Issue #1261

Issue no: 1261

• AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 • PUBLISHED WEEKLY

In this week’s issue...

FOCUS

Corona Updates: Georgia Gets Ready to Re-Open Education & Cultural Life

ON KUTAISI INT'L UNIVERSITY

1000 students get ready to enter Georgia's top-standard int'l state university

PRICE: GEL 2.50

NEWS PAGE 2

Elections: Opposition Alleges Alliance of Patriots Will Be Funded by the Kremlin

PAGE 9

POLITICS PAGE 4

History of Georgian Entrepreneurship (late 19thearly 20th cc.)

BUSINESS PAGE 7

Bolnisi Establishes New Platform for Efficient Business with Support of EU Initiative BUSINESS PAGE 8

Georgian Gov’t Encourages Foreigners to Move to Georgia & Work Remotely

BY ANA DUMBADZE

A

s part of the strategy of the gradual opening up of the country, the Coordination Council of the Government in July took the decision to set up a special entry regime for foreign citizens wishing to come and work remotely from Georgia.

The project is intended for foreigners who are freelancers who work remotely or can manage their businesses from any part of the world.

"We invite citizens who are working remotely for global companies in 95 countries to come to Georgia, where they’ll have the chance to fulfill their job responsibilities remotely for at least 180 days," Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated at Wednesday's session of the Interagency Coordination Council.

"The National Tourism Administration has a very good initiative, entitled 'Work from Georgia.' In the context of the global pandemic, more and more transnational corporations and global companies are switching to remote work, meaning the geographical location of people does not matter in order for them to exercise their rights and responsibilities.

Continued on page 2

New Seafood Restaurant ‘Calligraphy’ in Batumi to Surprise Guests with Special Dishes SOCIETY PAGE 10

Accepting Submissions: Iranian Film Festival Dedicated to Honor Healthcare Workers amidst COVID-19 Pandemic CULTURE PAGE 11 Prepared for Georgia Today Business by

Markets As of 24ͲAugͲ2020

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Image Source: insider.com/Maya Karkalicheva/Getty Images

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2

NEWS

GEORGIA TODAY

AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Corona Updates: Georgia Gets Ready to Re-Open Education & Cultural Life dergarten staff 10 minutes before arrival and wait at the entrance.

Administrations should also draw up schedules to balance the number of children in each group in order to avoid overcrowding.

BY TEAM GT

S

chools in Georgia will reopen from September 15 and kindergartens from October 1. Theaters will resume functioning from October 1. In addition, the opening of now quarantined Mestia and the village of Lenjeri in the Svaneti region is planned for September 2, Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia announced this week.

"We maintain a consistent approach in the fight against COVID-19, and we are opening step by step: kindergartens and theaters from October 1, schools and cinemas from September 15, Mestia and Lenjeri from September 2," the head of the government stated.

PARENTS TO BE BANNED FROM ENTERING KINDERGARTEN BUILDINGS Kindergartens in Georgia are to reopen from October 1 and ahead of this, the government has developed recommendations regarding restrictions in kindergartens in order to prevent the risk of

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR ALL GEORGIAN CHILDREN

spreading COVID-19. Top of the list is the fact that parents are to be banned from entering kindergarten buildings.

A protocol for washing dishes and toys has also been set up, and it will be forbidden to use toys that are difficult to disinfect. It is also forbidden to bring toys from home.

Head of the Labor Inspection service Beka Peradze noted that kindergarten

administrations should receive the children at the entrance to the kindergarten.

A room for isolation should be allocated in the building in case a pupil's or employee's temperature rises during the day.

There are also restrictions on the procedure for handing a child over to parents: since parents cannot enter the building, they should contact the kin-

11-year-old Commits Suicide, Relatives Blame Abusive Father Investigation has revealed that the accused had systematically abused his child, which allegedly led to the juvenile’s suicide.”

Relatives of the deceased child say he suffered continuous abuse by his father.

The investigation is ongoing under the first part of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which concerns incitement to suicide with intimidation or cruel treatment of the victim.

The offense envisages imprisonment for a term of 2 to 4 years.

BY ANA DUMBADZE

L

aw enforcers on Tuesday arrested F.A., born in 1971 in Imereti, on charges of leading his son to suicide.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs said in its statement: “The investigation has hitherto established that in one of the villages of Terjola municipality, on August 23 of the current year, A.A., born in 2009, died in his own house.

Georgian Gov’t Encourages Foreigners to Move to Georgia & Work Remotely Continued from page 1 "Therefore, we offer the program 'Work from Georgia' to 95 countries, which means that we are able to convert the achievements of virus management into specific revenues for the tourism sector," the PM said.

"We invite this target audience to Georgia and offer them the chance to live in our country under special conditions," Natia Turnava, Minister of Economy, noted in July.

"We're talking about opening the border in a manner which will let us protect the health of our citizens and on the other hand let every foreign citizen who falls into this category enter Georgia," she added.

Based on the initiative, a citizen of a foreign country who seeks to enter Georgia for the long-term should fill in a mandatory electronic application form and obtain the preliminary confirmation required for border crossing.

The mandate was signed this week by Minister Turnava and Foreign Minister Davit Zalkaliani, giving foreigners an

opportunity to work remotely from Georgia. Permission will be granted to foreign citizens from the Ministries of Economy and Foreign Affairs.

On filling out said application form, the foreign applicant should upload the following documents in English: • A copy of their passport; • Personal information (name, surname, personal number, address); • Contact details of their foreign employer; • Information about the job position and income (at least $2,000 per month); • Consent to enter a mandatory 12-day quarantine, as well as consent to undergo PCR testing at their own expense; • Mandatory health insurance, valid for at least six months.

Applications will be reviewed within 10 working days.

The PM further highlighted that the government is doing everything possible to make potential foreign workers’ presence in Georgia safe and comfortable.

The program 'Work from Georgia' has already been uploaded on stopgov.ge for use.

The disbursement of financial assistance to the amount of 200 GEL, which is intended for children through the age of 17, will begin from 1 September. These funds will not be deducted from the bank accounts of people who are in arrears.

The corresponding agreement was reached at a meeting between Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and the heads of commercial banks, which was held at the Administration of the Government.

Based on the agreement, if a beneficiary of the assistance has a bank loan in arrears, the bank will not use the funds received in the form of the aforementioned social assistance for repayment.

Banks have already started working on this issue at the corresponding operational level.

The meeting was attended by Finance

Minister Ivane Machavariani, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Economic Affairs Beka Liluashvili, Liberty Bank CEO Vasil Khodeli, Bank of Georgia CEO Archil Gachechiladze, and TBC Bank CEO Vakhtang Butskhrikidze.

As of today, 742,000 children and 442,000 parents have registered on the special electronic portal (daxmareba.moh.gov. ge) in order to receive financial assistance, which is intended for children under the age of 18. Registration in the system will be open until 1 December 2020.

COVID-19 CASES UP As of August 27, 11 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Georgia, bringing the total number to 1447, the government-run special website stopcov. ge reports.

The number of recoveries has increased by 40, reaching 1190.

5943 people are under a 14-day mandatory quarantine and 252 under medical supervision.

19 people have died of the virus in the country.

Currently, there are 238 active cases in Georgia.

Well-known Chefs to Hold Culinary Masterclass in Adjara

T

he Department of Tourism of Adjara is planning culinary masterclasses for cooks in order to popularize traditional Adjarian dishes. The project, in which popular chefs will be involved, is aimed at the presentation of dishes originating from Mountainous Adjara and the creation of guide videos for tourism service providers.

Masterclasses will be held in the openair in Kobuleti, Sarpi and Mountainous Adjara, where the ethnologist will first introduce the local cuisine to guests, after which the dishes will be prepared and a masterclass held.

It is planned to create thematic videos on and photo recipes from the masterclasses, which will be available to anyone online, via a new website. The masterclasses will be attended by representatives of eateries, guest houses and guides operating in Adjara.

Carl Hartzell: EU Flag Flies at Half-mast as We Mourn Those Who Lost Their Lives

BY ANA DUMBADZE

E

U Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell on August 25 offered his condolences to the families of those who died in a minibus accident on the Shatili Road in Georgia.

"Today, the EU flag flies at half-mast as we mourn those who tragically lost their lives on the road to Shatili last Sunday. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims and we wish a speedy recovery to those injured," wrote Ambassador Hartzell on his Twitter page.

Hartzell is one of many of the international community who has acknowledged and expressed condolences over the Shatili accident.

On August 23, 17 people died in an accident on the road to Shatili when a full minibus fell 80 meters down a mountain. The condition of three survivors remains critical. Family members of the deceased are being helped to return to Georgia safely, observing protective measures against COVID-19 infection, so they can mourn with their families.

NEWS

GEORGIA TODAY

AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

3

UNICEF-Israel-Georgia Cooperation: Strengthening Teleservices for Children with Disabilities in Georgia both short and long-term strategies for the provision of advanced, sophisticated teleservices to Georgian children & families.

HOW IT CAME ABOUT

T

he COVID-19 outbreak in Georgia has created additional challenges for children with disabilities and their families. Due to the nationwide state of emergency, social services, such as early intervention, day care, home-based care, and rehabilitation/habilitation were suspended at the beginning of March. More than 4,000 children with disabilities/developmental delays were left without state social services.

In a project initiated by the Georgian Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health, and Social

Affairs (MoIDPOTLHSA), conceived by UNICEF Georgia and MAC (McLain Association for Children) Georgia, and supported by the Embassy of Israel & MASHAV (Israel’s International Development Cooperation Agency), the teleservices provided to children with disabilities in Georgia are to be improved and upgraded.

Beit Issie Shapiro, an Israeli organization considered to be a global leader in the field of treating children with disabilities, was chosen by UNICEF Georgia as an expert consultant on this project.

Beit Issie Shapiro’s vast experience and unique expertise will serve to devise

In April, MoIDPOTLHSA approached UNICEF Georgia with a request to assist service providers in modifying the services and continue support to children and their families. UNICEF Georgia, in close cooperation with MAC Georgia, started to support service providers to switch to online service provision. For three months, the local experts of MAC Georgia conducted group and individual sessions to help various service providers to successfully adjust to distance service provision. Additionally, MAC Georgia developed a Facebook platform that gave parents an opportunity to access timely COVID-related information and guidance on how to help and stimulate their children during quarantine.

In July, the majority of providers resumed the provision of direct services.

However, to meet the second expected wave of COVID-19 more prepared, the ministry plans to strengthen and standardize the teleservices. This plan includes the development of a conceptual framework for the provision of teleservice, principles and methodology, funding modality and monitoring indicators.

Besides the short-term plan, the ministry intends to develop the concept of hybrid services, merging direct and tel-

eservices. The hybrid services will be beneficial in the long run for those children and families who, due to certain conditions, cannot travel to the service centers frequently. Accommodation of the short- and long-term service needs of children with disabilities requires comprehensive enhancement of teleservices. Hence, it is pivotal to analyze the local and international experience related to teleservices, conceptualize the remote service provision for children with disabilities, its methodology, monitoring mechanisms and funding modalities, through applying international practices.

To get familiar with the international experience and employ widely used technics, UNICEF Georgia approached Beit Issie Shapiro, one of the most experienced organizations working with children with disabilities in Israel and globally. Meeting with the representatives of Beit Issie Shapiro made it obvious that children with disabilities can benefit from the rich experience and knowledge of this organization. Another meeting was arranged between BIS, UNICEF Georgia and MAC Georgia, where representatives of MAC Georgia shared their experience and vision regarding conceptualizing and implementing teleservices for children with disabilities in Georgia. BIS expressed the commitment to cooperate with MAC Georgia to improve the quality of teleservices in Georgia.

Beit Issie Shapiro will provide exper-

tise and consultancy to MAC Georgia to achieve the following objectives:  Formulate the methodology and major principles of remote service provision for children with disabilities;  Identify relevant web platforms and technologies for service providers and families to effectively engage in remote/ distant service provision;  Formulate relevant monitoring indicators to strengthen the monitoring system of the teleservices and ensure quality control;  Identify and conceptualize cost categories necessary for scaling up the remote service provision;  Provide recommendations for the preparatory phase to scale up the remote service provision for children with disabilities in Georgia.

EXPECTED RESULTS The methodology for teleservices for children with disabilities will be conceptualized, taking into consideration international experience and practices, while external and internal monitoring and quality control mechanisms for remote service provision will be conceptualized and formulated.

Relevant cost categories will be identified to support the system to modify the financial schemes and costing of the remote service provision and detailed recommendations for the next steps to apply teleservices for children with disabilities will be provided.

4

POLITICS

'Church' of Abkhazia Refuses to Accept Icon Presented by Patriotic Alliance Leader

GEORGIA TODAY

AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Elections: Opposition Alleges Alliance of Patriots Will Be Funded by the Kremlin

BY ANA DUMBADZE

Image: Irma Inashvili, the Leader of 'Alliance of Patriots'

BY ANA DUMBADZE

T

he 'Orthodox Church' of Georgia's Russian-occupied Abkhazia region das refuses to accept the icon presented by the 'Alliance of Patriots of Georgia' party leader Irma Inashvili during her recent visit to the region, and intends to return it to the Georgian side.

"The Abkhazian Orthodox Church does not accept the icon presented by Georgian MPs with the participation of an Adviser to the Abkhazian President, and is going to return it. The mission took place without the permission of the Abkhazian Orthodox Church, which is unacceptable," they claimed in a statement.

How and under what circumstances the Abkhazian church intends to return the icon is not mentioned in the statement.

Adviser to the de-facto president of occupied Abkhazia, Lasha Sakania,

resigned following his meeting with the Georgian political party.

Information about the meeting between Aslan Bzhania's adviser and representatives of the 'Alliance of Patriots of Georgia' on the territory of Abkhazia was spread in the Georgian media. Initially, Sakania denied the information about the talks with the Georgian politicians, however, later he admitted that a meeting with the 'Alliance of Patriots' was actually held.

Sakania also mentioned that the visit by the Patriotic Alliance to Abkhazia was only for humanitarian purposes. He further added that the Georgian political party presented the Ilori monastery with an icon of the Virgin Mary. “Due to the given situation on August 18, 2020, to not further increase the temperature within society, I have decided to leave my post and write a letter of resignation of my own free will. I want to emphasize that I was always protecting and will protect the interests of our people and our nation,� he wrote.

O

n Tuesday, the opposition party 'European Georgia' applied to the Prosecutor's Office with a request to launch an investigation against the 'Alliance of Patriots of Georgia' party. Moreover, opposition parties in Georgia demand the 'Alliance of Patriots' be prohibited from running in the October parliamentary elections.

The reason for this was the information spread by the Russian edition 'Dossier', based on which the 'Alliance of Patriots' was receiving pre-election advice and money from the Kremlin.

The publication reads that the party demanded $8 million from Moscow to finance their run in the 2020 elections.

The article does not clarify specifically who is paying or whether this money has already been paid.

At the same time, 'Dossier' reports that the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia has hired political strategist Sergey Mikheev and the Moscow company POLITSECRETS to promote the party.

Irma Inashvili, leader of the Alliance

Image: David Tarkhan-Mouravi and Irma Inashvili, the leaders of 'Alliance of Patriots'

and vice-speaker of parliament, says the party is actually using the services of a Russian consulting firm and categorically denies receiving financial support from Russia.

She denies the allegations and claims that that former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and one of the leaders of European Georgia Giga Bokeria ordered this investigation to be carried out by 'Dossier.'

'Dossier' also writes that the Russian consulting company advised the Alliance to: stir up controversy among voters, intensify anti-Western propaganda, and focus on the undecided electorate.

Whether the Kremlin was actually funding the Patriots Alliance and whether the party was receiving dangerous advice for Georgia from Russian consultants is an issue that may now be investigated

by Georgian investigative bodies.

Mikheil Saakashvili: I'm Coming Back!

BY ANA DUMBADZE

F

ormer President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who currently serves as the Head of the Executive Committee of the National Reforms Council of Ukraine, has published a video on his Facebook page, where he apologized to the Georgian people and said that he will be returning.

"Of course, there were mistakes, there were very serious mistakes too, but as God is my witness, I wanted the best for my people," he stated in the video address.

"Ukraine is my second home. At that time I came here from my main home, my sweet Georgia. I have always loved

Ukraine since I was a student, in the most difficult period it was Ukraine that accepted me as I am, without any conditions and requirements, and I appreciate it very much.

"Now, after all these years, I know how to better serve our country and how to avoid mistakes. I wanted my people to live better. Yet, from the perspective of these years, I want to publicly apologize to everyone for the mistakes I made.

During these seven years, there has not been a single day that I have not been interested in Georgian news and I know for sure that my work as President has not been in vain. But, at the same time, when I hear Georgian news, I can guess that we can live much better, every Georgian can be rich. We'll do it together! I'm coming back!" he said.

30 Opposition Parties Sign Memorandum on Elections

BY ANA DUMBADZE

T

wo months before the upcoming parliamentary elections 2020, about 30 opposition parties have signed a memorandum, based on which they agree to "Protect both their own and each other's votes and not to allow the ruling party to steal votes."

At today's meeting, the representatives of the united opposition announced that they will have a database on violations observed during the elections and a coordination mechanism on how to react to violations.

In addition, the parties agreed on issues of cooperation with NGOs and international partners.

The opposition parties in Georgia adopted a joint declaration on the October elections at a meeting held in the office of the Labor Party on August 18.

They claim that "their task will not be to protect the votes of citizens with certain political tastes but to protect the transparency of the entire electoral process."

The opposition parties also agree to work together with international observers to prevent doubts about the legitimacy of the elections.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Georgia on 31 October 2020 to elect the 150 members of Parliament.

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6

BUSINESS

GEORGIA TODAY

AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Things to Remember & Appreciate cine man who came to the reproduction Institute’s directorial post right after Zhordania’s demise. This is the man who kept up his great predecessor’s professional banner to later give a chance to the young Khomasuridze by commanding him for continuous medical education in the best Soviet schools and clinics in Moscow. And behold, Archil Khomasuridze, an MD at the age of only 34, finds his personality right in the heart of obstetrics and gynecology in the huge soviet country. Years pass and, loaded with tremendous knowledge, professional skills and experience, he returns to his beloved Georgia to head the Zhordania Institute of Reproductive Health. This is exactly where it all started.

Equipped with Zhordania’s outstand-

BY NUGZAR B. RUHADZE

T

his is not a trivial piece about another Georgian celebrity. This is about our identity. There truly are things that we need to notice and be grateful for. I saw him in his petite beautiful property in western Georgia, needing my presence as I would need an unexpected pain in the neck, but he graciously and benevolently nodded to my invitation to talk. Professor Archil Khomasuridze, as secluded a person as he happens to be, is nobody’s special comrade, including me, but he is a true friend to his profession and to the people he has always wanted to faithfully serve. I had a solid patriotic reason to have talked to the famous healer and dedicated booster of Georgia’s demographic potential.

I had heard before my recent encounter with Khomasuridze that this year, three appreciable milestones in the

ing reproductive ideology, Khomasuridze went ahead to embark on the idea of treating infertility and defeating abortion by introducing the contraceptive methodology in women’s life and creating Tube Babies, thus giving a chance to up to ten thousand couples suffering childlessness.

This year, Archil Khomasuridze will be celebrating 20 years since the first ‘tube baby-boy’ who today is a healthy and successful young Georgian with every possible chance to become his nation’s pride.

Khomasuridze has pioneered the scientific breakthrough in Georgia which has already yielded thousands and thousands of invitro fertilizations.

My wonderful respondent’s information box is full of stories that need to be

hammered into a big book of his most interesting professional and personal memories to be bequeathed to Georgia’s medical generations to come. I would love to do the job if I am allowed by the great maestro, but it is not at all important who takes the responsibility for perpetuating his legacy. What matters most is that he is around and ready share with us the things that are extremely valuable to remember and appreciate.

But the story does not end there. The almost octogenarian Professor Khomasuridze is enviably active at work, leading his amply-staffed Institute of Reproductive Health and vigorous enough to be avidly dreaming and working on the continuation of this amazing nation into the longest possible future.

country’s medical history were going to be memorialized by the grateful nation: first and utmost, this is the 125th anniversary of the birth of Ioseb Zhordania, the legendary Georgian physician who famously gave his life to the unbeknownst to him little girl, drowning in the ocean as a consequence of an accidental airplane crash. The great man died but he left behind him a unique ideology on the reproduction of human life, which today is one of the most popular and lucrative segments of the world health service.

Zhordania founded in Georgia the Institute of Women’s Physiology and Pathology, having then passed ahead of the world for more than thirty years in the field.

Archil Khomasuridze is a medical doctor who has eminently continued his teacher’s works and led the branch to the point where medicinal science is realistically helping the growth of Georgia’s population, so much needed for its physical survival.

The next jubilee is the centenary of Professor Jemal Tstitsishvili, the medi-

Address: 24 Zandukeli T: 595 50 39 30 facebook.com/thaiboxtbilisi

THE NEW CRAFT OF TASTE

BUSINESS

GEORGIA TODAY

AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

7

History of Georgian Entrepreneurship (late 19th-early 20th cc.)

BY EMIL AVDALIANI

T

he incorporation of the country into the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th century quite surprisingly worked as a catalyzer for the development of entrepreneurial activity in late 19th-early 20th century Georgia. There were several important factors favoring this development in Georgia: stable internal as well as external political situation around the country; the geographic proximity of the Ottoman and Persian empires; and the Russian Empire’s economic interests, such as growth of trade in order to compete with major European states (France and Great Britain) for the markets in these two Middle East countries. Thus, the proximity of Georgia to the Ottoman and Persian empires was reflected in trade growth and other economic activities between the two countries on the one hand, and the South Caucasus overall on the other.

This development is well reflected in various biographies of the Georgian entrepreneurs discussed in this work.

For instance, Akaki Khoshtaria’s wide business network was spread across the Ottoman and Persian empires. This, in turn, reflected the Russian Empire’s wider economic aspirations which we mentioned above.

These economic and political developments led to Tbilisi being steadily transformed throughout the 19th century into an entrepreneurial center of the South Caucaus. A look at the map shows that the geographic location also favored the city, as it is located right in the center of the entire Caucasus. Moreover, the relatively good condition of transportation roads around Tbilisi also helped the city gain a prominent position in the region.

For instance, in Mikael Aramiants’ biography, we learn how he left Baku to manage his business empire from Tbilisi. Yet another reason for transforming Tbilisi into a hub of political and business activity was the Tsarist administration, which chose the city as its capital in the Caucasus.

The Russian Empire, under the Romanov dynasty, was a capitalist country. Entre-

The Siemens brothers

preneurship in general, and various stories of businessmen in the Empire, were very similar to what could quite often be found in western Europe of the time.

As a result, in the late 19th century, entrepreneurs in various fields emerged in Georgia and began creating world-famous Georgian brands. Their products were exported not only across the Russian Empire itself, but were also traded extensively in the Middle East and Europe.

The advantageous geographic location and developing economy also brought many famous European companies and entrepreneurs into the South Caucasus, and to Georgia in particular. Nobels, Rotschilds, Siemens and many others from western Europe clearly saw those big business opportunities which existed in Georgia at the time. Surely, Georgia’s importance in these families’ business calculus was based on clearly determining the country’s transit potential. It is also worth noting that foreign investors and inventors, by extending their entrepreneurial activity in the South Caucasus, contributed to the notable technological development of Georgia.

Still, it is hard to perceive why the history of entrepreneurship in late 19th-early 20th century Georgia has so far remained largely unexplored. One of possible explanations could be found behind the establishment of the Bolshevik regime in Georgia in 1921. Foreign and local entrepreneurship in Georgia was almost

entirely wiped out of the country through expropriations or other means. Wealthy merchants and entrepreneurs became class enemies of the new political leadership, and it was quite logical for the scholars of the Communist era to deliberately avoid researching Georgian and foreign entrepreneurs working in Georgia.

The Nobels’ activities in Georgia shed light on another important family, the Rotschilds, who were likewise heavily involved in business across Georgia and modern Azerbaijan. The two contributed extensively to the development of the largest railway and pipeline infrastructure in Georgia.

Another famous family, the Siemens, laid the longest telegraph in the world, London-Calcutta (modern Kolkata), through Georgia. This contributed to regional connectivity, enabling Georgian cities to receive news from Europe and other parts of the world on a daily basis rather than after several days. Moreover, the Siemens were the first inventors and entrepreneurs to found and extract oil in Georgia, in the Kakheti province. Thus, overall, foreign entrepreneurs contributed extensively to the technological progress of the South Caucasus and Georgia, which perhaps had the largest effect on the population in general.

Entrepreneur Akaki Khoshtaria’s biography is largely unknown to the wider public, yet his life and business activities reflect how interconnected Georgia was with the Persian and the Ottoman empires of his time. Khoshtaria was famous for his patronage of the arts and for his support of Georgia’s short independence of 1918-1921.

Mitrophane Laghidze’s life is also notable, as it shows how small businesses were developing across Georgia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Laghidze’s entrepreneurial life proves that despite the fact that Tbilisi held a central economic and administrative position in the region, other small Georgian cities too had an active business life.

Mikael Aramiants’ biography is notable as, beyond the South Caucasus, his business was also spread throughout major European and Asian cities. Aramiants’ life shows the economic and administrative centrality of Tbilisi in the region.

Georgia in World Bank's Top 10 in Terms of Low Number of Bribery Cases

BY ANA DUMBADZE

G

eorgia is among the World Bank's Top 10 in terms of the low number of bribery cases and freedom from the pressure of bribery, the Ministry of Finance reports.

The World Bank Enterprise Survey focuses on many aspects of the business environment that play a major role in the growth and development of the private sector and, consequently, the economy as a whole. Enterprise surveys are conducted every four years. The aim of the research is to evaluate the business environment. The survey was last conducted in Georgia from March 2019 to January 2020. During this period, 581 company owners and high-ranking managers were interviewed in the country.

"The questions in the study cover exactly the factors that are important for the business environment and the economy: infrastructure, foreign trade, finance, regulations, taxes and business licensing, corruption, crime and the informal economy, access to finance, innovation, labor, barriers to the busi-

ness environment.

"The Enterprise Survey (ES) is conducted by the World Bank Group in partnership with EBRD, EIB, and DFID. The study covers all geographical regions of the world and hundreds of thousands of small, medium and large private companies, " said the Ministry of Finance.

Based on the information released by the Ministry, in terms of freedom from corruption, Georgia merited the best rating in the world. In particular, Georgia is among the top 10 among 144 countries in terms of the low number of bribery cases. It also ranked among the top 10 countries in terms of freedom from bribery pressure.

Sebastian Molineus, World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus, says the Enterprise Survey is a very important survey that assesses the

"health" of the country's private sector, and is in fact one of the few surveys that are truly global.

"In my opinion, the results of the research are very interesting. It should be noted that entrepreneurs and directors of firms here in Georgia spend much less time due to the burden of regulation on tax rates and administrative issues.

Obtaining permits is much faster than in other countries, and in general, the business environment is much more favorable than in many other, similar countries. Significant progress has been made in the fight against corruption, and Georgia is among the top ten countries in this regard. However, on the other hand, there are still problems to be solved, mainly in terms of infrastructure, and obtaining construction permits (compared to other similar countries), access to funding, and finally, employees with adequate education," Molineus noted.

The Ministry of Finance of Georgia says that a report on Georgia was published in February 2020. However, recently, data from several countries have been added to the report, so it is now possible to compare Georgia with different countries around the world. You can see it on the World Bank website.

The Nobel brothers

Indeed, after each success and failure in his business career, Aramiants headed to Tbilisi, where he eventually settled to manage his business empire. Moreover, research on his life provided here is far more important from a purely academic point of view as, to date, there

have been no notable works created on this issue.

These are only a fraction of the famous entrepreneurs which indicate how fastdeveloping capitalism and industry in general was in early 20th century Georgia.

Property for Sale in the Heart of Historic Tbilisi Ideal for a Bed and Breakfast, residence, or office - A rare opportunity to purchase an outstanding property in the heart of historic Tbilisi just a stone's throw from the old town and ‘Abanotubani,’ in the Krtsanisi diplomatic district (close to several embassies). It is ecologically the cleanest part of the city. Only minutes away from the city center, yet hidden away from traffic, noise and pollution.

The house was built in 2007 to the highest standards to stand firm for hundreds of years. It boasts a modern and very unique design authored by a famous Georgian architect. Separate kitchen, open floor living room (ceiling 8 meters above) with an amazing fire place. The house is very spacious and full of light, with a superbly comfortable layout, ensuring outmost privacy while creating a cozy and homey environment. Despite its vast size, it is very livable and convenient. The house looks modest and not imposing from the outside, yet is surprising spacious from the inside. It has a garage for 4 cars, a large, fully equipped basement with a lovely wine cellar, a kitchen and a banquet hall with a fire place. The swimming pool and terrace ensure a blissful feeling of being at a resort. It feels like heaven during hot summer days. The house is perfect for a residence, but also as an office or a small family hotel. The house is priced 30% below the market price. It is a rare opportunity not to be missed. The price is to be enquired and discussed.

8

BUSINESS

GEORGIA TODAY

AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Bolnisi Establishes New Platform for Efficient Business with Support of EU Initiative local tourist attraction, the historic neighborhood of Katharinenfeld, lacked the necessary tourism infrastructure and marketing instruments to promote and popularisz it. Secondly, the existing tourism service points couldn’t even satisfy existing demand for their services due to lack of know-how of running touristoriented businesses.

DEVELOPING RESEARCHBASED SOLUTIONS

Consultation meeting with a local farmer

R

esidents of Bolnisi Municipality in Georgia’s Kvemo Kartli region are improving their livelihoods after the municipal authorities provided them with practical tools and know-how to operate their businesses more efficiently, through a project financed by the European Union within the framework of the Mayors for Economic Growth (M4EG) Initiative.

Bolnisi is a multiethnic, mostly-rural region of Georgia, with a population of approximately 53,500. 63% of locals here are employed in the field of agriculture.

Still, despite the existing opportunities in the agricultural sector, local producers rarely managed to optimize produc-

Bolnisi Municipality developed a twoyear Local Economic Development Plan, defining the main economic priorities and goals, as well as the concrete Action Plan to achieve them. The plan was assessed as excellent by independent experts of the World Bank.

DIAGNOSING THE PROBLEMS When the project was launched at the beginning of 2018, the project team made sure to first study the local market, its potential, and the needs of local producers and entrepreneurs. The study, ‘Identifying production capacities and demand on locally produced goods, sources of supply, and assess business interest of peripheral customers in Bolnisi Munic-

Agro Center

tion and maximize their profits.

The reasons for this are partly traditional for rural areas: small-scale farmers do not have the skills or equipment to ensure the quality standards of their produce. The volumes of output are generally small and too fragmented to establish a strong regional reputation for local produce. And there’s also the specificity of the territory, which is home to a large proportion of ethnic Azerbaijani people, the majority of whom do not speak Georgian and stick to their traditional agricultural production without really considering the changing nuances of demand.

The Bolnisi Municipality is potentially attractive for tourists because of its rich cultural and historical heritage, unique local wines and food, and strategic location a one-hour drive from the Georgian capital. But until a couple of years ago, the tourism potential of the territory had been largely untapped.

This began to change in June 2017, when Bolnisi Municipality became a signatory of the European Union’s Initiative ‘Mayors for Economic Growth’ and started work on its Local Economic Development Plan (LEDP). Later the same year, the municipality took part in the M4EG Call for Pioneer Projects, and was named one of 16 winners out of 164 applicants.

The European Union allocated €320,000 for the project ‘Establishing a platform for efficient flow of business activities in Bolnisi.’ The entire project budget reached €380,000 with the co-funding of the local municipality.

Also, within its commitments to the Mayors for Economic Growth initiative,

ipality,’ helped to identify three areas with a high potential for economic development: agriculture, winemaking and tourism. Their relative limitations were also thoroughly addressed in the study.

The research findings, presented in January 2019, showed that local farmers would sell their primary agricultural products for further processing, which takes place in neighboring regions.

Because of this, they were finding themselves at the very beginning of the local agricultural value chains, which resulted in lower incomes. This was largely due to the absence or unaffordability of necessary production and storage equipment. In addition, local producers had low technical capacity in adhering to the necessary production standards, to ensure high quality storage, packaging, distribution and marketing of their products.

These same challenges were also faced by the wine producers in Bolnisi.

As for tourism, the study identified that local businesses providing services for tourists (café/bars, restaurants, family hotels, food facilities) couldn’t fully exploit their potential because of several factors. The first was that the biggest

Packaging equipment for vegetables, meat or cheese

• Agro Center - helping local farmers and winemakers to grow In a bid to address the challenges identified through the research, in January 2020, the project managers launched the Agro Center, an establishment run by the Bolnisi Municipality, offering various technologies to farmers and winemakers at affordable prices, free consultations and legal advice for them, and also a marketplace for the produced goods.

The premises for the Agro Center were built by the Bolnisi Municipality at its own cost, from scratch. It is located on the main road to Armenia, a strategic spot, easily available to the local producers and convenient for travelers to drop by and taste and buy locally-produced products.

The Agro Center offers local farmers and producers refrigerating, labelling, wrapping, packaging, bottling and filtering services for different agricultural products and wines at affordable prices through the use of modern technology.

“In addition, today at the Agro Center, farmers receive consultations and expert services in Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani languages,” said Bolnisi Municipality Mayor David Sherazadishvili. “This is important for the multiethnic population of the municipality.”

“One of the first things we did was to study Bolnisi’s economic potential. We found that one of the most well-developed fields was winemaking,” said Natalia Kakabadze, project manager at the Bolnisi grant project, going on to note that in order to help winemakers, the Agro Center bought equipment that many wine producers couldn’t afford.

The facility purchased machines that allow winemakers to benefit from all the services needed for making a final product, such as bottling, corking and labelling. As Georgians usually store their wines in a Qvevri, a clay vessel submerged underground, for fermentation and aging, the Agro Center purchased a mobile device, designed to be carried around to small wineries. It allows farmers to have their wines extracted from Qvevris at their own wineries, and also filtered, bottled and labeled on the spot.

“Bolnisi wine is considered to be a very high-quality wine, many types of it unique to this territory,” Kakabadze says. “There are many less experienced, newcomer winemakers who needed bottling technology. The Agro Center now has mobile bottling equipment that can be transported to local wineries. Or winemakers can bring their wine for bottling to us.

Buyers demand winemakers have their products bottled. Otherwise, they can’t showcase them on the markets. Because of the services we provide, the value of their products grew significantly,” she added.

Guram Arkhopashvili, the owner of Dzmebis Marani [Brothers’ Winery] is a beneficiary of the project. His enterprise has benefited from the bottling, filtration and other services needed for winemaking.

“The foundation of Agro Center has benefited us so much. Now we no longer have to buy bottling equipment and other accessories necessary for the production of wine. This service is very cheap, even the cheapest in the world I would say.

They provide many other services, such as washing utensils and disinfection,” he notes, adding that currently 25 wineries use these services, however, there’s a potential to have up to 800 winemakers in Bolnisi.

T.Stephania Street

Besides the technology for winemakers, the Agro Center also offers various packaging and labelling equipment for other businesses. The facility features vacuum and semi-automatic packaging equipment for vegetables, meat and cheese.

Meri Makharadze, the founder of a cheese-producing enterprise called Disveli, is yet another beneficiary of the Agro Center. She has also benefited from consultation services that the Agro Center offers, which she said were very useful.

“I have my own packaging equipment, but it’s not enough to package cheese in large quantities. My enterprise is capable of processing up to 3 tons of milk, but currently we are unable to do so due to lockdown because of the coronavirus. I really like the wrapping equipment that Agro Center has. It’s really high quality,” says Makharadze.

So far, she has received legal advice from the Agro Center and is willing to learn more about how to work with documents and how to do thorough accounting.

“Despite the fact that the Agro Center was launched in January 2020 and the following period coincided with the restrictions put in place to stop the spread of coronavirus, the enterprise has already provided services to 861 entrepreneurs.

1,500 liters of wine has been filtered, bottled and labelled so far, and we have held four meetings with winemakers, cheesemakers and meat producers,” said Meri Abramishvili, the Head of the Projects Management Department of Bolnisi Municipality.

• Bolstering Bolnisi’s tourism potential The municipality offers many attractions to visitors, from Bolnisi Sioni, the oldest extant church in Georgia from the 5th century, to the remnants of its German heritage. In the 19th century, 95 German colonist families from Swabia founded a colony named Katharinenfeld here. Even today, Bolnisi’s historic neighborhood carries this name.

In order to popularize this neighborhood, within the project ‘Establishing a platform for efficient flow of business activities in Bolnisi,’ the Bolnisi Municipality invested in improving the tourism infrastructure of one of the streets of Katharinenfeld (Stephania Street). Sidewalks and the road were laid, and streetlights were installed to make the thoroughfare pedestrian-friendly. Tourist signs were put up, providing information about the neighborhood’s historic past.

“We also designed a marketing strategy for Katharinenfeld, which will help us attract tourists to the municipality,” says Abramishvili, adding that up to 150 workers were hired for the infrastructural works, including the modernization of Katharinenfeld and construction of the

Wine bottling and filtering in Agro Center

Agro Center.

As a result of the rehabilitation of Katharinenfeld, local residents expressed a willingness to turn their homes into guest houses, open markets and restaurants. And the project is ready to provide them with free consultations and legal advice on how to run their businesses.

“One of the main achievements of this project is how the trust of local residents and businesses grew towards the Municipality. They saw that the local government is interested in the needs of local entrepreneurs and supports them in their work,” Abramishvili says.

The project team and municipal officials believe now that tourism infrastructure has been significantly improved, and locally-produced wines and agricultural products have been bolstered, Bolnisi is ready to receive many more tourists. It became obvious that the municipality has many things to offer visitors, and this is not limited to either wines or historical monuments. Its rich historical-cultural heritage, combined with authentic agricultural products and unique local wines, are yet to be rediscovered by tourists.

BOLNISI DURING AND AFTER THE LOCKDOWN CAUSED BY COVID-19 The implementation of the project activities has been significantly hindered by the COVID-19 crisis. For almost two months, the Bolnisi municipality was completely locked down and isolated from the rest of the country due to a strong local outbreak of the illness.

Now, with the steady improvement of the epidemiological situation in Georgia, local economic activity is coming back to life, and the Agro Center has re-opened its doors to clients.

To alleviate the impact of the COVID19 crisis on the local producers, in July 2020, the Agro Center launched a new campaign offering local winemakers the chance to filter, bottle and label 10 bottles of each type of wine for free.

The Project Team is catching up on the project implementation plan, and working hard in order to make Bolnisi ready for domestic and international tourists when the borders open up. It will also serve as an example and a source of relevant expertise to other Georgian municipalities with similar economic priorities.

“Partnership with international organizations is especially important for Bolnisi Municipality. Thanks to the EU and Mayors for Economic Growth initiative, we are the only municipality in Georgia to support local farmers and small and medium entrepreneurs in their production via the Agro Center,” Mayor David Sherazadishvili said.

SOCIETY

GEORGIA TODAY

AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

9

Kutaisi International University Gets Set to Open its Doors

BY NINI DAKHUNDARIDZE

T

he start of this academic year in September in Georgia will be quite different from previous years. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the educational sector greatly, and, for the first time, students will be attending their classes while wearing masks and at a distance from each other. However, that is not the only “first” that comes with this academic year here: also for the first time, Kutaisi International University, which is the largest educational institution project in Georgia in the span of several decades, will be opening its doors to students from Georgia and abroad.

Over a thousand students have registered to be the first freshmen at Kutaisi International University (KIU). While many of the university complex build-

ings have already been completed, extensions are ongoing, and this applies not only to the campus, but also to the programs it is offering: for the 2020-2021 academic year, KIU opens to students majoring in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Management. From 2021 onward, three disciplines are to be added: Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The following year, even more diversity will be enjoyed on the KIU campus, as students from around the world will also be able to come to KIU to major in Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Energy Engineering, Education, Arts and Humanities, and Medicine.

The students and personnel of KIU will undoubtedly enjoy living and studying on the bright and freshly designed first university campus in the Caucasus region. KIU is working with various international universities and accreditation agencies to offer internationally accredited and/or world standard programs and campus living conditions, and

classes will be taught in English both in classrooms and remotely.

With the quality and modernity of KIU constructions considered - a green environment that spans 153 hectares, ultramodern academic buildings, libraries, cafeterias, well-equipped sports and road infrastructure, shared workspaces, student dormitories with studio-type rooms, furniture and modern appliances, as well as housing for academic and administrative personnel - the tuition fees and living costs seem more than reasonable, giving the impression that educating the new generation is the actual priority of the university founders. The tuition fee for the 2020-2021 Academic Year for international students in the programs of Computer Science and Management is to be 16,000 GEL ($5,500). For a Bachelors in Mathematics, international students can expect to pay a tuition fee of 9,400 GEL ($3,220), a sum which includes all teaching materials. In all three programs, the living costs for students who are not citizens of Georgia amounts to $5,000. Financial aid packages are available to cover students’ living costs, for both international and local students.

“KIU’s aim is to help reverse the brain drain by bringing prominent and successful Georgian scholars, academics, and practitioners back to Georgia by offering internationally competitive and intellectually demanding teaching and research positions at KIU,” the university website claims.

The programs in KIU have been developed, and will continue to be developed, in the college’s partnership with the Technology University of Munich. The Honorary President of Kutaisi International University is Prof. Dr. Wolfgang A. Herrmann, former President of TUM, who, in his welcoming note, referred to KIU as the “avantgardistic university,” and said that as KIU unites the international and local minds of the new generations, the college will “make Kutaisi a stronghold of Georgian science and entrepreneurship to the benefit of the country and its prosperous economic future. The alliance with TUM should open new horizons, particularly in engineering, and create new industries in the Caucasian area.”

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, on a visit to the KIU campus this month, also made remarks about the importance of the college for the city of Kutaisi, the country, and the region as a whole, noting that “this is an extremely important project for Kutaisi. Kutaisi is becoming a university city. I am certain that this will render Kutaisi even more attractive.”

The PM also noted that education is the priority of the government, and KIU “is an extremely large project that was

implemented, from start to finish, as a result of a private initiative, with Bidzina Ivanishvili's investment- an investment of about one billion Euros.”

There is even more to KIU: at the next stage of the university construction, a Hadron Therapy Center will be founded within the university in cooperation with IBA, one of the world's leading providers in the fight against cancer. Modern research in the fields of medical and nuclear physics will be carried out there, in addition to the treatment of oncological diseases. Two cyclotrons will be housed in the Hadron Therapy Center, funded by Cartu Fund with 40 million Euros. One of them will be used for the treatment of tumors, while the other will be used for the purpose of conducting scientific research in the field of oncology.

The goal of the contract signed between Kutaisi International University and Cartu Fund is to establish the Hadron Therapy Center on the campus of Kutaisi International University. The center will receive its first patients in Georgia in 2024.

GEORGIA TODAY spoke to Nikoloz Chkhetiani, Chairman of the Board of Cartu Fund, about the university, its importance and prospects.

We asked why, as Tbilisi would seem like a better fit for an international university, instead Kutaisi was chosen as the location of this project.

“A huge problem in Georgia is that everything is located in Tbilisi,” Chkhetiani replied. “This creates negative ten-

dencies in the process of regional development. Our choice of Kutaisi as the place for the new university aims at bringing new life to the town, and to the entire west of Georgia.”

He tells us he saw symbolism, as well as the chance of balancing the west and east of the country, in establishing KIU. “This is the first time since the restoration of independence of the country that a new state university has been established. I find it symbolic that more than 100 years ago, in 1918, the Tbilisi State University was established, and now one century later, independent Georgia creates a new state university, but this time in Kutaisi. I think it will bring some balance and equilibrium between west and east Georgia.”

We also asked Mr Chkhetiani to tell us why students should choose KIU. The campus-based college experience, according to him “creates unprecedented comfort and education capabilities for our future students and academic staff.”

However, that is not the only advantage to the university: “We are working with many international institutions. Our partner is TUM - the Technical University of Munich. This is one of the strongest universities in the world. On site, we will have a Hadron Therapy and Research Center. For this purpose, we are cooperating with the IBA corporation, a Belgium based international consortium which is a world leader in Hadron technologies. All these facts give me the right to have hope and confidence that our project will be successful,” he says.

10

SOCIETY

GEORGIA TODAY

AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Long & Winding Road increased, what with better roads extending farther and farther throughout Georgia. One price of speed.

Of COURSE we need better roads, especially where traffic is busy (the main routes across the country, traversed constantly by private cars, public transport and huge numbers of trucks). But also in the places where simple movement is dangerous to one’s life, especially in the mountains. And… making better roads will cause faster traffic, with its own hazards. At least the main road through Upper Svaneti from Jvari to Mestia and beyond has reflector-lit side rails along almost all of its length, making a fall to the depths of the roaring Enguri much less likely. But crashes here involving two or more vehicles at higher speeds might become the more common issue than falls off cliffs.

I suppose these are the growing pains of a developing country, struggling to dig itself back out from its own fall off a high economic cliff (the USSR’s highest per capita income as a Republic to the lowest, post-Soviet). May they be as free of risks, of fatal accidents and the too common scenes of wailing relatives and friends, including me, as possible.

BLOG BY TONY HANMER

T

he recent tragedy on the road to Shatili, in which 17 people out of 20 in a large “marshrutka” (minibus) died from an 80m fall, has shaken the nation. I mourn too. The three survivors are in critical condition, and anyway will be severely traumatized by their experience, assuming with prayers that they pull through.

There are a number of roads in Georgia which are scary, to say the least, and I’ve been there and back again on most of them, living to tell the tale. Including this one, not long ago, and the even more precarious one through Tusheti.

I suppose one difference is that I was always travelling privately on those particular roads, not on public transport. I have, though, taken the minivans between Tbilisi and Mestia more times than I can remember, the longest regular public transport trip in Georgia, and survived.

Lucky? For the recent Tusheti trip we hired a driver of eight years’ experience, who became a good friend en-route, and was calm and not in a hurry. Marshrutka drivers on long routes, on the other hand, tend to try to get there as fast as possible (in my two decades of experience). They face significant financial pressures, usually doing the job for the money, with extended family to support.

Certain roads in Georgia are dotted with what I long assumed to be postboxes, although usually they are found not very near villages or even visible

houses at all. In my early days visiting Svaneti, I was usually not the driver, and we didn’t stop at these “boxes”; so I wasn’t getting a close look at their being door-less, usually with a bottle of something inside. You can see where I’m going with this, can’t you?

Eventually, I asked my friend and usual touring partner, Nodar Aprasidze, why

there were post boxes in such unlikely places. After a good laugh, he told me that they are in fact memorial spots for those who died right there, usually in a car accident. You would drink a swig in memory of the deceased and drive on, ignoring the irony of imbibing the same substance implicated in the death(s), and its danger to you as well. And now I have

been in Georgia long enough to have known several of the people who are thus remembered, people from my own adopted village in Svaneti, or their relatives.

At least the drinking habits of the Svaneti minibus drivers seem to have been curtailed somewhat in the last decade, compared to the first decade I was here. But their speeds have, if anything,

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

New Seafood Restaurant ‘Calligraphy’ in Batumi to Surprise Guests with Special Dishes

BY ANA DUMBADZE

E

xciting news for food enthusiasts: a new seafood restaurant called Calligraphy has opened its doors to locals and visitors to Batumi, the capital of Georgia’s Adjara region. It offers the best seafood selection in town, with rea-

sonable prices and amazingly delicious dishes prepared with love and high professionalism.

The four-floor restaurant is located close to the sea, right behind the wellknown fish market, which is also a popular attraction among tourists and seafood lovers. The venue boasts a cozy and hospitable atmosphere. and has both indoor and outdoor seating, offering an excellent view of Batumi, the “Pearl of

the Black Sea.” On the fourth floor is a cozy veranda where guests can enjoy fresh air and beautiful surroundings in addition to various delicacies. In the near future, a special space for hosting events, such as birthdays and corporate parties, will be added to the restaurant.

Friendly staff and high-level service, combined with this pleasant environment, makes this restaurant the perfect place for lunch and family dinners, even for romantic dates.

Unlike other seafood restaurants, this new eatery also offers a diverse menu of both Georgian and European dishes.

At Calligraphy, each detail, from the food to the restaurant interior, is designed to create maximum comfort and pleasure for customers. A mix of seafood and Georgian traditional dishes makes this restaurant ideal for customers of any taste.

Try their fresh salads, crab, seafood cream, clams, oysters, fish stew, extremely delicious seafood pasta, (one of the favorites here), and more. Oysters prepared by an experienced chief is one of the most popular dishes among guests at Calligraphy.

The restaurant also offers fresh cocktails and drinks for the maximum pleasure and bright mood of its visitors.

In the near future, it is also planned to further diversify the menu and add more exotic dishes.

Although the eatery is newly opened, it has quickly earned love and popularity among customers and is visited by quite an impressive number of guests every day. It is also an exciting destination for tourists who wish to taste authentic Georgian cuisine and discover its culinary traditions.

Calligraphy awaits guests daily from 10:00 to 23:00, to present them with unforgettable taste and pleasant memories, promising more interesting novelties in the future.

CULTURE

GEORGIA TODAY

AUGUST 28 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

11

Batumi-Tbilisi Int’l Fest 'Night Serenades’ Director on Special Upcoming Concerts & New Format

T

aking into account the pandemic regulations and the global experience in holding festivals, the 12th Batumi-Tbilisi festival ‘Night Serenades’ will be held in a different, virtual format this year. However, despite the global pandemic, the organizers of the important cultural event with the longest history of existence in Georgia have managed to prepare an exciting program with a lot of novelties and premieres for their loyal audience.

The opening of the festival will traditionally take place on August 27 in Batumi, in the Ilia Chavchavadze Drama Theater.

GEORGIA TODAY spoke to Nina Tsagareli, Director of ‘Night Serenades,’ to find out more about this year’s concerts, distinguished participants and the history of ‘Night Serenades.’

“Due to the pandemic, many things have changed in the field of world culture and various events are now being held in a limited or different format.

Many festivals have moved to the virtual space and in this way manage to communicate with the audience. We, too, have changed the format of the festival, taking into account the existing regulations in Georgia and the world festival experience,” Tsagareli says.

The opening concert, which will take place on August 27 at the Batumi Drama Theater is dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the famous Georgian composer and teacher Sulkhan Tsintsadze. It will be broadcast live on Adjara TV, and the Tbilisi concerts on September 2 and 4 will be live streamed on the official Facebook page of the festival.

“Of course, listening to classical music is always better live,” Tsagareli adite.

“The energy created by the coexistence of performers and spectators in the concert hall is irreplaceable, but the events held in this format also have their positive side, which is accessibility to a wide audience. Not only in Georgia, but also abroad, many loyal listeners and fans of our festival are waiting for this year's concerts. Over the decades of its existence, the festival has gained a large number of loyal listeners worldwide, many of whom have been visiting Georgia for years to attend our concert evenings in Batumi and Tbilisi.”

WHAT MAKES THE 12TH ‘NIGHT SERENADES’ CONCERT PROGRAM SPECIAL THIS YEAR? Work on the festival's concert program for the organizing group begins about a year in advance. Next year's festival concept is planned, we choose the themes for each concert, we try not to miss any important dates, we always offer the audience works by foreign composers that have not been performed in Georgia yet and we have premieres of Georgian composers almost every year.

We developed the program of this year's festival a year ago, having invited some very interesting, famous foreign soloists and the Quintet of the Royal Academy of London, but due to the pandemic, we had to make some changes to the program.

This year's program is special for the premieres of works by Georgian and foreign composers: a concert by Sandro Nebieridze created just for the Festival; ‘Concerto for Piano and String Orches-

tra N2’ created by a young talented pianist and composer on the order of the festival's artistic director, Giorgi Isakadze; Giorgi Shaverzashvili’s ‘Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra N4,’ which the author created on the order of the main conductor of the Festival, Vakhtang Machavariani and dedicated to his daughter (within the framework of the festival, the piano part will be performed by composer’s daughter, Elene Shaverzashvili); and Jimsher Chkhaidze's work ‘Sentiments’ for chamber orchestra and harp. It will also be interesting for the listeners that the great work of our maestro, ‘Concertino’, which has not been performed in Georgia since 2011, will be performed at the festival.

Night Serenades 2020 celebrates the 95th anniversary of the famous Georgian composer and teacher Sulkhan Tsintsadze, and the 250th anniversary of the greatest composer, Ludwig van Beethoven.

Sadly, this year we have to hold the festival without Mariam Davitashvili.

She was an outstanding specialist and teacher in the music field, one of the organizers of our festival. Her sudden death is a significant loss not only for us, but also for the Georgian music field.

In her honor, the work of Franz Liszt, ‘Consolation # 3’ will be performed by laureate of many international and national competitions, pianist Tamar Licheli.

TELL US ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL AND THE IMPORTANCE OF ITS EXISTENCE IN THE CULTURAL LIFE OF GEORGIA.

Photo: Nina Tsagareli, Director of "Night Serenades"

International Festival ‘Night Serenades’ is a traditional festival with the longest history in our country. It was founded in 1982 by the famous Georgian violinist and conductor, Liana Isakadze, in the most beautiful part of Georgia, Abkhazia.

Ms. Liana's contribution is invaluable not only in Georgia but also in the world of performing arts, globally.

Due to the events of 1991, the festival

temporarily ceased to exist and was revived in 2002 under the name of ‘Art Festival’ in the city of Borjomi, and in 2009 returned to the Black Sea and in the beautiful city of Batumi again under the name of ‘Night Serenades’.

Since 2018, the artistic director of the festival is Giorgi Isakadze, a musician and teacher working in Germany, nephew of Liana Isakadze, with whom he has many years of professional cooperation.

In 2011, within the framework of ‘Night Serenades’, they founded a completely original festival Friends of Facebook, which was held in parallel with ‘Night Serenades’ in the city of Batumi in 20112014. Young world stars participated in the festival completely unselfishly, and attendance was free for the public.

Over the years, the great interest in the festival has led to the expansion of its geography, due to which, since 2015, on the decision of the Tbilisi City Council, it has been called the ‘Batumi-Tbilisi International Festival.’

The main orchestra of the festival since 2011 is the world chamber ensembleorchestra ‘Virtuoses’ created by Liana Isakadze, while the main conductor is world-renowned maestro, Vakhtang Machavariani.

The festival, during its long existence, has invited many world stars to take part in concert evenings, implemented many innovative ideas, and gained a lot of loyal listeners. It is one of the most important events in the cultural life of Georgia, which the organizers, festival partners and loyal fans, along with numerous listeners, look forward to every year with great joy.

Accepting Submissions: Iranian Film Festival Dedicated to Honor Healthcare Workers amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

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very year the organization committee of the Resistance International Film Festival (RIFF) questions and explores different aspects of social responsibility and adds new categories to the competition program. This year its definition is expanded to include dealing with the invisible threats such as viruses. A new section called “Defenders of Health” is added to the festival’s program to document and show health workers fighting the COVID-19 and thus sacrificing their lives on the path of protecting society’s health.

This festival for now is the only cinema event dedicating the biggest part of its program to this pandemic, and the organizers hope that it would help to gather different experiences in one place, and also to promote a further documentation of the recent events as it would become crucial evidence for the future generations.

Organizers of the festival announced that filmmakers from the United States, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Britain, France, India, Turkey, Iraq have already submitted more

than 300 films to compete in this section of the festival and thus to express their gratitude to the health defenders from all around the world.

Iranian cinema is highly held among the professionals of this field, and all admit

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that it constitutes an important part of the world’s cinema. International film festivals held in Iran help to bring together different cinematic traditions and provide an opportunity to get to know them and to learn from them.

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

RIFF’s carefully curated program has earned this festival recognition from viewers and industry professionals alike.

American filmmakers such as Michael Moore, Oliver Stone as well as many other artists from more than 100 different coun-

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

tries have participated with their documentaries and films in this festival. Also, many renowned international guests and exceptional filmmakers have come directly to present their films and interact with viewers, including, David Barsamian, Scott Frank, Rafael Lara, Darnell Stephen Summers, Yvonne Anne Ridley, Jasmin Durakovic, Robert Hofferer, Diana Kamalal Din, Rashed Radwan, Yousef Wehbi, Ahmed Boulane, Basil al-Khatib, Saddam Wahidi Melika, Zairi Alper Akdeniz, Thomas Hayes, Daz Chandler and many others.

A few years ago, film ‘The Other Bank,’ directed by Giorgi Ovashvili, was awarded for the best script in this festival.

This year, the deadline for submissions is October 21, 2020 and the event date is scheduled for November 21-27, 2020. Independent filmmakers around the world are welcome to submit documentaries, short and feature, as well as animated films relevant to the festival topics, that will be evaluated by the competitive jury and the best ones will be awarded. Workshops and professional panels related to the topics of the festival will be also organized.

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