Member Info for Looed

I wouldn't normally post this type of backslapping didn't-we-do-well type stuff about CV. I find it of interest as the site is run by the Govt, they are linking CV and investment opportunities and that the country will need to depend on ongoing fiscal support. It specifically highlights the importance of US financial support, some of which could now be under threat.

"International experts have praised Georgia’s fiscal policy during the pandemic, calling it ‘correct and prompt’, reports the government’s press office.

Global experts working on Georgia’s post-crisis economic plan have arrived in Georgia today.

They mentioned that the Georgian government’s steps towards supporting citizens affected by the pandemic, and businesses, are in line with the world’s best practice and are ‘significantly larger than the country’s resources’.

The experts have recommended Georgia continue its ongoing reforms and work on the development of even more effective mechanisms to support the private sector.

While discussing the existing taxes in Georgia, experts mentioned that the share of the country’s budget revenues in GDP is lower than in other countries, which once again illustrates that Georgia has low taxes.

With the financial support of USAID (United States Agency for International Development), the Georgian government continues working on the country’s medium and long-term economic recovery plans in cooperation with international experts.

In mid-June experts from Deloitte noted that Georgia has highly assessed the anti-crisis measures taken by the government of Georgia and its sectoral support, noting that the country has good opportunities to become a more attractive investment platform in the region.

https://agenda.ge/en/news/2020/2166

The translator has done a quick check and says the comments by Zaza and the other speaker are related to comments made speakers in the first half of the show, so we will translate the whole show.

Zaza has made a few appearances on this channel and at least 2 of our translations are from here.

https://www.facebook.com/107065540663565/videos/????-???????-?????????-?????/271993324056247/

I checked if Zaza is right to say more and more senators are joining. The bill 'only' has 11 sponsors (I don't know how many you need) but they are bi-partisan and many are recent sponsors -

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1461/cosponsors?r=2&s=1&searchResultViewType=expanded

A more detailed article on the previous short TV clip

Zaza Mamulashvili, director of Frontera, also speaks about the fact that more and more congressmen are joining the Georgian Business Environment Sanction Act every month. He said that for these reasons, the company is no longer able to invest in Georgia, which means that the Georgian Dream violates the terms of the agreement with the company.

The authorities prevent us from agreeing that the terms of the contract, which we agreed on in the free environment with the Georgian state a long time ago, do not allow us to operate under this contract and make investments. In general, the environment is very bad for American companies and investments like ours. In addition to this bill, which we talked about today, the Act of Sanctioning the Business Environment of Georgia, which is joined by more and more congressmen every month and supported by this act, seems to be growing, - says the president of "Frontera Incorporation".

http://m.guriismoambe.com/single.php?i=90839

Very short - less than a minute. I don't think its worth translating as wait for more substantial interviews.

Zaza Mamulashvili, director of Frontera, also speaks about the fact that more and more congressmen are joining the Georgian Business Environment Sanction Act every month. He said that for these reasons, the company is no longer able to invest in Georgia, which means that the Georgian Dream violates the terms of the agreement with the company.

https://mtavari.tv/news/9693-initsirebulia-biznes-garemos-sanktsirebis-aktits

Total spend so far is US$612.75 / GBP514.07

This covers translations #1 to #15

Lots of articles about the latest US move - this one has a reference to FRR (and is a variation on the earlier post by DomFok)

"I would like to calm down our opponents, the country won't bear any losses, despite such intensive and furious fight", - stated the Vice Speaker of the Parliament, MP Gia Volski in response to the bill of House of Representatives.
"Opposition deems it as victory. This is a lie of the opposition. While we are working on integration with NATO, on strengthening cooperation with the US, our opponents are working to damage our country, in order for the assistance and political support to be diminished. There is also the trace of "Frontera". The dispute between "Frontera" and Georgia has been reviewed under the Stockholm international arbitration and it's been established that "Frontera" isn't right. Naturally, it doesn't have anything to do with limiting the US investments, especially given the serious OPEC investment in Georgia that is being carried out now. In addition, there is a group of Congressman that is know to us, who drafted the bill which is to be discussed in the Committee, then to another Committee and eventually it should be signed by the whole Congress, this doesn't seem to be realistic. Therefore, I would like to calm down our opponents, the country won't bear any losses, despite such intensive and furious fight", - stated Volski.
For the record, the House of Representatives bill states that $132,025,000 financial assistance will be allocated for Georgia. However, the document notes that 15% of the funds may not be obligated if State Secretary doesn't determine and report that the Georgian government is meeting certain conditions which include: strengthening democratic institutions; combating corruption within the government; ensuring the rule of law in the private sector. The document also notes that he withholding of funds doesn't apply to programs that support "democracy, the rule of law, civil society and the media, or programs to reduce gender-based violence and to protect vulnerable populations".

https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/108284-gia-volksi-on-house-of-representatives-bill-opposition-deems-it-as-victory-our-opponents-are-working-to-damage-the-country

The US Congress proposed a 15% cut in aid to Georgia, which in 2021 should amount to more than 132 million dollars. Such statements have been sharply criticized by the Georgian opposition, the correspondent of VZGLYAD newspaper in Tbilisi reports.

A US congressional document says aid could be cut back if the State Department fails to provide an argument about Georgia’s effective policies to strengthen democratic institutions and fight corruption, as well as protect foreign investors.

A source of the newspaper VZGLYAD, close to the government of Georgia, noted that "this is only the initial version, the final document will go through a lot of approvals and statements before approval." He also expressed confidence that the State Department would confirm "the important steps of the Georgian government to strengthen democracy."

According to him, "the document shows the efforts of the lobbyists Frontera Resources and Conti Group, who lost their jobs in Georgia."

Meanwhile, the leader of the New Georgia opposition party, Georgy Vashadze, said that "the US is imposing sanctions on Georgia."

The chairman of the opposition Democratic Movement, ex-speaker of the parliament, Nino Burjanadze, said that "the document considered by Congress is a disastrous signal for the" Georgian Dream ". She stated that if the Georgian authorities did not hold free and transparent parliamentary elections in October, US cooperation with Georgia would be irreparably damaged.

Earlier, the US ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, did not rule out that Russia supposedly could interfere in the parliamentary elections in Georgia on October 31.

https://vz.ru/news/2020/7/7/1048736.html

Pt.2 (and final part)

For business media, this case, or the dispute between “Frontera Resources” and Georgia, became equivalent to Anaklia case in 2020. And these two things have only one thing in common - it's the affected side. And, as I told you, this victim is Georgia. On the one hand, against the background of a completely civilized and correct decision to defend their rights with the disputed investor, all this has returned to the country with unprecedented reputational damage. And against this background, the Georgian government is now ready to consider restoring the old business status quo for Frontera if it receives guarantees due to this pressure. But “Frontera” refuses. But here's my question - 13, 12, 7, or even your favorite 41, or 48, a congressman or senator will make a statement, a letter or a memo that the problem is over, Georgia is a successful country and it is an example for foreign investors. I have some doubts. I doubt it, because when and if there was anything to be said for Anaklia's consortium for any reason, for example, "Stop this business. I don’t have skill to do this.” Sit down and talk about peaceful and business separation. Instead, we got a pre-invented simple three-act soap opera to launder money, blaming systemic bank shareholders for disrupting Anaklia's project and terminating a contract, the prospect of which is also international, but with several lawsuits, with tens of millions of dollars invested perhaps with its penalties and obligations. This is how the themes of "Frontera" and Anaklia are like the twin brothers of Siam or you want like sisters, or brother and sister. They have ruined the reputation of our country. The reputation of local and foreign investors was also damaged, with which other foreign investors looked up to (Country's investment image and ongoing projects). The reputation of the country, which is much more valuable today than in any other mineral in this century, has been damaged. And, what was needed for that? Decisions and skills were needed and definitely communication with the opposing parties, in conditions of maximum publicity, and here the government has played a crucial role and will always have a responsibility as it is responsible for both the real situation and the action. And it doesn't matter who you're dealing with at the moment, Frontera, which has been in Georgia for more than two decades with constant delays. Anaklia project, which ended as it started. Long live the united Georgia with the traditional, first toast, may God be with us. We wanted it to be better, but it worked out as usual.

https://bm.ge/ka/video/fronteras-saqmis-peripetiebi/19240

(NOTE: We don't know who the speaker is. I asked the translator if he could tell if this was a politician, businessman etc from the way he spoke. He replied the "talking is strange". He explained almost all TV news is scripted but this guy talks in an off the cuff, and so unscripted way. Some of it is possibly meant to pass for humour.

Pt.1

"I would like to dedicate part of my introduction to the dispute between Frontera and the state. Ideally, I should have talked about the dispute in the past tense. However, the parties are really pushing their own measurements at the expense of the country's image, and so far I have not seen any profit in all this. Here, the loser, traditionally, is a country whose reputation, as always, is always taken care of at the very end, when all this is either too late, or in vain, or just too expensive, and therefore does not produce the desired result. After several letters, which was signed by several representatives of the United States Legislature, Minister of Economy received with great pleasure the Ambassador of the United States of America to Georgia and spoke about the prospects of “Frontera Resources” in Georgia, where according to the available information, the international arbitration dispute ended in favor of the Georgian government. To confirm this, the company "Frontera" states that the Ministry of Economy should stop ignoring the decision of the International Court of Arbitration. In short, despite the fact that the public is unable to see the decision of the Arbitration Court due to the relevant court reservations, the parties offered a drastic Latin drama on Georgian-Texas motifs, where the actors publicly interact with each other. The letters are sent to congress, senate, with Falcon on Mars with help of Elon Musk and perhaps a special UN session will be held, where they will ask “Frontera” and Georgian government to stop the argument and tell them that they are ready not to use the right of veto within the UN mandate. Let's be a little more serious now, I will tell you that the Georgian government is ready, despite the announced victory in the Arbitration Court. I quote Deputy Minister Tvalabeishvili - "Let's go through these issues with the company and try to find such a compromise that it is possible to continue working on certain conditions on the mins of the company “Frontera", of course, by receiving the appropriate guarantee from it. And, all of this after we’ve lost the count, the media and the business community in connection with the letters that none of them were accompanied by any kind of joy. As I told you, the fact is that against the backdrop of another high-profile dispute, when we don’t read what the court has decided, the victim is still known and he is in the face. A country called Georgia.

Thanks Coggy. He definitely had me worried. Was fearful my soon to be sent invoice for about 8 quid would go unpaid and I would be forced to eat cheap white rice, not the fancy fluffy stuff to which I am accustomed.

If you Google along the lines of "will CV affect my court case in SFO" it seems the courts are open to cases being delayed while they catch up with any existing backlog. I can't say that means an automatic yes for FRR, but it would seem their action align with the courts direction. A very non-legal opinion!

Hi Cheesie - can you expand on what you mean ? I don't think Puddy has been online for a while but haven't seen anyone comment about him ? I might be emailing him in the next couple of days once the new translation comes in.

"in that mode when reading your posts" - I suggest you take your own advice and re-read your own posts.

As for your patronising "calm down" - your emails elicit more of an eye roll than a rant or rage.

Lets leave it there shall we.

MadP - No withdrawal of your baseless accusations regarding the translator I see, all we get is a casebook diversion to Tom Sharp. And now my posts might also be fabrications ? Perhaps you should indulge in a little less Sharpe and a little more reality.

MadP - I get each translation in a file separated into 4 blocks - Speaker / time stamp per segment / Georgian / English. I than have to cut and paste and find a way to format it so it fits the number of characters each LSE message can hold. I also try to make it flow in a way that makes it easy to read and doesn't cut off mid segment. The sentence is repeated twice because I cut and pasted the end part of that post twice. It is a simple editing mistake and by me, not the translator.

You could have just asked "why the repeat sentence" - completely unnessessary to try and throw the translator under the bus while doing so.

MadP, I know its not the case, but wouldn't some GD plant do exactly what you are doing - sow seeds of doubt about our translator ?

Sometimes things really are simple and easy to explain.

MadP - many thanks - I could hardly find anything when I tried to search about POSTV. Zaza's comments now make a lot more sense.

Zaza seems to be talking about A startup cable channel POSTV -

"POSTV started broadcasting on November 25.

The company has a common broadcaster license and will be available throughout Georgia.

According to Shalva Ramishvili, socio-political programs will be aired on the TV company, including those that have been aired on Post TV.

"We have been on the air since November 25. This is common broadcasting. We have news, entertainment, analytical shows that were on Post TV - the form has changed, but the idea remains the same. This is a new vision of the current events, ”Shalva Ramishvili told us. Ramishvili did not answer the question about the number of employees and the budget.

The Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) decided on November 21 to authorize the general broadcasting of Postvi Ltd.

Temur Charelashvili is the CEO and 28% owner of Postvi Ltd; Nugzar Rukhadze is the director of public relations and owns 16% of the shares; Zviad Bliadze owns a 16% stake; Shalva Ramishvili owns 24%, Anna Shengelia and Vakhtang Komakhidze own 8% -8%."

https://publika.ge/postv-im-satelevizio-mauwyebloba-daiwyo/

Pt.4 (and final part)

Seth Char, Iconia LLC - To tell the American Congressmen that they are just lobbyists is a great irresponsibility and disrespect from the Georgian officials, which will not have a positive effect on Georgian-American relations. If Georgian officials talk about the fact that what the congressmen are saying is not true, then they should substantiate it with arguments and explain why they are mistaken. However, so far they have not done anything like that and are only limited to attacking the reputation of congressmen. This is bad diplomacy.

J2 - Markwayne Malin, one of the authors of the sanctions bill, says the United States is monitoring the ongoing democratic process in Georgia and the Georgian people's struggle for freedom. If the government does not follow the advice of friends, then the relationship between the partners will become much more difficult.

https://mtavari.tv/news/9192-ivanishvilisa-putinis-sakhipato-kavshirebi-morigi

Pt.3

Goirgi Vashadze, Opposition Leader - No one has the right, especially the chairman of the Georgian Foreign Ministry, to accuse any congressman of lobbying. This negative attitude must be urgently terminated because disaster strikes. We entered into a conflict with literally our main ally. This is the result of the diplomacy of the “Georgian Dream”.

Giga Brokeri, Opposition Leader - All this is, in general, a message about how concerned Georgia's strategic friends are pragmatically and based on the values of where Ivanishvili is leading the country, how he has put a dead end in all directions. Democracy, security, economic cooperation, selective justice, political prisoners - the whole range of problems.

J2 - In her letter, Markayne Mullin traditionally devotes much of his time to the harassment of American businesses, citing the example of “Frontera”, “Georgian Manganese” and “Iconia Capital”, where the Georgian government is threatening to shut down these companies and expel them from the country. Against this background, as the head of "Frontera Risours" tells us, the government is providing incorrect statistics on American investments to the Georgian Ambassador to the United States. Zaza Mamulaishvili also tells us about scandalous news.

Zaza - The Georgian Economy Minister meets with the US Ambassador and tells him that US investment has increased by 34% in the first quarter, and if you look at which companies the Minister says this is a Georgian, Russian, Iranian-owned capital. Georgian companies and not American ones, which is claimed by our minister. And, from one such company you may have been familiar with, POSTV. So Mr. Ramishvili is an American investor in the country. And, from one such company, you may have been well acquainted with it, is POSTV. So Mr. Ramishvili is an American investor in the country.