the Grant Thornton team helping to clean up Tbilisi Zoo on CSR Day, September 17th.
“On 17 September our people helped
our community by supporting Tbilisi
Zoo,” said Nelson Petrosyan, Managing
Partner of Grant Thornton. “We helped
it to recover from damage caused by the
heavy flooding.”
Founded in 1927, Tbilisi Zoo is the
oldest and largest in Georgia, located
along the Vere River valley in the center of Tbilisi with area of 120 ha. The
Zoo is home to around 300 species native to Caucasus and other regions of the
world. Tbilisi Zoo was heavily affected
by flood on 13 June, killing or letting
loose many of its inhabitants, and damaging the park’s infrastructure and eco
system.
CULTURE
Meet L
yn Cof
aptur
ed in Transla
tion
Lyn
Cofffin - Enr
Enra
ptured
anslation
By Meri Taliashvili
Georgia Today interviews Lyn Coffin,
the latest translator of Shota Rustaveli’s
The Knight in the Panther’s Skin.
Shota Rustaveli’s immortal poem
The Knight in the Panther’s Skin has
recently been republished in English by
famous American poet Lyn Coffin. The
new translation is distinguished from the
previous translations from its poetic
form; Coffin used 16 syllable shires that
added richness to the poem and it took
almost three years for the translator to
finish the work. As Coffin said in the
following EXCLUSIVE interview with
Georgia Today, while she expected the
job to be tiresome, she soon became
enraptured with the wisdom, music,
characters and flow of the poem.
Coffin spent time teaching at the Ilia
University as an assistant professor and
holds a BA, MA and MSW from the
University of Michigan, where she won
Hopwood Awards for both short and
long fiction. She also holds an MA in
teaching from Columbia University and
has taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin.
Coffin collaborated with Czes³aw
Mi³osz, Milan Kundera and Joseph
Brodsky. Georgia Today met Lyn Coffin to discuss her latest translation.
Q: Ms Coffin, when did you get
your first taste of Georgia?
A: I came to Georgia at the invitation
of Gia Japaridze, a Brodsky scholar. He
invited me to come and teach and to translate with him the anthology of Georgian
poetry from Rustaveli to Galaktion. He
told me we were to start with Rustaveli
and I thought it would be very dull and
boring. The twelfth century is not going
to be interesting, I thought! Then he read
it aloud to me and we began translating
word by word. That was my first experience of Georgian poetry aside from the
few small poems I’d previously translated
by Ilia Chavchavazde that Gia sent me
and I translated it through email.
I’ve translated a lot of Georgian poets- Dato Barbakadze, wonderful, fabulous poems by Nato Alkhazishvili, also
Zaza Abzianidze, and Giorgi Kekelidze
for Siesta Publication. I‘ve translated all
the poems in the Anthology: Galaktioni,
Vazha-Pshavela, and Rustaveli.
Rustaveli’s translation in shire is a 16
syllables rhythm line. It was difficult at
first but I got used to it.
Q: Which part did you like most?
A: I think the only part that is a little
bit less interesting for me is the prologue
as it’s somewhat static and in general I
don’t like much talk about what I’m going to do. But there are parts in the
Rustaveli prologue that are quite fascinating- literary criticism regarding what
makes a good poet and also discussing
Rustaveli’s love of Queen (King) Tamar
and how difficult the situation would have
been. But in general I enjoyed it from
Lyn Coffin, the latest translator of Shota Rustaveli’s The Knight in the Panther’s Skin.
chapter one through to the end. I found
the story of two strong women and two
strong men extremely entertaining. Less
interesting were the letters and testimonies of people like Avtandil and Nestan.
Q: You compare Rustaveli to
Shakespeare, why?
A: Everything is in their writing!
Whatever you want you can find: a good
story, excellent metaphors, wisdoms expressed in proverbs, poetry, and the music itself expresses amazing psychological complexity. All this is in Shakespeare
and Rustaveli both. The main thing was
their ability to set the scene. Take the
example of Macbeth. Shakespeare sets
the scene, describes the castle, the flags
flying, the wind, the birds in the sky, so
you can see this castle; you feel you are
there. In Rustaveli it’s the same thing
when he describes King Rostevan’s
court and Tinatin comes in. He describes
what you are seeing and then he dives
into the story.
Q: What are your plans regarding
Georgia?
A: I’d like to be an ambassador to
Georgia. Georgians are the most generous people on the planet, most sensitive
to poetry, music and the arts. They’re
fabulous people to get to know. I’d also
like to make a movie or may be do a stage
play. Georgia has wonderful films. I just
came from the London Georgian Film
Festival and I was very impressed by the
level of films here. I love Tangerines, and
In Blooms and Invisible Spaces; I saw
all of them films in London.
Georgia Today asked famous Georgian writer Zurab Karumidze to comment on Lyn’s translation.
“Lyn Coffin comes from the famous
Coffins of Nantucket (featured in Moby
Dick), the famous whalers. Last year
Lyn harpooned a poetic whale: translating Shota Rustaveli’s Knight in the
Panther’s Skin, the Georgian national
epic. Lyn Coffin is a very subtle person
– she can receive an invitation from a
butterfly landing on her palm, or transform an artichoke on her plate in a tiny
restaurant in France into a flower and
contemplate it. Like Yeats’s Crazy Jane
she knows that Love is like the Lion’s
tooth: ‘I dully thudded Out my life
against your bones and body strand-was
Cut, slit open by a most incisive blade.’
She can wear masks – Personae – and
stay both blatant and frank at the same
time. She’s good at keeping the balance
between abstract and human. She’s a
poet, and remains so in her prose: laconic, concise, impressionist.”
GIFT F
esti
val Pr
esenting Pr
emier
es and Priz
es
Festi
estiv
Presenting
Premier
emieres
Prizes
By Eka Karsaulidze
The 18th Georgian International Festival of Art (GIFT) in honor of Michail
Tumanishvili opened with Natalia
Kldiashvili’s exhibition and showed
‘Song of Songs’ by the Bolshoi Puppet
Theatre of Saint Petersburg. In addition, this year the festival is going to
present many premiers and conduct a
Opening of GIFT.
number of interesting events.
Keti Dolidze, the festival founder
and Artistic Director of the Mikhail
Tumanishvili Film Actors’ Theatre, recalled that for the first time the GIFT
was conceived as a part of Tbilisoba
(Tbilisi City Day) and mentioned that
she was happy to match the beginning
of GIFT with Tbilisoba on October 17.
It was a great honor for director
Ruslan Kudashov and the Bolshoi Puppet Theatre of Saint Petersburg to open
GIFT Festival who said they faced
many challenges in coming to Georgia.
“We made ‘Song of Songs’ not as a
typical puppet theatre, in fact we somehow created a whole new language, one
which I thought would never be understandable outside Saint Petersburg. For
that reason, it was very important for
me to present it to a completely new
audience,” said the director.
“Moreover, we wanted to present
our performance in framework of GIFT
festival, but we had some financial
problems. Therefore, our team created
video clip and asked people to donate
money so we were able to attend the
festival. It is a merit of all the people
that today we are here,” Kudashov explained.
GIFT has not just continued its tradition of brining new theaters from
around the world, but for 18 years has
acquired many loyal friends. Famous
Russian director Dmitry Krimov is to
return with another premiere performance- this time ‘Russian Blues. In
Search of Mushrooms’ – a completely
new type of theatre with modern technologies. Dolidze explained that for
this performance they will provide 600
earphones for the audience.
Lithuanian director Rimas Tuminas
also returned to Georgia, this time with
a performance of ‘Eugene Onegin’. In
addition, representatives of the festival
announced that the director wants to to
conduct several meetings and workshops for Georgian people.
This year the festival is going to be
more interactive as, besides Tuminas’
workshop, German director Sasha
Waltz with her company will also communicate with Georgian citizens. In
addition there will be several talks
about modern Italian Theatre presented
by the Embassy of Italy in Tbilisi.
According to the festival affiche,
throughout one month, theatres from
Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and South Africa will be hosted at the Georgian International Festival of Art. Along with
foreign guests, the Miñhail
Tumanishvili Film Actors’ Theatre, in
the framework of GIFT, will offer the
premier of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’
by Tennessee Williams.
Last year, GIFT established the
Mikhail Tumanishvili prize ‘For Excellence in Arts’. All great artists who contribute to the development of the contemporary arts in Georgia and elsewhere were also awarded this year.
Among the winners were famous Georgian theatric director Davit Doiashvili,
Georgian composer Gia Kancheli, and
German choreographer and dancer
Sasha Waltz.
The Georgian International Festival
of Art will last from October 17 to November 17. The festival’s representatives claim that despite all economic
problems, the ticket prices have not
changed and remain affordable for everyone.
More information about GIFT’s
affiche, ticket prices and so on can be
found on the festival’s new official
website: giftfestival.ge
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF - Katie Ruth Davies
GENERAL MANAGER - George Sharashidze
BUSINESS MANAGER - Iva Merabishvili
JOURNALISTS: Tony Hanmer, Tamar Svanidze, Zviad Adzinbaia, Beqa Kirtava, Meri Taliashvili, Eka Karsaulidze,
Baia Dzagnidze, Zaza Jgharkava, Ana Lomtadze, Maka Bibilashvili, Nina Ioseliani, Tatia Megeneishvili, Karen Tovmasyan,
Nino Gegidze, Dimitri Dolaberidze, Nino Japarashvili, Maka Lomadze
PHOTOGRAPHER: Zviad Nikolaishvili
TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Misha Mchedlishvili
CIRCULATION MANAGERS: David Kerdikashvili, David Djandjgava
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