Issue #1251

Issue no: 1251

FOCUS

• JUNE 19 - 25, 2020 • PUBLISHED WEEKLY

Want to watch it LIVE? Scan here and enjoy!

ON HILTON BATUMI An exclusive look into how Hilton Batumi survived the pandemic

PAGE 7

PRICE: GEL 2.50

In this week’s issue...

5th Tourism & Hospitality Conference Held Online with the Support of Bank of Georgia NEWS PAGE 2

Geopolitics of the EU’s new Eastern Partnership Vision POLITICS PAGE 4

Kopaladze: Suspending Authorization of Caucasus Online Might Cut Off 3 mln Customers from Safe European Internet Services BUSINESS PAGE 6

The Graduates of the Guivy Zaldastanishvili American Academy in Tbilisi Enrolled in World's Top Universities

Georgian Secret Services Allegedly Thwart Russian Assassination Attempt on Journalist

SOCIETY PAGE 8

Finalists of ‘Keep Georgia Tidy’ Kids' Environmental Contest Revealed SOCIETY PAGE 9

BY AMY JONES

G

eorgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia claimed on Tuesday that the Georgian Secret Services (SSG) had thwarted a plot to assassinate Georgian journalist Giorgi Gabunia.

“The Georgian Secret Services have foiled a very serious crime,” Gakharia announced at a press briefing. He responded to claims by Nika Gvaramia, Gabunia’s boss, that a Russian assassin was sent to Georgia to kill the journalist.

Gabunia gained attention last July following an outburst against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Speaking in Russian live on Rustavi 2 TV station, he called Putin a “filthy invader” and insulted his mother saying: “Oh, your mother’s dead… Let her burn in hell with you and your father.”

Gvaramia, who is director of the pro-opposition TV station Mtavari Arkhi TV, claimed in a televised address on Monday that a Russian hitman under the name of Vasambeg Bovok came to Georgia to assassinate Gabunia.

Georgian authorities were alerted to the plot

by Ukrainian authorities, Gvaramia claimed.

Continued on page 2

“Corona Days” Artworks of Young Georgian Artists: Giorgi Gabiskiria CULTURE PAGE 11 Prepared for Georgia Today Business by

Markets As of 12ͲJunͲ2020

STOCKS

Price

w/w

m/m

BONDS

Price

w/w

m/m

Bank of Georgia (BGEO LN)

GBP 10.50

Ͳ2,1%

+14,1%

GEOROG 04/21

100.50 (YTM 6.13%)

Ͳ0,0%

+4,0%

Georgia Capital (CGEO LN)

GBP 4.80

Ͳ2,8%

+11,6%

GEORG 04/21

102.58 (YTM 3.65%)

Ͳ0,2%

+1,3%

GHG (GHG LN)

GBP 0.90

+5,9%

+2,6%

GRAIL 07/22

101.89 (YTM 6.75%)

+0,1%

+4,2%

TBC Bank Group (TBCG LN)

GBP 9.01

Ͳ4,9%

+16,3%

GEBGG 07/23

99.46 (YTM 6.19%)

+0,3%

+4,7%

Price

w/w

m/m

CURRENCIES

Price

w/w

m/m

38,73

Ͳ8,4%

+29,2%

GEL / USD

3,0381

+2,5%

Ͳ5,3%

1 730,75

+2,7%

+1,6%

GEL / EUR

3,4197

+2,1%

Ͳ1,6%

COMMODITIES Crude Oil, Brent (US$/bbl) Gold Spot (US$/OZ)

GEL / GBP

3,8081

+1,4%

Ͳ3,1%

INDICES

Price

w/w

m/m

GEL / CHF

3,1962

+3,7%

Ͳ3,3%

FTSE 100

6 105,18

Ͳ5,8%

+1,8%

GEL / RUB

0,0435

+0,7%

Ͳ

FTSE 250

17 077,34

Ͳ6,3%

+5,6%

GEL / TRY

0,4459

+1,8%

Ͳ2,6%

DAX

11 949,28

Ͳ7,0%

+10,4%

GEL / AZN

1,7872

+2,5%

Ͳ5,2%

DOW JONES

25 605,54

NASDAQ MSCI EM EE MSCI EM

Ͳ5,6%

+7,7%

GEL / AMD

0,0063

+3,3%

Ͳ4,5%

9 588,81

Ͳ2,3%

+6,5%

GEL / UAH

0,1136

+1,8%

Ͳ5,3%

149,77

Ͳ3,9%

+10,8%

EUR / USD

0,8884

+0,3%

Ͳ3,6%

987,01

Ͳ1,6%

+8,5%

GBP / USD

0,7975

+1,0%

Ͳ2,2%

SP 500

3 041,31

Ͳ4,8%

+6,0%

CHF / USD

0,9524

Ͳ1,0%

Ͳ1,8%

MSCI FM

2 173,94

Ͳ1,3%

+9,3%

RUB / USD

70,1923

+2,2%

Ͳ4,8%

GT Index (GEL)

1 582,68

Ͳ

Ͳ

TRY / USD

6,8140

+0,6%

Ͳ2,6%

GT Index (USD)

1 208,13

Ͳ

Ͳ

AZN / USD

1,7000

Ͳ

Ͳ

2

NEWS

GEORGIA TODAY

JUNE 19 - 25, 2020

5th Tourism & Hospitality Conference Held Online with the Support of Bank of Georgia

T

he Welcome to Georgia!

National Tourism Awards is working non-stop to adapt to the new reality and has pledged to do its best to encourage the industry again.

“The 2020 Tourism and Hospitality Conference was held on the opening day of domestic tourism, as we wanted to help and motivate our colleagues to start their activities with enthusiasm and renewed vigor,” says the founder of Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards, Maryna Chayka.

The 5th Conference on Tourism and Hospitality was held on June 15 via Zoom, and lasted five hours, seeing the participation of representatives of government agencies as well as the private sector. The event was attended by: Tbilisi City Hall, Adjara Tourism Department, Georgian Ecotourism Association, Enterprise Georgia, Georgian Airports Union, BDO Georgia, Bank of Georgia, and Hotel Contract Georgia.

A panel discussion was also held with the main topic ‘Industry during the Pandemic and Beyond.’ It was moderated by Maia Sidamonidze alongside active participants Giorgi Molodinash-

vili for aviation, and Keti Mikashavidze for hospitality.

Due to the developments in the world, the topic of the conference was devoted

from beginning to end on the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry.

The pandemic also led to a change in the usual format, and the conference,

which has hosted more than 400 guests in the past, was held online this year.

“The Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Award has been held in Geor-

gia since 2015. It has successfully established itself as a reliable, unique platform that has made a significant contribution to the development of the Georgian tourism and hospitality industry, and the number of nominees and winners are growing by the year.

Now, the support of tourism is even more important due to the new reality, which is why we are glad that we are contributing to the development and encouragement of the Georgian tourism and hospitality industry,” the Bank of Georgia representative noted.

The aim of the project is to encourage the Georgian tourism and hospitality industry, to increase the awareness of companies and brands working in this field, and to better represent Georgia on the international tourism market. The Bank of Georgia has been a co-organizer of the project for several years and actively supports the industry.

“Four days on from the conference and we are still receiving requests to share the recording of the conference.

We’re happy that we did something interesting for people. Thank you to all participants and co-organizer Bank of Georgia,” Chayka said.

Kazakhstan’s First Deloitte NY HQ Presents first President Tests Positive Findings for Post-crisis Plan to for Coronavirus Georgian PM, Economic Team

T

K

azakhstan’s former president Nursultan Nazarbayev has tested positive for COVID-19, his press service announced today.

Nazarbayev remains in self-isolation and will continue to carry out his duties remotely, the statement from the press service said, adding that “there is no reason to panic”.

Nazarbayev, 79, served as Kazakhstan's president for close to three

decades before resigning last year, though he still retains considerable influence as chair of the country’s Security Council and leader of the ruling party Nur Otan.

Kazakh officials have been warning of a potential second lockdown as cases multiply following the easing of restrictions last month.

As of June 18, Kazakhstan has reported 15,877 cases of COVID-19, with 97 deaths and near to 10,000 recoveries.

he Government of Georgia continues to work on a medium to long-term stability and development plan together with high-level experts. The New York Office of Deloitte made its first presentation of fiscal, monetary and sectoral economic policy analysis to the Prime Minister and Economic Team of the Government of Georgia on Thursday, which included the recommendations of international consultants.

The experts praised the measures implemented by the government towards the anti-crisis agenda and sector-specific support. International consultants noted during the meeting held in the format of a video-conference that each step made by the authorities of Georgia during the pandemic was based on the best international practice and experience. The experts noted their understanding that every effort deployed for the support of citizens came efficiently and timely.

It was mentioned at the meeting that the world is currently facing a new reality, and discussions are being held on the diversification of businesses. It was noted that Georgia has promising pros-

pects in terms of its milestone achievements and international ratings to grow into a more attractive investment platform.

The Government of Georgia is working on its Post-Crisis Economic Plan in the format of several work-groups with full funding provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Stake-

holders include the Deloitte NY HQ (economic team), professors of the Cambridge and London Universities, and Georgian experts.

Along with PM Giorgi Gakharia, the video conference involved Natia Turnava, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development; Ivane Matchavariani, Minister of Finance of Georgia; and Beka Liluashvili, Adviser to the Prime Minister of Georgia on Economic Affairs.

Georgian Secret Services Allegedly Thwart Russian Assassination Attempt on Journalist Continued from page 1 The SSG confirmed that they had arrested an “ethnic-Ingush Russian national, VB, for using fake identification documents.” The arrest was made as part of an investigation into “preparation of murder by contract.”

Russia has denied any attempted assassination. Dmitri Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, called the allegation “absurd”.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov also denied reports that he was behind the alleged plot to assassinate Gabunia. In

a post on his Telegram channel, he wrote: “Believe me, if someone is acting on my orders, he will accomplish them, and if a mission is to be accomplished quietly, nobody will learn about it.”

“Giorgi Gabunia had better go down on his knees and ask for forgiveness…

Otherwise, he will, I repeat, remain my enemy,” he threatened.

Kadyrov is known to be President Putin’s close ally. He has been linked to assassination plots in the past, including on journalists, but he has always denied any such claims.

Human rights organizations have accused the powerful leader of various human rights abuses, including the persecution of homosexuals, and torture and kidnapping of his opponents.

In response to Gabunia’s outburst last July, Kadyrov wrote: “In the Caucasus, a man does not say such words even against his enemy. Gabunia is a coward.”

He demanded an apology from the Georgian Government to President Putin and the Russian people, and called for a criminal investigation against Gabunia.

On Thursday, the SSG announced they had launched an investigation into the assassination and that they had reached out for more information “through Interpol”.

They also urged the media not to spread “fake information” so that they can “establish an objective truth in this case.”

Gabunia’s tirade last year came shortly after a wave of protests in Tbilisi against Russian occupation. In response, President Putin banned flights to Georgia.

Many Georgians consider that Russia occupies 20% of their country. A war in

2008 led to the Russian-backed breakaway of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two Georgian territories. Russia has military bases in both of these regions.

Gabunia’s outburst was criticized by both Georgian and Russian officials. The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the tirade a “deliberate action” to destabilize the country and impact “attempts at de-escalation” of tensions with Russia.

Gabunia currently hosts the ‘Post Factum’ show on Mtavari Arkhi after he was removed from Rustavi 2.

4

POLITICS

GEORGIA TODAY

JUNE 19 - 25, 2020

The “Chinese Virus” BLOG BY DAVID BRAGVADZE

B

y the end of 2019, the world had learned about the novel virus. The World Health Organization defined the novel coronavirus as a global emergency to the public health on January 30, 2020, one month after its outbreak.

On March 11, it was declared as a pandemic. As of June 9, 2020, nearly 7 million cases of the novel coronavirus had been reported worldwide, with more than 400,000 people already dead from it. The virus has spread to 188 countries and territories.

At first, everyone was convinced that the virus had spread spontaneously, and that it had accidentally spread from the wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

According to the information, it reportedly jumped to a human being from a bat. Over time, however, this version lost its credibility. Soon, there were reports that China had failed to disclose information about the virus in time, and the first cases were reported not at the end of December, but much earlier. One should pay particular attention to the story of Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, who tried to inform colleagues about the novel virus. He also published a post about it on the Chinese social network Weibo, but he was later summoned to law enforcement agencies where he wrote a “confession,” according to which he claimed “to have spread rumors and violated public order”. Wenliang was admitted to Wuhan Hospital on January 30 with a diagnosis of COVID-19. He died on February 7. The news of his death caused huge indignation on the same social network.

The Chinese pro-government media were quick to deny news of his death, but due to special interest not only in the country, but also worldwide, the truth could not be hidden for long, and his

death was officially confirmed. The tragic story of Li Wenliang and the repressions against him further fueled suspicions that Beijing had been concealing the virus for some time. Some of these suspicions raised against China were confirmed in early May. It turns out that in January 2020, when the World Health Organization had not yet declared COVID-19 a pandemic, China had drastically increased imports of medical equipment. In particular, imports of surgical masks increased by 278%, surgical gowns by 72% and surgical gloves by 32%. At the same time, the exports of all these products from China decreased significantly.

From October 2019 to January 2020, the balance of exports and imports of 38 medical products in China changed drastically. All of this indicates that China was preparing for a major outbreak and concealed the real danger from the rest of the world.

More information about the source of the virus has also been revealed, and it is said the virus spread not from the Wuhan wet market, but from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This institute has been working on coronaviruses since the early 2000s. Two cases of the leakage of the SARS-type virus from Chinese laboratories have been confirmed. Another important circumstance: according to the official version, the virus jumped to humans from a bat in the Wuhan wet market. It turns out that bats were not sold at all in this market, and therefore, this version is not convincing, while the novel coronavirus starting not in the Wuhan market, but in a laboratory, is much more plausible.

Thereisinformationconcerningthesafety standards in Chinese biological laboratories. In 2015, the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the first laboratory in China to receive a fourth level of international biological safety. Two years before the spread of the Covid infection, the laboratory was inspected, in January 2018. According to

Image source: vox.com

the report, the laboratory was carrying out dangerous experiments on bats infected with coronavirus and was not complying with the relevant safety standards. By reconciling the above data, one can surely say thatChinahadinformationaboutthespread of the virus and its potential danger much earlier, but it did not consider it necessary to inform the rest of the world in a timely manner. At the same time, Beijing was carefully preparing to defeat it, and it officially became the first state to celebrate victory over the virus with a flash mob involving the Secretary General of the Communist Party.

Let’s not try to judge how ethical this performance was, but it is important to note that by hiding the information, global medicine lost the opportunity to get ready for the novel coronavirus; global medicine lost time to create a vaccine and medication that still do not exist, as it takes time to do so; the world economy and individual countries lost the chance to get ready to face not only the novel virus but also the impending economic catastrophe. The impact of the virus on the world economy is particularly significant. The global economic crisis began in February 2020 and it is still not over.

As a result of the pandemic, the world saw a sharp rise in unemployment, a decrease at the stock markets, a collapse of the tourism industry, a collapse of the medical industry, a sharp decrease in oil prices, a collapse of the energy industry, a sharp rise in domestic debt and a sharp decrease in consumer activity. The World Monetary Fund has already assessed the 2020 crisis as the worst recession since the Great Depression. Despite the fact that many countries around the world successfully managed the outbreak and showed satisfactory results, with some surpassing the peak at the cost of great sacrifices, and are now gradually returning to normal life, many questions remain unanswered. The main reason for this is that the success of some countries in the fight against the virus will not make it possible to return to the pre-crisis economic situation unless the global pandemic is completely defeated. Given the fact that many countries around the world are currently going through the most difficult phase of the fight against the virus, the prospects for recovery are still unclear. At the same time, it is expected that a new wave of virus may come in the autumn, which makes the vague pros-

pects for recovery even more hopeless.

China's actions concerning the novel coronavirus reminded many of the Chernobyl disaster. At that time, the Soviet authorities tried to conceal the problem both from the rest of the world and from their own population. The debate over the death toll during the Chernobyl disaster is still ongoing. According to various sources, 4,000 people died within a short range of the blast and 6,000 rescuers died.

However, the official statistics still recognize only 31 deaths due to acute radiation syndrome. The approach of the Soviet Union and China is very similar, but it should be noted that the problem of COVID-19 by its content and scale is much more complex and long-lasting. The existing consequences are much more severe, and no-one knows when the world will finally return to a normal life without the novel coronavirus and masks.

Geopolitics of the EU’s New Eastern Partnership Vision

Image source: eap-plus.eu

BY EMIL AVDALIANI

I

n March, the European union (EU) published a new Eastern Partnership (EaP) strategy document. The timing of the publication was crucial: the western world and the EU in particular have been hit hard by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Anti-western propaganda by non-democratic states worked in full swing to downgrade the EU’s ability to combat the pandemic and remain a primary economic power. This thinking made its way into Europe’s vulnerable flank: the borderlands which adjoin Russia’s western and southern frontiers and represent an area of intense economic and political competition between Russia and the EU. Analysts and politicians in those regions were worried as to whether the EU would be able to compete with the external powers (Russia, China). Most of those states, the six former Soviet republics (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova) are part of the EaP. The new policy document is therefore an important step amid deepening pes-

simism about the EU’s strengths, serving as a reflection of the EU’s resolve to further integrate the six former Soviet states into the Union’s institutions.

The previous document made an emphasis on engaging with civil society to ensure effective reforms. There was also a focus on increased public accountability, advanced human rights and local development.

The new policy document outlines changes in 3 out of 4 priority areas. The EU will again work on building a stronger economy, connectivity and stronger society as a guarantee. Some novelties are such as “cooperation in health, the digital sphere and green policy” are also there, says Stefan Meister, head of Heinrich Böll Foundation in the South Caucasus.

In the new policy, bilateral cooperation will remain the main way to ensure the implementation of policy recommendations. The EU will continue to provide support in bilateral, regional and multicountry fora.

The EU plans to help build resilient, sustainable and integrated economies, and accountable institutions. It also aims to increase the rule of law and general security; make progress in building envi-

ronmental and climate resilience; implement a resilient digital transformation; and build fair and inclusive societies.

The document does not speak openly about geopolitics. As Meister says in another comment: “Russia is not mentioned at all, nor are the challenges with other regional players like Turkey or Iran or China discussed.” Indeed, the subject is carefully avoided.

Nevertheless, in the broadest sense, the new strategy itself could be seen as a geopolitical act: perseverance of the EU’s imperatives in the borderlands.

Careful reading of the clauses further points to geopolitical competition. Take, for example, the following clause: “the EU and partner countries will invest in physical connectivity and infrastructure (in transport, energy and digital) as underpinning conditions for economic development.”

This will strengthen connectivity between the EU and the partner countries and among the partner countries themselves. This is in connection with the energy connectivity in the South Caucasus, as the Southern Gas Corridor is nearing completion with the first gas from Azerbaijan likely to reach the EU in 2020.

Support for east-west pipelines and railways connecting the Caspian and the Black seas has been at the heart of the EU’s geopolitical interests in the region since the early 1990s.

The new document is also about economic competition in an increasingly divided Eurasia. Since Russia has its own interests in the borderlands, the new strategy’s emphasis on deeper economic cooperation clashes with the Kremlin’s geopolitical imperative to dominate trade with its neighbors.

The trend, however, shows Russia is gradually losing the economic battle as the EaP states diversify their economies.

In the 2010s, EU-EaP trade nearly doubled, turning the partner countries into the EU’s 10th largest trading partner. The EU is now the first trading partner for four EaP countries (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), while for Armenia and Belarus the EU is the second biggest trading partner.

The diversification in exports of goods of EaP states helps to better integrate those states into the global value chains.

Another sign of closer interaction between the EU and EaP states is the number of companies trading with the Union. In Georgia, the number increased by 46%, from Moldova by 48%, and from Ukraine by 24%.

Building upon this achievement, the new document calls for deepening of the economic integration with and among the partner countries, particularly that of the three associated countries through continued support for the full implementation of the current DCFTAs. Among other policies the EU’s support for the cyber resilience of the partner countries stands out. This is particularly important for Georgia as the country was recently subject to massive external cyberattacks.

Still, the EaP experiences troubles at the ideological, leadership and geopolitical level. “The joint document by the Commission and EEAS has no really new perspective to offer the EaP partners, not

even those making most progress: Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova,” says Tony van der Togt, Associate Senior Research Fellow at Clingendael Institute. “There is a lack of ambition, and the catch word is still resilience,” he notes.

Throughout the 2020s, geopolitical hurdles regarding the EaP will remain more or less the same as the initiative has faced so far. Russia’s continuous military and economic aid to the separatists in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine will limit these states’ ability to maneuver and move closer to the EU. The absence of new visionary ideas among the EU leaders will be the most challenging issue, as is “the EU's continued unwillingness to offer a concrete European perspective,” says van der Togt.

And a certain "accession fatigue", "EaP fatigue" might set in among EaP states, adds the scholar.

Still, the fate of the EaP is unlikely to be sealed. It is true that the likelihood of South Caucasus states, Moldova and Ukraine, becoming EU members is and will remain quite low in the coming years, yet the EaP will continue to operate in the next decade.

The most realistic sphere for enhanced EU-EaP partnership will likely be a larger sectorial cooperation. This could be the development of critical road, port and railway infrastructure. Deeper engagement with the local civil society, extended liberalization of markets, and an increased level of trade too might follow.

Economy is arguably the biggest problem for the borderlands countries and it is likely that we might see bigger engagement on this front.

The coronavirus crisis showed that the EU reacted fast by supporting the EaP countries, which increased the Union’s profile among the EaP states’ political elites. With the EaP, the EU’s differences with Russia will persist, which means that an additional layer of geopolitical competition will be there, limiting the possibility for a wider consensus between the two sides.

POLITICS

GEORGIA TODAY JUNE 19 - 25, 2020

5

What Gives, Folks?

OP-ED BY NUGZAR B. RUHADZE

I

f we fit the answer into the same old vein, it will sound like the devil is not as black as he is painted.

I would gladly accept the cheerful streak of the response, but there is a certain bothering air to this seemingly optimistic statement. The recent governmental warning about the possibility of a second viral wave in the country cast an ominous pall over the premature celebration of our victory over the pest. And doubts about our triumph might have substantial reason to persist, notwithstanding the internationally proven fact that this nation’s medicinal success is on par with the best in the world.

More interestingly, when the ruling party associated the possibility of the renewed outburst of the virus with the prospect of delaying the upcoming parliamentary elections, the opposition felt it had been kicked right in the pit of the stomach. On hearing the news, they were first reduced to silence and then, all of a sudden, broke into prolific comments that nothing can rescue the ruling power

from the incipient crucial defeat. Watching some of its most televised representatives making their habitual spiteful remarks about every governmental intent or judgment, it was obvious that their knees were shaking from irritation that the Election Day might be moved from October towards the end of the year; seeing them warning the public with obvious annoyance that the nation will find itself on the edge of chaos if the date of the election is changed.

The pre-electoral arguments of the opposition are always set forth in the same creepy wording, with the same hysterical tone: the foreign policy fiasco, the bias towards the Russian narrative, the double-game diplomacy, the bottom falling out of GEL, poverty going through the roof, the downtrodden Georgian citizenry living from hand to mouth, the head of the ruling party in conspiracy with the northern neighbor, inadequate reaction to the current medicinal strife, the country’s strategic partners increasingly aggravated over our government’s operating style, the most polluted air in the world, the calamitous management of the country, the educational system hardly functioning, the government squandering the taxpayers’ money, crime

BUSINESS

Multinational and Local Business: Retail Display Ban Should Be Postponed

A

ccording to the Tobacco Control Law of Georgia, the retail display ban (RDB) of tobacco products comes into force as of January 1, 2021. It means that in 6 months’ time, retailers, including small and mediumsized businesses, will have to order and pay for new equipment for their respective outlets. Many stores were closed during the recent lockdown; some were able only to operate a few hours a day.

As a result, revenues in retail were down and this sector currently lacks financing to procure the new equipment. Banks are reluctant to provide loans, which further impacts the retail sector. Further, the industry will be forced to discontinue contracts for certain outlets, which will add additional economic burden. All the above mentioned will instigate contraband growth and youth appeal towards cigarettes on the market, as happened in other countries with RDB on board, like Ireland and the UK, where illicit trade in tobacco hit 20%.

President of Georgian Retailers Association Luka Chelidze is against the RDB regulation.

“The COVID-19 crisis affected stores: their expenses increased due to new regulations, competitive conditions on the market worsened, and revenues decreased,” Chelidze. Says. “RDB will have a detrimental effect on most retail stores in Georgia. There are more than 12,000 stores in the country, and all of them keep tobacco products, therefore, having dispenser placement contracts helps them to survive. This regulation should be postponed for at least two years, otherwise more than 5000 stores will lose (a) base income from contracts and (b) at least 15% of sales due to keep-

ing tobacco products in stores.”

Legal and Corporate Director for British American Tobacco, Zviad Skhvitaridze stated that “the RDB regulation should definitely be postponed: (1) No RIA was done back in 2016 when this regulation was adopted; (2) The vast majority of EU countries have no such regulation; (3) It will hit more than 50% of retailers, causing further unemployment and deepening the economic crises; (4) More than $10 million will be pulled from the Georgian economy on top of the already lost $20m annually due to ungrounded advertisement regulations; (5) Illicit trade will grow and youth appeal to visually closed products will increase; (6) All tobacco regulations, including this RDB, will have not even a tiny effect on decreasing smoking, as we have seen in the last 5 years.”

Corporate Director for JTI Iva Khasia notes that the “industry proposal is to postpone the introduction of retail display ban until January 1, 2024, in order to allow the trade to move out of the impact of the pandemic. With inflation on the rise, and products costing more due to an unfavorable exchange rate, the entire Georgian supply chain and trade will need to generate enough cash to invest in the new equipment being imposed on them by legislation.

The sector will generate additional income for people employed in the sector, indirectly generating additional budget revenues. In other words, giving a longer grace period concerning the retail display ban will give the industry the chance to accumulate more revenues in the retail sector, accordingly in the economy, and eventually contribute to generating more budget revenues.”

at the zenith and economic growth at the nadir.

How do you like this apocalyptic picture painted by the allegedly united oppositional spectrum, adding even darker colors to the state-of-the-nation mural and lacing criticism with unrestrained vehemence? Why is this happening? How much good can this kind

action between the government, its opposition, and the electorate leaves much to desire. When I see some of our political biggies flying off the handle at

Image source: rebuilders.net

of political aversion do? While it is true that the unbridled oppositional condemnation lands nowhere in people’s earshot, it still has an unfair effect on the electorate ear. I can bet any political analyst that the current style of trilateral inter-

certain occasions, my brain becomes as if clamped between the vice of propaganda, my body feeling like it is made of lead. In front of the television screen, I often catch myself cupping my hands over my mouth and thinking what I have just heard can’t be true. But in Georgia, it has always been that way: the opposing sides have always wanted in this political culture to wipe each other out,

as chalk from the blackboard. Even if one side says or does something worthy, the other wants to change that with a mere flick of a pen or a twist of a tongue.

The opposition, even if our government is the best in the world, would spoil for a fight regardless, and woe betide anyone who dares to go against the way they see our future. I would give anything to slake my curiosity and understand what in reality is going on: why are so many people involved in politics chronically shooting at a moving target and still hoping to call the tune and see all of us dance to it?

6

BUSINESS

GEORGIA TODAY

JUNE 19 - 25, 2020

Kopaladze: Suspending Authorization of Caucasus Online Might Cut Off 3 mln Customers from Safe European Internet Services INTERVIEW INITIALLY PUBLISHED ON IPRESS.GE

O

n June 25, the Georgian National Communication Commission (GNCC) will once again discuss the issue related to Caucasus

Online (CO).

Whether or not GNCC suspends authorization to CO for the administrative violation that occurred in October 2019 will most likely be decided at the stated hearing. After October 2019, CO submitted to GNCC complete information on this matter and requested an investigation into the issue, however, it seems these efforts were not sufficient for GNCC. Caucasus Online is the largest wholesale internet provider in the region, with its infrastructure directly connected to European-based internet (data) exchange centers, located in Frankfurt and Sofia.

In addition to being responsible for twothirds of the overall internet service distribution in Georgia, CO provides European internet to significant parts of the Armenian and Azerbaijani retail market. The Black Sea fiber-optic cable owned by CO is an asset ensuring the uninterrupted connectivity of the countries in the region to Europe.

What will the future of Georgia's primary wholesale internet provider be, and will Georgia end up losing its only available access to European internet?

We contacted the CEO of Caucasus Online, Revaz Kopaladze, to clarify the issue.

WHY DID CO FAIL TO NOTIFY THE REGULATORY AUTHORITY ABOUT THE SALE OF ITS SHARES? First, I would like to touch upon the issue that the shareholders in CO have not changed for several years. They are the same: Nelgado and ION. Naturally, any changes in ownership of these entities could not have been automatically known to CO. We could not have given the regulator information which we did not have.

Only the ultimate beneficial owner of one of the founder companies was changed. The companies holding shares in CO are based overseas, so the transfer of shares was effectuated in a foreign jurisdiction.

As an example, we would have been required to submit prior notice to GNCC only in case of a change of the ownership interest of ION or Nelgado in CO. However, GNCC has a different opinion on this, and we are trying to defend our position in the Georgian court.

Even assuming that CO did have an obligation to submit prior notice to the regulator, though we believe the opposite is true, we would still be unable to comply with such obligation simply because the management of the CO does not have access to information concerning the business of its shareholders. CO cannot control how its beneficial owners dispose of their shares. We can only rely on the free will of the beneficial owners to keep us informed and updated about intentions to alienate shares owned by them.

On August 5, 2019, GNCC officially requested from all authorized persons updated information about the ultimate beneficiaries. Upon receipt of the request, we promptly asked for the corresponding data from the founding companies.

That is when we learned that the ultimate beneficial owner of the CO was changed and that a businessman of Azerbaijani nationality, Mr. Nasib Hasanov, had become one of the ultimate beneficiaries. We submitted this information with all the requested documents to GNCC. GNCC then commenced admin-

istrative proceedings on sanctioning CO based on this information.

WHAT MIGHT THE CONSEQUENCES BE OF GNCC'S DECISION TO SUSPEND AUTHORIZATION TO CAUCASUS ONLINE? Until 2007, Georgia had no access to high-speed and secure European internet. The whole region lacked such an opportunity up until the moment when CO completed the construction of a submarine fiber-optic cable in the Black Sea. The other choice at that time was Russian or Turkish internet, and nowadays these remain the other available alternatives. Keeping that in mind, suspension of authorization to CO translates into ceasing its business activities, which will, in turn, significantly impact the competitive environment on the market, and, most importantly, will limit the country’s direct access to European internet. This will directly affect the quality of internet services in Georgia.

WHAT ARE THE INTENTIONS OF THE NEW SHAREHOLDER AND THE OVERALL BUSINESS GOALS CAUCASUS ONLINE IS TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH? The progress and sustainability of our business wholly depend on geographic expansion and the capacity to deliver a larger volume of services. The strategic geographical location allows CO to expand its market presence geographically towards both the Middle East and East Asia. Establishing partnership ties with international players is an essential prerequisite for us to increase the sale of wholesale internet services and to explore foreign markets. A new strategic partner, who became the beneficial owner of CO, envisages the provision of internet service to China through the Caspian Sea and Kazakhstan via our infrastructure, which is another step forward for Georgia to be part of the global economic system. Full utilization of the potential

of CO will result in an increase in its income and the amount of taxes payable to the state budget, which will, in turn, have a positive impact on the economic development of the country.

The above business plan envisages investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure, which requires a substantial amount of resources, and alone, CO, without the assistance of a partner, will not be able to handle it.

Taking the above statements into consideration, I, as the Chief Executive, believe that without foreign investment and a reliable partner, not only CO but the country itself will not be able to fully explore the potential of the unique assets at its disposal.

DO YOU THINK THE DECISION TO BE RENDERED BY GNCC WILL BE PROPORTIONATE? Let me begin with an overview of the dispute and goals of GNCC: the primary purpose and objective of the activities of the regulator are to prevent monopolies on the telecommunications market in Georgia, promote competition, and safeguard the interests of the end-users by ensuring access to a wide range of services and providers. All actions of the Commission should be in line with and serve the fulfillment of these goals and objectives.

Possible suspension of authorization to CO is against all the principles and goals of GNCC. Even more so, since the regulator has not conducted any investigation or market study to determine the impact of the transaction on the respective segment of the telecoms market in Georgia.

Further, suspension of authorization can only be justified by a failure to eliminate a breach of such an obligation that substantially harms or prevents competition, and the latter cannot be assessed without conducting a market analysis.

Now to get back to the proportionality issue: The use of suspension of authorization as a sanction by GNCC cannot

be considered as a proportionate measure. Customers of CO are significant telecommunications operators and internet service providers in Georgia and the regions, too, that provide retail internet services to local end-users. If CO ends up having its authorization suspended, this will cause irreparable damage to CO, and the stated will not satisfy any standard of proportionality since, in such a scenario, more than 3 million mobile and fixed network customers will be left without access to internet services.

YOU MENTION GNCC’S DISPROPORTIONATE DECISION, YET, ACCORDING TO THE LAW, YOU HAD AN OBLIGATION TO INFORM THEM IN ADVANCE CONCERNING THE TRANSACTION. IS GNCC'S DECISION IN THIS PARTICULAR SECTION THEN NOT PROPORTIONATE? As I have already mentioned, CO believes that the obligation to obtain preliminary approval as interpreted by the regulator is controversial, and the Georgian court has not yet delivered its final judgment on this issue.

Despite the above, assuming that CO had an obligation to submit prior notice as GNCC requires, the decision of the regulator still does not meet the standard of proportionality. For the failure to fulfill notification obligation, GNCC is requesting reinstatement of the status quo which existed before the change of beneficial ownership. GNCC is considering suspending authorization to CO for failure to fulfill the reversal obligation. Yet, the reality is that CO is unable to enforce the decision since it lacks the legal capacity to do so. Instead of requesting reinstatement of the status quo, GNCC could have and still can require submission of an application to obtain permission for the sale of the beneficial ownership, and commence a study and analysis of the actual impact of the transaction on the telecoms market in Georgia. Not only is GNCC

reluctant to start such an investigation on its own, but it has also rejected the respective request from us.

The proportionality of the anticipated decision on the suspension of authorization is questionable because suspending approval to CO will negatively affect the Georgian telecommunications market by losing quality, reliability, and highprofile suppliers of internet services and by forcing a significant competitor to leave the market. While we do not have any mechanism to mitigate such irreversible damages, GNCC does have an opportunity to adopt less detrimental decisions.

It certainly was and still is within our interest to cooperate with the regulator to solve the dispute. For this very reason, CO itself took the initiative and asked GNCC to commence a study and analysis of the actual impact of the change of the beneficial owner on the telecoms market in Georgia. We were and are still ready to submit to GNCC any additional information and documents that they consider necessary. However, as I have mentioned, the Commission has dismissed our request and keeps insisting on the reinstatement of the status quo which existed before the change of the beneficial owner. That is why we question the proportionality of GNCC's decision. Which do you think is more proportional and reasonable: the regulator studying the impact of the change of the beneficial owner of CO on the telecoms market in Georgia and approving the transaction, if there is no negative impact on the competition, or suspending authorization that inevitably negatively affects the telecommunications market?

Additionally, foreign direct investment is not just an option for the development of the country, but rather a chance for survival. If we look at the statistics, it is evident that Azerbaijan is a country responsible for 26% of the foreign direct investment in Georgia, while investments from the member states of the EU equal 41%, and only 5% is Russian.

BUSINESS

GEORGIA TODAY JUNE 19 - 25, 2020

7

Hilton Batumi GM: We Need to Have a Better Understanding of the Govt’s Plans for Tourism Want to watch it LIVE? Scan here and enjoy!

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY TEAM GT

A

s part of the series of GT Live Interviews, Katie Ruth Davies, GEORGIA TODAY Editor-in-Chief, met Torsten Weller, the General Manager of Hilton Batumi, to talk about their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, what they have done to support staff and their community, and his outlook for the future. Mr Weller has been in Georgia since January 2017 and has also held positions in Austria, Germany and the United States.

HOW DID YOU COPE THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC? DID YOU KEEP YOUR STAFF ON BOARD? It was quite an adventure! It was a very uncertain time, things were changing almost by the hour. Guest numbers were decreasing and suddenly the pandemic became very real, and business got down to the point where we had to make the decision to temporarily suspend our operations. We shut down in a very structured way, keeping safety in mind.

We tried to deal with staff by offering a 50% vacation and paid very well until

the state of emergency came. Then, unfortunately, other than the team members needed to maintain the building and deal with phone calls and such, others had to be sent on furlough. This was obviously a very tough decision to make. However, we kept in touch with them: the team is one of the most important parts of our industry, because we are an industry of people serving people. We set up a team WhatsApp group and had Zoom calls with the leadership to keep them updated about the situation, and to check how everyone was doing; offering support, both moral and financial. It felt very good to stay in touch with our team.

BASED ON LAST YEAR?

WHAT SUPPORT DID HILTON BATUMI GIVE TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY?

Hilton implemented a program called Clean Stay. As soon as the guest enters the hotel, they can see our aim to deliver top class standards on disinfection, social distancing, and cleanliness. Guests can trust that as they walk around the hotel, they don’t need to be worrying about the virus all the time. Part of Clean Stay is the eighteen touch points in guest rooms which are most frequently use, and these get disinfected with a special detergent. The safety and security of our guests comes first.

We have stickers on the floor for social distancing, and we give all our team members personal protective equipment (PPE). Also, they have a little bottle of disinfectant in their pocket they can use, and that gives them that security and confidence to be who they are. This is the most important element. You don't need to be scared. You shouldn't be stressed. You should be in an environment where you can be who you are.

Because that's our strength. And our Clean Stay program is fantastic for both the safety of guests and the safety of team members.

As for how long this “new normal” will exist, I’d say it will remain, perhaps with a few adaptations, but it sets new standards in the entire process. Even when the pandemic is gone, I'm sure the program will still be there, seeing even higher standards than we had before.

We worked with the Red Cross here in Adjara, helping collect and deliver some 4000 kilograms of food to families. Some of our team volunteered for the Red Cross in the supermarkets, helping to get the food packed. This was the biggest contribution we could make at that point. The day you start sharing is the day you start caring.

CAN YOU COMPARE BUSINESS LOST THIS YEAR TO WHAT YOU WERE EXPECTING

I don’t have the numbers yet, but it's naturally going to be massively lesswe’ve seen a huge decrease in guests and room bookings. The supply is way bigger than the demand. The entire business world is upside down, and that means we have a “new normal” and need to change management and the way we do things.

WHAT MEASURES HAVE YOU TAKEN TO PROTECT FUTURE GUESTS? AND HOW LONG DO YOU THINK THESE MEASURES WILL NEED TO REMAIN IN FORCE?

HOW WILL THE LOSS OF FLIGHTS (WIZZAIR CANCELLED 19 KUTAISI ROUTES, FOR EXAMPLE) AFFECT HILTON BATUMI, AND HOW WILL YOU ADAPT TO THE CHANGING DEMANDS? It will have a huge impact on us, and

every one of our competitors. We're all sitting in the same boat and so is the entire tourism industry.

I have to say a big thank you to the Georgian government. I think from day one, they realized the complexity of the crisis and took the right measures, that's why we are where we are now, with almost no cases in Adjara and very low numbers of infection in the country. And we went through some very challenging times. We managed to get out of this together and then we came up with ways to reopen our hotels.

There do remain a lot of questions, though. What are the bilateral conversations between countries, between Georgia and Israel, for example? When will international travel be allowed? We need to see momentum from the government towards the next steps, and we need a little bit more information so we can see the picture ourselves and move forward more clearly.

That said, I'm surprised how many travelers we already have in June, now that we can sell rooms. It's amazing, and I can see this positive trend could continue. But before we enter the less active tourist season, we need to have a plan for international travelers coming back.

Otherwise, it's going to be very challenging. In Georgia, November, December, January, February is the low period and we need to continue the good relationship and the good work we started through associations with the government to look a little bit further ahead together and talk about how to tackle the challenges.

TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR COLLABORATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT. We were actively involved in setting up guidelines with the Georgian National Tourism Administration, which worked very fast to get them implemented. I'm also a board member of the European Business Association, so we were able to lobby to the government about what needed to be done for people who have been on furlough from the beginning of the crisis, which undoubtedly contributed to their getting 200 GEL support per month from the State. Only communication, working together, cooperation and talking about things will move us forward. And that is the way we need now to continue under these new circumstances.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR YOUTH CAREER SUPPORT PROGRAM. I’ll tell you about Hilton’s CSR program, called ‘Travel with Purpose,’ where we have three pillars. The first is about the environment: we want to reduce our CO2 emissions by 50% to 30%. Another is humility. We need to be who we are, to

be friendly with each other, to help each other while being cautious, and to follow the guidelines set out by the government.

Another pillar aims to bring 1 million young people into jobs by offering youth opportunities, within which we follow the concept of inclusion and diversity.

In Georgia, we found vocational schools able to do the theoretical training for front office, kitchen, restaurant, etc, and got involved from the very start. At the beginning of 2018, we had 15 young people, 16-17 year-olds, some older, who we were training on the job. At the end of last year, we had the first graduation ceremony for the first four students in the program. The Deputy Ministry of Education was there, and they all got a certificate. Today, Hilton Batumi has 10 trainees who will be back to work on July 1st.

Aside from the hospitality sector, youth in Georgia can get a dual education in agriculture and winemaking, too, meaning they end up with a certificate and a skill-set from practical experience. Georgia needs such skilled people with its growing tourism market; it needs to up the service quality through education.

This is something the European Business Association advocates for as well, in cooperation with the government: for other companies to let young people in, to not be afraid to train them. There are huge advantages to developing a young person in your company.

Last year, it was Hilton’s 100th birthday.

And to celebrate, we set up a training room in the vocational training college ‘Black Sea College,’ building in a reception, a bedroom and a mini bar, so that the students not only get the theoretical training in school, but also get to experience the practical side of hospitality there. Hilton’s own people are going to the college and running training sessions, helping students to move forward. Even during the lock-down, four team members did trainings online with our partner schools, keeping up our community work.

TELL US MORE ABOUT THE SPECIAL PACKAGES YOU HAVE FOR DOMESTIC TOURISTS. We have a very special package you can book on our website, called ‘Dream Away,’ which offers a 20% discount on the published rates. It's flexible, meaning until August 30, you can cancel your room free of charge 24 hours prior to arrival.

We included parking, and a choice of rooms. And we also reached out to travel agents with very good offers to sell. With ‘Dream Away,’ you get to experience the Clean Stay program and the quality expected of Hilton. It's more important than ever to deliver quality at this time: you need to deliver quality to build customer trust.

8

SOCIETY

GEORGIA TODAY

JUNE 19 - 25, 2020

The Graduates of the Guivy Zaldastanishvili American Academy in Tbilisi Enrolled in World's Top Universities establish how I view the world I live in.

I mean this personally and globally. We have covered some material about the themes of race, upon which I built on my own research: the books of Alice Walker and educational movies. Now I feel more ready and confident to join the multicultural society in my future university in Abu Dhabi, and develop friendships with people from different cultural backgrounds.

INTERVIEW BY NINI DAKHUNDARIDZE

T

he Guivy Zaldastanishvili American Academy in Tbilisi (GZAAT) is a private high school educating 375 students in grades 8 through 12. The mission of the school is to help bring Georgia into the 21st century by preparing its children to compete on a global scale, both locally and in schools abroad.

The American Academy is proud of the manner in which it assists students in the area of university placement. 90% of its graduates go on to universities in the US, UK, Canada, and Europe. The number of students admitted to top ranked universities and colleges is impressive, as is the amount of financial aid which has been awarded to its students.

This year, GZAAT had 70 graduates who have been remarkably successful, gaining entrance to 156 of the best universities in the world, with a total of 5,909.042 GEL in scholarships awarded in a single year.

THIS YEAR’S COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES TO THE USA AND EU USA - Yale University, Grinnell College, Vassar College, Babson College, Bates College, NY University in New York and Abu Dhabi, Lehigh University, Boston College, Emory University, Boston University, Brandeis University, Northeastern University, Bard College, George Washington University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Southern California University, Worchester Polytechnic Institute, Mount Holyoke, College, etc.

Europe - Bocconi University in Milan, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Jacobs University Bremen, Madrid Business University, King’s College London, Charles University in Prague, etc.

Eager to learn how exactly the high school manages to raise students this successful, GEORGIA TODAY interviewed two of the GZAAT 2020 graduates, Misho Gabashvili, and Rezi Getsadze.

Misho was accepted to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, with an 80% scholarship of $67,000. Rezi got a full scholarship worth approximately $76,000 to continue his studies in the New York University Abu Dhabi, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

HOW BIG WAS THE ROLE OF GZAAT IN YOUR ENROLMENT IN YOUR RESPECTIVE UNIVERSITIES? Misho: It was the resources provided by the American Academy that gave me the ultimate opportunity to represent myself

Misho Gabashvili

THE GZAAT SYLLABUS IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER SCHOOLS OF GEORGIA. WHAT ADVANTAGES DO YOU THINK THE ACADEMIC APPROACHES, LIKE THE HARKNESS METHOD, OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY HAVE?

as an applicant worthy of acceptance to the Yale University. The academic experience and extracurricular activities offered by the academy are noteworthy, but the deciding factor, of course, comes down to you making the best of these resources. From my personal experience, I can say that in four years of hard work and self-development, I felt tremendous support from my school.

Rezi: The school played a big role in my enrolment. The knowledge and experiences I have gotten in school throughout the years conditioned my acceptance in the NYU University in Abu Dhabi. The universities in Europe and America demand a lot of technical information about the student, such as academic excellence sheets, financial standing, a list of extracurricular activities, recommendation letters… There are also tests and personal statements that need to be taken and written. When getting ready to submit my application, American Academy was a tremendous help for me not only in the “technical” sides of applying, but the individualized part of the application form. We have a class called Critical Reading, and the skills I honed during these lessons helped me succeed in my SATs. The American Academy also provides lessons for SATs, which serve as a good basis for students to get high scores. They began teaching us the system of submitting applications to foreign universities in 10th grade, and from the 11th grade, we had a personal counsellor who helped us choose the right university based on our personal preferences and guided us on

the right steps to get enrolled. My own counsellor was Keti Chikovani, and without her kind assistance and the “training” that our school provided to get us ready for every step of our college enrolment, I imagine it would have been nearly impossible to make it. Even my personal statements were “inspired” by the subjects learned at school. The education I got in the American Academy played a great role in formulating my personality, and so even my personal essay was inspired by the point of view of the world that I developed thanks to the literature that we covered during the English classes.

WHAT ARE SOME SPECIAL SKILLS GZAAT SUPPLIED YOU WITH THAT YOU DON’T THINK YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN IN ANY OTHER SCHOOL? Misho: I think studying in the American Academy had me develop many important skills. I personally had the biggest progress in writing and analytical thinking, and I believe that would not have happened if it weren’t for my teachers and their special approach. The teachers of the American Academy spare no efforts to support the individual-thinking of a student. They pushed me to think independently and come back with analytical conclusions drawn from the material we were covering.

Rezi: It has diversified my philosophy of life and has helped me develop critical thinking. What I loved most was the diverse education that our school constructed, and the way they orchestrated the teaching process so that the same themes would be covered in different subjects. I’ll give an example. We covered the topic of “heroism” in one class, based on the works of Remarque, and reached a negative conclusion; simultaneously, we covered the same topic in the Russian class based on the works of Maxim Gorky and others, which led us to a positive outlook on the theme. Then we had Freud’s psychology in a totally different class which explained the phenomenon and helped us lean towards one outlook or the other, or form a completely new one.

The school gave me unbiased knowledge; one that gave me the freedom to master a particular topic and independently reach conclusions and my point of view on it.

We had another class where we covered ‘big ideas’ of ‘big people’ where we touched upon the ideas of everyone that mattered in local and international history, from Galileo to Merab Mamardashvili. What was more important was that

we brought those ideas to the contemporary world and created projects inspired by these ideas.

In sum, the American Academy taught me how to connect different aspects of knowledge to form my own interests and wishes for the future, which got me ready for my future profession and college.

DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES AND DO YOU CONNECT THE SPECTRUM OF YOUR DIVERSE INTERESTS TO THE HIGH SCHOOL? Misho: I love painting. It’s probably been ten years since I took it up. Other than that, I’m interested in philanthropy and the study of social/global problems. In the American Academy, I was blessed with the opportunity to get first-hand experience during the extracurricular activities and broaden my knowledge in these and other fields. I have to underline that during my years in the high school, based on the materials that we were covering and the clubs they had, I discovered various academic interests like sociology and political sciences.

Rezi: I believe the greatest skill the American Academy helped me develop was the ability to work on my own on something that interests me. Thanks to this, I discovered new interests, and now I’m planning on continuing my studies in the field of Physics. It took me a great deal of research, internships, and online classes, to reach this conclusion!

I have grown used to educating myself in various fields, further helping me

Rezi Getsadze

Misho: In my opinion, the Harkness method has many advantages, one of them being gaining knowledge through discussion. This approach makes the learning process dynamic and memorable. In American Academy in Tbilisi, it’s hard for a student to make a prognosis on how the class is going to go, and that additionally sparks his/her interest. As a result, a split in ideas is often the case during the lessons, as is the generalization of the particular material that is being covered. Thanks to the Harkness method, I have developed and honed many skills, including the ability to argue and communicate.

Rezi: I admire the Harkness method, since it contradicts the methods of teaching very popular in Georgian schools.

When I started going to the American Academy, I had to leave my comfort zone which I had grown accustomed to in other schools, that is, merely sharing the views and conclusions of my teachers, studying only when I knew I would be called to the board. The education you get from the Harkness method is a result of teamwork: it is demanded that each student participates in the discussion, asks questions, and get to the bottom of the given material. The teacher’s main function in this method is to deliver the material to the students and control if we are rightly following it, rightly completing the task. The American Academy way transfers the learning process from “homework” to pleasure.

The interdisciplinary approach of the school, and mandatory classes in literature, philosophy, history, religion, etc., encourages the students to form as “humans” and “civilians” and continue our educational journey into colleges.

Since I have been given this opportunity, I’d like to thank my school and teachers, thanks to whom I got to live my dream of being accepted at one of the most prestigious universities in the world, where I will be able to master the profession of my interest.

SOCIETY

GEORGIA TODAY JUNE 19 - 25, 2020

9

Finalists of ‘Keep Georgia Tidy’ Kids' Environmental Contest Revealed

BY ANA DUMBADZE

O

n the occasion of Earth Day celebrated worldwide on April 22, and as part of the Eco-School Program, the NGO 'Keep Georgia Tidy' invited schoolchildren to participate in an environmental contest with the main topic ‘Take Care of the Environment and Win.’

The contest, announced on April 22, ended on June 5, World Environment Day, with the revealing of the three finalists.

The eco-contest aimed to involve schoolchildren and their family members in environmental activities, even though stuck in lock-down, within the framework of which the participants needed to create posters to promote environment protection. 160 students and their families across Georgia submitted poster ideas.

A special jury made up of representatives of the Center for Environmental Information and Education of the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the Solid Waste Management Company, the environmental NGO CENN, Georgian Society of Nature Explorers Orchis, the Green Movement and ‘Keep Georgia Tidy' worked to select the best contestants.

Based on their evaluation, three distinguished finalists were chosen to be awarded eco-friendly prizes.

The authors of the best works are: Lily Davies-Dolaberidze, 10 years old, from Tbilisi Mariam Bedia, 11 years old, from the village of Inchkhuri, Samegrelo Lizi Mekvabishvili, 14 years old, from

the village of Jumati, Guria The lucky winners each got a sky-blue Trek bike, a helmet for safety, and a printed cloth bag full of environmentally friendly pens, pencils and notepads.

GEORGIA TODAY spoke to one of the winners, Lily Davies-Dolaberidze. Lily told us she worked on the winning project along with her "Eco Group Okrokhana" family team.

"I'm 10 years old and I go to Tbilisi School No28," Lily says. "My Eco-Group 'Okrokhana' for this competition was me, my sister Dali (8), my brother Tornike (6) and my mum Katie. We talked together about what effect people have on the environment, and we watched some YouTube videos about it. We came up with three main problems: 1) During the coronavirus pandemic, a lot of people have been dropping their used gloves or masks in the street instead of putting them the bin. These then damage our nature and are dangerous to us and animals. People should put nonrecyclable things carefully in the bin and recyclable things in a recycle bin to keep our streets and nature tidy!

2) Per day, around the world, people throw away 60 million plastic bottles.

One bottle takes 450 years to decompose.

We looked into ways we could reuse bottles instead of throwing them away.

With a clean, empty bottle, you can make a pencilcase, a piggy bank, a flower pot, toys like planes and cars, or cute shades for fairylights.

3) People buy and throw away too many clothes- 13 million tons per year go to waste! We looked for ways we could reuse our old clothes (apart from giving them to the needy). You can make a hat, new pockets or patches for your jeans, a pencilcase, a bag, or even cushion covers!

“We worked on our posters as a team, as a family, and all the posters were made from recycled materials," Lily told us.

"I'm very happy that my family won this competition. I think it's very important that we look after the environment and make new things out of old things, and that we all keep our Georgia tidy!” she added.

11-year old Mariam Bedia was chosen for her and her mother's inventive reusing of plastic bottles- with everything from colorful flower pots and ornaments, to beautiful bags.

"If we don't reduce waste, nothing else matters," she said.

Lizi Mekvabishvili, 14, from Guria, won a new bike for her poster showing a sick planet, and her family's garden compost project- because every little helps the environment!

The competition was held within the

framework of the project Eco-School, the implementation of which was launched by the organization ‘Keep Georgia Tidy’ in April. Eco-School is a global project that aims to unite students and teachers around a common goal environmental protection, and promote the establishment of sustainable schools.

The program starts from school, and through a new generation of teaching extends to the whole community.

The program is funded by the Swedish government.

The Embassy of Sweden in Tbilisi congratulated all participants and the three winners for their creative and eco-friendly ideas on how to reduce pollution in the country, emphasizing how important ecosystem services and biodiversity are.

"Ecosystem services and biodiversity are crucial for the people and our planet and highly relevant to all Sustainable Development Goals. To celebrate this day, our partner organizations of the project Keep Georgia Tidy - დავიცვათ საქართველოს სისუფთავე - KGT held a competition for schoolchildren on the theme 'Take care of the Environment and Win'. The Embassy congratulates all participants and the three winners for their creative and eco-friendly ideas on how to reduce pollution in the country," the Embassy of Sweden announced on its Facebook page.

The Miracle of the Vine - Grape Seed Oil from the Homeland of Wine

BY MARIAM MERABISHVILI

T

he beneficial nature of grape and grape seed oil has been recognized since the Middle Ages. The Greeks and Italians long ago realized what a treasure the grape seed was, and have been using it in cosmetics and cooking for centuries.

Grape seed oil factory "Chateau Zegani" is located in the heart of Georgian viticulture, in the Kakheti region, on the historical territory of Alexander Chavchavadze's Gurjaani residence.

For two years, the owners of the company traveled all over Europe to experience the recycling of waste products from wine-making, and the methods used to make grape seed oil. Eventually, they decided on a method of cold-pressing to process raw materials and make oil. Grape seed oil is produced from unique Rkatsiteli grapes, which have no analogues in their tannins and composition, produced in the unique climatic conditions determined by the Kakheti

region and its geography.

The grape seeds are pressed at low temperatures and are not fragmented before pressing. The cold pressed oil retains all the nutrients that are valuable in medicine and cosmetology.

Cold pressure produces much less oil, making the procedure more energy efficient and less time consuming than hot extraction methods. Oil residue is processed on modern expellers designed by the Agrosol Firm, which boasts international quality certificates.

"Chateau Zegani" prepares wine seed oil from red and white grape beans separately, the only company in the world to do so. Cold-pressed grape seed oil is rich in vitamins and trace elements: potassium, calcium, sodium, and iron.

With its anti-inflammatory, cardio-protective, antimicrobial and anti-cancer properties, it is an effective immunestimulant.

Grape seed oil contains components such as tocopherol (vitamin E), linolenic acid, and resveratrol. You may have heard that drinking a glass of red wine daily is good for your health, and this is largely due to the antioxidant resveratrol in

grapes. Quercetin protects the liver and blood vessels, and is diuretic, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor.

Phytosterol, which is abundant in grape seed, is a chemical of natural origin that has the unique property of controlling cholesterol levels as well as arachidonic acid, known as vitamin P. The daily recommended dose is 4 mg, being essential for normal growth and regeneration of the skin epithelium, and for maintaining vitamin A supply to lower blood cholesterol levels.

French studies have shown that grape seed oil, with its antioxidant properties, exceeds vitamin C by 18.4 times and vitamin E by 50 times. Grape seed oil contains a large number of phenolic compounds, which has a filter role in plants, protecting the tissue from the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays. Grape seed oil is thus a beneficial product for human health.

Grape seed oil produced by “Chateau Zegani” is on sale in chain markets and in the company's wine shop ‘Reserve.’

Grape seed oil is an endemic product, because Georgia was and will forever be the homeland of grapes and wine.

10

SOCIETY

GEORGIA TODAY

JUNE 19 - 25, 2020

Georgia Becoming More GenderSensitive, But Bias Remains, Study Reveals

M

ore than half of all Georgians, 63% of women and 54% of men, think Georgia has yet to achieve meaningful gender equality. 60% are confident that greater involvement of women in politics would benefit their country, whereas 59% of men and 38% of women believe that women’s main duty is to take care of their families. Both women and men in Georgia have become more favorable to gender equality over the past seven years, but women are discarding traditional stereotypes much faster than men.

These findings were revealed by a new studt ‘Men, Women and Gender Relations in Georgia: Public Perceptions and Attitudes’ released Wednesday by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with support from the Swedish Government. Building on the results of a similar study carried out in 2013, the research unveils lingering disparities in the social perceptions of gender roles in Georgia, while showing that traditional gender stereotypes have

become less common than they were seven years ago.

“Attitudes are changing and it is heartening to see the progress that Georgia has made over a fairly short period,” said UNDP Head Louisa Vinton. “But equal rights for women are unfortunately still called into question, particularly by Georgian men. Nearly 40% of men still think that a woman cannot perform professionally as well as a man, even if both are equally qualified. And almost half of respondents overall also believe that men make better political leaders than women. If Georgia is to derive full benefit from all of its citizens, we need to overcome discrimination and stereotypes.”

“The research analysed attitudes and perceptions regarding gender equality from societal, community, relationship and individual levels,” UNFPA Head Lela Bakradze said. “Relationships indeed are irrefutable markers to trace changes, thus, it is interesting to observe the stark shift in the perceptions on women’s role in the family captured by the research.

A significant number of the respondents

(50.4%) do not agree with the opinion that women’s primary duty is to take care of the family, while the same was reported by only 11% in 2013. Fewer people perceive women as the sole caregivers of the family, marked by 50.4% of the respondents in comparison to 89% in 2013. Similarly, the percentage of people agreeing that men have the final say in the family decreased by over 28% of respondents. These figures indicate a remarkable change, and it is obvious that much of the decline is due to shifting views among the younger generation.

The remarkable percentage of both women and men support that both parents should be be entitled to parental leave (67.3% and 64.6%, respectively); this is further evidence indicating the shift happening in social norms.”

The comparative study found that traditional views of gender roles are becoming less common, and that the understanding of gender equality has significantly changed since 2013, particularly among the younger generations.

Currently, the distribution of household work in Georgia is still starkly segregated

by gender, with women doing the cooking, cleaning and childcare tasks in overwhelming numbers. Three out of four respondents say that women always perform basic care duties. However, the proportion of both women and men who see caregiving tasks as the mother’s responsibility declined substantially, from 81% to 69% for men, and from 76% to 54% for women. While seven years ago 87% of men and 70% of women agreed that final decisions in households belonged to men, in 2019 this view was shared by 68% of men and only 34% of women.

The perception of women’s role in business is also changing. While in 2013, 58% of respondents said they thought men were better leaders in business than women, by 2019 this share had dropped to 39%. At the same time, the recognition of the challenges women face on the job market is substantial, as a staggering 85% of women and 58% of men agree that women have to overcome more obstacles than men in their careers.

Women cited their responsibilities in the household as the biggest barrier to

greater engagement in economic activity and public life.

“Georgian society is moving away from gender-biased views and attitudes towards achieving meaningful gender equality,” said Lela Akiashvilli, Prime Minister’s Advisor for Human Rights and Gender Equality. “However, more consistent and specific policies are needed to accelerate that progress and support greater equality in public life as well as in the distribution of household work.“ “Supporting gender equality and women leaders remains a priority for Sweden,” said Ulrik Tideström, Ambassador of Sweden to Georgia and Armenia. “This flagship research provides solid evidence for celebrating the successes Georgia has achieved in recent years, and pinpointing the challenges that are yet to be addressed.”

The study on public perception of gender roles and attitudes was commissioned

by UNDP and UNFPA under the Swedenfunded UN Joint Program for Gender Equality in Georgia. The research was conducted in 2019 by the organization Promundo - the global leader in advancing gender equality and preventing violence by engaging men and boys, and the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC), based on the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), a comprehensive household questionnaire on men's attitudes and practices, along with women's opinions and reports of men’s practices, on a wider variety of topics related to gender equality. The data were collected by face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of around 2,500 citizens and during focus group discussions in five regions.

The study report is available on the UNFPA website.

A La Verdi BLOG BY TONY HANMER

Y

es, Kakheti proved quite magnetic. We decided to stick around the region a bit after the exhausting ormotsi (40 days after death memorial feast) held for my father-in-law in the yard of his home. We both have plenty of friends locally, some of whom we hadn’t seen for years, and like the rest of Georgia, it’s full to bursting with history, relics, monuments, ruins and other items of interest. Plus, having the freedom of our own wheels, and being released from guests, school AND shop together in Svaneti, we had the golden opportunity.

We drove from Leliani, the family seat, to a village near Akhmeta, Telavi and the massive Alaverdi cathedral. This latter beckoned to me in far-off glimpses between houses from the long inter-village road we were on, magnificently situated in its stubbornly green valley with green mountain backdrops marching north despite the bone-dry rivers we crossed one after the other. I mourned my camera, waiting for me in our Tbilisi flat, and thought, soon, soon, I’ll have it back and start shooting everything which has inspired me these past months of equal drought.

(The photo is from earlier, better, times with the big camera).

Our friend who hosted us lives alone in her parents’ old house, much too large for her now, though in its heyday it saw family gatherings sleeping everywhere they could and feasting in similar fashion, hugely. Her village too has a water crisis, not just because at the moment the climate is dry, but from supply issues themselves. Her washing machine doesn’t get enough to function; neither does her shower, so it’s “camp baths” with a bucket.

How can a whole village not be getting sufficient water in its pipes? If only the crops of corn, mulberries, strawberries, cherries, walnuts and the many flowers can get enough liquid to survive!

We visited the Shuamtas (Old and New), both of whose churches I had seen before, so being disallowed in my knee-length shorts (they offered me a unisex “skirt,” which I wasn’t having) was fine. Also, a drive towards Tusheti, but not very far, just to get a flavor of the winding mountain and river road.

And a day around nicely restored Telavi (NOT to be confused with Tel Aviv, for which see the comedy film Mimino).

Here, we ate outdoors from a restaurant whose homemade raspberry fizzy drink, garnished with orange quarters and mint leaves, was marvelous. We saw the palace grounds of Erekle II, Georgia’s King as it

was being consumed by the Russian Empire in the early 19th century. He must be one of few historic figures who is known to have died in the same room in which he was born.

Our Pankisi visitation plans were changed on account of a dear friend not being there; my last times there were in about 2000, when one needed an armed guard to avoid being kidnapped by Chechens for a ransom, which has been documented. We left it at that, and moved off towards Tbilisi, with a few more sights and memories of our friends to succor us. Here we are, waiting for better weather in Svaneti than daily rain to begin my 400 km circular walk,

and in the meantime planning and stocking up for that. It will likely begin at the end of June, as sunny weather typically begins to dominate then, starting and ending at our village home in Etseri.

Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with nearly 2000 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

CULTURE

GEORGIA TODAY JUNE 19 - 25, 2020

11

“Corona Days” Artworks of Young Georgian Artists: Giorgi Gabiskiria

BY NINI DAKHUNDARIDZE

C

ontinuing its collaboration with BI Auction, GEORGIA TODAY presents artists taking part in the online exhibition ‘Artworks @ Corona Days.’ This week, we interviewed Giorgi Gabiskiria, a Moscow-born young artist, now exploring his creative mind in Georgia.

Since early childhood, as Giorgi tells us, he’s been particularly attracted to painting and the world of thought and imagination. However, it was not until his senior year in high school that he

decided to get himself a professional education in art.

“I’ve always had to improve myself and my skills on my own, which, I believe, is a much more interesting method of learning,” Giorgi tells us.

Unlike most, Giorgi has found these coronavirus times peaceful for his working process. Giorgi seems as surprised as we are that he has managed to create for himself “A Separate Peace” (capitalized since it’s a name of a well-recommended book). However, the epidemic reflections still found a way into Giorgi’s art.

“I was trying not to let the themes of the virus affect my paintings. However, looking at them now, I realize just how much some of these works relate to the particular situation the world is in,” Giorgi reveals.

Curious about Giorgi’s experience of seeing inspiration in a work after it’s long done, I asked him how he sees the post-epidemic world.

“I think we have a very interesting future to look forward to. Of course, it entails many problems and gaps, but still it is very interesting. The world has gained experience that will change it forever,” says the artist.

Giorgi’s view of the post-epidemic art world is rather optimistic.

inherit the reflection of these unprecedented times,” he explains.

In his Corona Days works, Giorgi made an effort to show the contrast between the old and the new. Giorgi’s choice of black and white perfectly depicts the chaos, instability, and agony that we have gone through this pandemic. However, it is not just the contrast between the pre- and post- pandemic worlds, as Giorgi plays with the idea of ego: the death of it and the rebirth of it as completely new and foreign; more adapted to the next stage of life.

Reading Giorgi’s input on the death and rebirth of the ego and the life as we knew it before reminded me of a line from Jim Morrison’s poem that I love, though I never really understood it: “We live, we die, and death not ends it.”

“The idea of the post-epidemic world, for an artist and their future work, in my opinion, is the most primitive and yet most useful circumstance for inspiration,” he says.

Perhaps quite rightly, Giorgi believes that an artist should follow the pulse of society, keeping their works in the rhythm of its beating. Art, for Giorgi, also has a historic importance.

“An artist should focus on bringing his contemporary world to the canvas.

The mission of the artist is historic: the history of art, and general history, should

About BI Auction ‘for ART’: BI Auction is the first Art Auction Company of Georgia, established in 2016. The company’s aim is to promote Georgian art and artists and enlarge the market. In four years, BI Auction ‘for ART’ has organized seven auctions and presented more than 400 paintings from 120 Georgian painters. In every auction, the collection is selected from among a thousand paintings from the well-known legendary artists of Georgia and also from promising young artists. For more information, please contact biauction1@gmail. com

Newly Renovated & Fully Equipped Boutique Hotel for Sale or Rent in the Heart of Tbilisi

L

ocated in the most authentic district of Tbilisi, in a safe neighborhood, this newly reconstructed hotel has been renovated to high

standards.

• Exclusive design of both interior and exterior • 26 rooms, fully equipped with high standard furniture and equipment • Common spaces (two terraces, one large area for lunches, one conference room) • Fully equipped restaurant with EU standard equipment • EU quality ventilation and air conditioning (each room has a source of fresh air) • High standard electricity and fire

safety in all rooms • Autonomous supply of water (tank) and electricity (generator) The building is fully functional for a boutique hotel; however, it can be easily transformed into: - A representative office - A representative office plus hotel rooms (for short term consultants) - Any other use (such as a co-living and co-working space for expats) Total area: 1500 m2 Suggested rent: 9000 USD (excl VAT) - Substantially lower than market price Suggested sales price: USD 2.5 million (plus VAT), including all equipment and furniture Please contact: E-mail: info@georgiatodaygroup.ge

PUBLISHER & GM

George Sharashidze COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT

Commercial Director: Iva Merabishvili Marketing Manager: Natalia Chikvaidze

GEORGIA TODAY

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT:

Editor-In-Chief: Katie Ruth Davies

Journalists: Ana Dumbadze, Vazha Tavberidze, Nini Dakhundaridze, Tony Hanmer, Emil Avdaliani, Nugzar B. Ruhadze, Beka Alexishvili, Elene Dzebizashvili, Photographer: Aleksei Serov

Website Manager/Editor: Katie Ruth Davies Layout: Misha Mchedlishvili Webmaster: Sergey Gevenov Circulation Managers: David Kerdikashvili, David Djandjgava

ADDRESS

1 Melikishvili Str. Tbilisi, 0179, Georgia Tel.: +995 32 229 59 19 E: info@georgiatoday.ge F: GeorgiaToday ADVERTISING & SUBSCRIPTION

+995 555 00 14 46 E-mail: marketing@georgiatoday.ge

Reproducing material, photos and advertisements without prior editorial permission is strictly forbidden.

The author is responsible for all material. Rights of authors are preserved. The newspaper is registered in Mtatsminda district court.

Reg. # 06/4-309