Member Info for Madpunter

Posted by Looed on the 12th July :-

RE: Article - "This is a signal to Georgia," said Kurt Walker, the former US ambassador to NATO
Thanks DomFok, that's an usually long and detailed article from the Georgian press.

This is the last part of the article which has a nice summary of the main Parties statements -

Pt.1

After the adoption of the bill, assessments were made both in the "Georgian Dream" and in the opposition.

According to the Prime Minister, Giorgi Gakharia, the decision of the committee "is not pleasant" and this issue is "noteworthy."

He also said that "internal political tensions are going on outside", "there were so many cases" and it is "an attempt to involve international partners in the domestic political context in the pre-election period."

According to Kakha Kuchava, the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, “the fact that such a record is wanted by the opposition forces, which through their lobbyists are trying to make it happen, is detrimental to the country.

"We are gradually following exactly what we have been saying and are saying - around November, a little earlier or a little later, in January-February, the final vote and approval of this law may move, so the time is very long and speculation that something is sanctioned today and The decision has already been made, not only is it wrong, but it is an attempt to provide misinformation to the population and a lie. "We still understand today that sanctions have been imposed on us - no sanctions have been imposed," Kuchava said.

Earlier, his teammate and first deputy speaker of parliament, George Wolski, had said that [the bill] "should be considered first in a committee, then in other committees, and then approved by Congress as a whole, which has virtually no prospect."

According to Giorgi Kandelaki, one of the leaders of "European Georgia", "Dream" should ring alarm bells:

Alarm bells should ring in "Georgian Dream". This is already a big problem for our country. The main point in these few points is the 5th point, which deals with oligarchic rule. "The notion that has been so prevalent in Washington that oligarchic, informal governance, that is, when real power is in the hands of a person who does not hold any formal position, is a bad idea, not just a common one, but a legislative one." , - says Kandelaki.

Salome Samadashvili, a member of the United National Movement, says that "the Ivanishvili regime has dealt an irreparable blow to relations with the United States in the last months of its rule."

Posted by Looed on the 12th July :-

Pt.2

Congressman Mullin’s attempt to undermine the broad support Georgia enjoys from the United States on the basis of an unrelated commercial dispute is mystifying. The company he champions, Frontera Resources, lost a unanimous legal arbitration decision against Georgia at The Hague in April. That should have been the end of the dispute. Georgia had announced well before the verdict that it would abide by The International Tribunal’s ruling, whatever it might be. Frontera Resources apparently decided otherwise.

Perhaps that’s not surprising, since Frontera has been accused of “exploiting” Georgia’s oil and gas resources – even failing to pay its Georgian workers leaving hundreds of people without paychecks during the pandemic.

Mullin cites two other companies successfully doing business in Georgia who actually won their legal appeals in Georgian courts a few years back. More than 300 American companies currently are doing business in Georgia, and the number is increasing because Georgia is an attractive business destination.

The facts about Georgia’s open and market-driven economy belie the congressman’s arguments. Virtually every economic index ranks Georgia among the world’s best performers, citing its low taxes, legal transparency and absence of corruption. The World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” rankings place Georgia 7th in the world. The Heritage Foundation’s Economic Freedom Index ranks Georgia the 12th freest economy in the world, making it the only developing country among the top 20 performers. This is hardly the business environment Mullin describes.

It is regrettable that a commercial dispute is somehow conflated into the notion that the geo-political balance in the Black Sea region is shifting, especially coming from a U.S. congressman. Georgia has been America’s stalwart ally in this region. This will not change.

We encourage all members of Congress to visit Georgia; meet with our business leaders; take a trip to the front lines of the Russian-occupied territories; and engage firsthand with the U.S. soldiers who train our forces. You won’t recognize the Georgia described by Congressman Mullin.

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/506889-georgia-strengthens-democracy-moves-closer-to-nato-with-us

Posted by Looed on the 12th July :-

New article from "The Hill" - this time from GD point of view
Last week we had a pro-FRR piece from Sen. Mullin - this time it is the "chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament of Georgia."

Pt.1

"Georgia strengthens democracy, moves closer to NATO with US support

Last month, the Georgian Parliament adopted historic constitutional amendments, followed by new electoral reforms, further strengthening our young democracy ahead of free, fair, and representative elections this fall. These constitutional reforms were proposed by the Georgian Dream government – and applauded by virtually everyone else. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and the State Department sent strong statements of support.

The adoption of these vital measures, brokered and encouraged by the U.S. and the EU, marks another important step to ensure a European and Euro-Atlantic future for our country. Under the leadership of the former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and chair of the Georgian Dream political party, Georgia has moved ever closer to America and Europe.

The Georgian government works closely with the United States to strengthen Georgia’s readiness and defense capabilities in the face of Russian aggression; to counter cyberattacks aimed at disrupting our elections; and force a withdrawal of Russian forces from our occupied territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region. Since the 2008 invasion, Russia occupies 20 percent of our territories, with thousands of Russian troops stationed 40 miles away from our capital.

Yet you wouldn’t know Georgia stands shoulder-to-shoulder with America and its allies – fighting global terrorism, daily standing up to Russian aggression – from Rep. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) unfounded characterizations about my country that appeared in The Hill.

Since the early days of campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, tens of thousands of Georgian servicemen and women have fought side-by-side with their American brothers-in-arms on American-led NATO missions fighting terrorism.

Georgia is resolutely focused on its embrace of the West. The facts speak for themselves: The Georgian Dream initiated an amendment to the constitution enshrining our Western integration. It successfully delivered a historic Association Agreement, DCFTA, and visa free travel with the EU. Georgia proudly signed the Memorandum on Deepening the Defense and Security Partnership with the U.S. in 2016 and the Georgia Defense Readiness Program in 2017 bringing our bilateral military cooperation to its highest level.

We aggressively aspire to full NATO membership, supported staunchly by the American government. We are one of a small handful of NATO allies that consistently invests 2 percent of its GDP in defense; we participate in more joint training exercises than ever with U.S. forces, and we host a number of new NATO facilities.

Posted by DomFok on the 11th July :-

Article - "This is a signal to Georgia," said Kurt Walker, the former US ambassador to NATO
Long article goes in detail about the recent USA Georgia bill - Here’s an interesting bit

According to Kurt Walker, former US Ambassador to NATO, Georgia should take into account:

"Somehow, this is a signal for Georgia. This does not mean that the majority of the members of the Chamber or the Senate agree with this, but the fact that someone is putting these issues in the forefront should be taken into account by Georgia, "he told Netgazeti.

He said the March 8 agreement had not yet been reached at the start of work on the bill, and the reservation was due to several factors:

"In my opinion, it is important that work on this bill in the House of Representatives begins before Georgia adopts the constitutional amendments that have ensured the growth of proportional representation in parliament. The March 8 agreement, reached between the opposition and the government with the help of American and European diplomats, was not implemented and there was a sense that there should be an emphasis on the importance of making these changes. Then, changes were made, and I think the concern for Georgian democracy in the United States has diminished.

There is also an American company that believes that they have been mistreated in Georgia. It's a big story, it has two sides to it, and because it's an American company, they have the opportunity to call on congressmen to be their representatives, "Walker told us.
He also adds:

"The second factor is the perception of Georgia for foreign investors. I mentioned the case of Frontera, but there is a long history here and more than a foreign investor. "But if you look at other things, like yesterday's events in the Georgian parliament, about whether the government will play a bigger role in telecommunications, that's what is bothering investors and pushing Western governments to act."

https://netgazeti.ge/news/466650/

Posted by Jonathansxx on the 11th July :-

G.D controlling the media.
G.D are tightening the screw before the election by trying to rush through 2 bills to restrict control of electronic media.
"Gia Jokhtaberidze, a shareholder of Magti, criticized Kakha Bekauri, the head of the Communications Commission, during a committee discussion on July 10 over draft laws initiated by the government. Bekauri came to the parliament to talk about the mentioned legislative changes.

Under the bill, the amendment will include a law on electronic communications, and the communications commission will be allowed to appoint an interim manager in an authorized communications company [for example, an Internet provider] for a maximum of 2 years if it considers that existing managers endanger citizens' interests.

"The point is, you want to rush through a hidden virtual enemy so that he does not dare to do anything. By doing so you want to enforce this law. It is not so. This law is more important. Another issue: Georgia has agreements with the civilized world, the Western world, the United States, on the protection of business, "- Gia Jokhtaberidze addressed Kakha Bekauri.

The shareholder of Magti reminded the Chairman of the Communications Commission of the international obligations he has undertaken to protect the business of Georgia.

You take into account the circumstance that when an American company bought a license here and then you make some law and say, "Ah, I can make you a mother guitar." Can you imagine how he would react? Then let's say Congress is not good, it is not good, it is bad, it is a good deputy, it is lobbied and so on.

You know that lobbying has nothing to do with the issues that have been raised. Do you know what it is? During all the time you have been the chairman, two transatlantic companies have left Georgia and left us. As you behave, that's how we got it. Do you know why we got this result? "People do not want to invest in Georgia anymore," Gia Jokhtaberidze said."

The previous post was posted on the 11th July and not the 10th July.

Posted by toatie on the 11th July :-

Part 2
David, as a fellow Georgiaphile as yourself and investor in the country, I find the best way toward restoring faith in the country's business environment is to point out serious problems where they exist, and encourage positive change from the government in general and individual political officials. However, how are we doing a service to our fellow entrepreneurs from the West, if we impress upon them a false reality of the actual situation on the ground? If anything, you are potentially setting up your clients for years of disastrous experiences and financial losses.

Only by actually reporting what is reality and what is not, and by actually representing what the real problems are, can we hope for a brighter economic future for Georgia. If we're not willing to do that, we are not being honest with ourselves, nor to our investor clients, nor to the country of Georgia itself.

Just my two cents.

Seth Char
CEO, Iconia Capital LLC

Posted by toatie on the 10th July :-

Seth CharApril 18, 2019 at 5:09 PM
I have to respectfully and strongly disagree with David. The business climate for foreign investors, including Americans and Europeans, has never been worse in Georgia.

First of all, if the business environment was so great in Georgia, why is a record number of investors - which include American (such as ours, Iconia Capital LLC), European, and Canadian companies, suing the government for violations in international arbitration tribunals and/or international courts? The level of arbitration activity against Georgia for investment treaty violations is off the scale, at numbers even higher per capita than under the previous administration, which is odd given the sharp decline in FDI in present day compared to the past.

Second of all, let's talk about a problematic and massive decline in foreign direct investment (FDI). According to the National Statistics Office of Georgia, there was a massive decline of foreign investment in Georgia - a staggering drop of 35% in 2018 as compared to the previous year. Further, Q4 2018 marked the lowest investment figure since Q1 2010 - an alarming eight year low. (SOURCE: https://factcheck.ge/en/story/38031-we-are-not-facing-a-trend-nor-a-dynamic-of-decreasing-foreign-investments)

If Georgia was an investor's utopia, why are so many investors here closing their businesses, electing not to continue their operations, and fleeing the country? Why are new investors so hesitant to commit significant resources and funds to new projects?

If the investment environment in Georgia was so positive, why did the U.S. House of Representatives introduce not one, but TWO international sanctions bills (2017 and 2019) targeting the Georgian government and individual political officers, in response to massive and widespread complaints by American companies being attacked and harassed by corrupt court and government elements? (House Resolution 1461; Source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1461/text?q={%22search%22%3A[%22Georgian%22]}&r=1&s=1)

Last but not least, your personal criticism of the subject of this interview is questionable. Fady Asly has gone on the record for years in pointing out mistakes from the authorities that have harmed business across three different administrations (Shevardnadze, UNM, Georgian Dream). One doing a simple Google search will even pull up media appearances showing Mr. Asly praising the efforts of former Prime Minister Kvirikashvili in the latter's attempts to clean up the system and protect innocent investors and their businesses. Going a bit deeper into the rabbit hole, you will also find Fady Asly being a harsh critic of the previous administration, if and when they stepped out of line with regards to fair and equitable treatment of the business community.

Posted by Looed on the 11th July :-

Old but interesting article
This is from April last year so I will only post a very small section - it could almost have been written today. I mention it as its an interesting read if you have a few spare minutes - and it includes a detailed response from Seth Char of Iconia Capital (in the comments section)

The main speaker is Fady ASLY, Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce

"Unfortunately, foreign direct investment [FDI] is stalling; the stories of many investors who were defrauded, harassed and prohibited from completing their investments are circulating all over the world now. It takes one failure to destroy one hundred success stories; but when you have hundred failures and no success stories the problem becomes huge and unsolvable.

Unfortunately Georgia has lost its attractiveness for foreign investors; we have to keep in mind that Georgia has to compete for foreign investment with more than 120 emerging countries! Why would anyone come to Georgia and deal with harassment, pressure, lethargy of the authorities, and corruption in the judiciary, when they can go to more attractive destinations with better terms and investment conditions?"

https://english.caucasianjournal.org/2019/04/fady-asly-of-icc-georgia-unfortunately.html

Posted by Looed on the 11th July :-

Pt.3

“Many in Congress still remain not fully comfortable with Georgian Dream and Ivanishvili in particular. Frontera has helped push that, but so too has the Georgian opposition, which remains close to many on Capitol Hill,” Stronski told Eurasianet.

Stronski added that the issues that Georgia faces now parallel those of a decade ago, when the government and then-president Mikheil Saakashvili were becoming increasingly authoritarian before being ousted by Georgian Dream.

“Georgia is held to a higher standard than most, given its track record of reform and democratic progress. It has been a recipient of a tremendous amount of assistance over the years, but seems stuck in an endless cycle of democratic promise, then backtracking,” Stronski added. “Events over the past year certainly have amplified existing concerns about Georgian Dream and Ivanishvili's non-transparent and oversized influence in the country.”

It would be a mistake for the Georgian government to minimize the warnings from the U.S. as the result of a few lobbyists, said Kornely Kakachia, director of the Tbilisi think tank Georgian Institute of Politics.

“This is giving them [the government] some food for thought, and it’s clear that the pressure is not going to stop, but will only increase, so the government sooner or later needs to get engaged on this because Georgia cannot afford a row with the United States,” Kakachia told Eurasianet. “It is essential for Georgia to keep a bipartisan consensus in Congress, which seems like it is crumbling now,” he said.

“One thing that is clear is that Georgia’s status as a frontrunner in terms of reforms has been shattered, and it’s unlikely that the government can change this narrative,” Kakachia said.

https://eurasianet.org/threat-of-conditions-on-us-aid-roils-georgia

Posted by Looed on the 11th July :-

Pt.2

Support from Washington is vital for Georgia, which sees the U.S. as its patron and protector against its overbearing neighbor, Russia. The news from Congress was interpreted in Tbilisi in sharply partisan terms, with the ruling party and opposition each blaming the other. The opposition seized on the threat as evidence that the ruling party is losing the U.S.’s trust, with the government countering that it is the opposition itself that is deliberately blackening Georgia’s name in Washington.

“In Washington, the capital of our strategic partner, there is already a well-established opinion that Ivanishvili’s rule runs counter to both Georgian and American interests,” Giorgi Kandelaki, a member of the opposition European Georgia party, told reporters. (Bidzina Ivanishvili is the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party.)

“I don’t remember a [U.S.] threat to freeze aid since the time of [former president Eduard] Shevardnadze. There are indeed lots of similarities between the Shevardnadze period and Ivanishvili’s rule,” Kandelaki said.

Members of Georgian Dream, however, played down the threat of the aid blockage, while also blaming the opposition. “This is an opinion of one group, which has to go through one committee, then another committee, then go to the full session,” Gia Volski, the deputy speaker of parliament, told the local Radio Maestro. Volski said the opposition has been trying to monopolize relations with the U.S. and make the strategic partnership with Washington into a partisan issue. “Such destructive actions are unheard of and it is unfortunate to see this happening in Georgia,” he said.

Ruling party officials also have blamed Frontera, a U.S. oil company, for campaigning against the Georgian government in Washington.

Frontera lost an international arbitration case in April after failing to fulfill its contract with the Georgian government and not paying workers for months. Several members of Congress (in particular, ones who have taken campaign contributions from the company) have responded by undertaking a campaign to portray the Georgian Dream-led government as a Russian puppet, and they have been cheered on by many Georgian opposition figures.

“Everyone needs to understand that this is just one group that believes that the issue of Frontera is of special importance and they don’t care that they [Frontera] failed to meet their contract with the state [of Georgia], left many people without jobs and pay,” Volski said.

In Washington, though, the issues are bigger than Frontera alone, said Paul Stronski, a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington, DC, think tank.

Posted by Looed on the 11th July :-

Another article on sanctions and FRR
Pt.1

Threat of conditions on U.S. aid roils Georgia

A United States congressional committee has proposed blocking some aid to Georgia unless Tbilisi takes measures to “strengthen democratic institutions,” do more to fight corruption, and protect foreign businesses operating in the country. The threat is perhaps the most vivid evidence yet of a growing lack of trust between the U.S. and Georgia, long Washington’s closest partner in the region.

On July 9, the House Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill that would give Georgia $132 million from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development – more than the aid packages for the rest of the Caucasus and Central Asia put together.

But the committee bill included a condition on the aid, mandating that some of the money be withheld unless the Secretary of State certifies to Congress that Georgia has fulfilled three conditions: that it is taking “effective steps” to “strengthen democratic institutions,” “combat corruption within the government,” and “ensure the rule of law in the private sector is consistent with internationally recognized standards, including protecting the rights of foreign businesses to operate free from harassment and to fully realize all due commercial and financial benefits resulting from investments made in Georgia.”

The bill would withhold 15 percent of the money except for programs aimed at promoting “democracy, the rule of law, civil society and the media, or programs to reduce gender-based violence and to protect vulnerable populations.”

The aid bill still has many hurdles to overcome before it becomes law, and the condition seems likely to be removed at some point before the legislation is adopted. Even if it isn’t, the bill as it is now allows the Secretary of State to waive the 15 percent deduction if it is “important to the national interest of the United States.” Similar waivers have allowed the U.S. to continue to provide aid to countries like Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan in spite of congressional attempts to block it.

Nevertheless, the threat represents a shot across the bow from Washington, where policymakers have watched in dismay over the past year as the Georgian government has violently cracked down on protests, reneged on a key electoral reform promise (before agreeing to it months later), and engendered suspicions about the independence of the judicial system.

"There is definitely a shift in Congress, with more concerns being raised among members on rule of law and corruption issues in Georgia," one congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Eurasianet. "It’s best to view it as a signal that Congress is looking for action from Georgia, which it still considers a friend, to strengthen institutions and combat corruption."

Posted by Looed on the 11th July :-

Pt.2
The US decision to reduce funding for Georgia is directly related to poor governance on the part of the ruling Georgian Dream Party and its leader, the shadow ruler of the country, oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili.
A 2019 study by Trace International revealed that over the past three years, the risk of business bribery in Georgia has increased by three percentage points. The prospect of containing this corruption is one of the biggest risk factors in the country, the study reports.

A similar conclusion was conducted in 2019 by the Economic Freedom Index of the Heritage Foundation. Despite successes in the fight against petty corruption, high-level corruption by government officials still remains a problem in Georgia.

High-level corruption in Georgia was also mentioned as an urgent problem in the European Parliament’s 2018 resolution.

No help from the US to those who violate the territorial integrity of other countries

The bill also says that the United States will refuse to help the governments of those countries of the former Soviet Union that “commit any actions that violate the principle of territorial integrity of other countries in the post-Soviet territory.”

In Georgia’s case, this applies to both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. These territories declared their independence from Georgia and are recognized as independent by Russia and several third world countries. Georgia and most of the international community insist that they remain part of Georgia.

https://jam-news.net/us-to-withhold-15-percent-of-georgias-aid-unless-anti-corruption-conditions-are-met/

Posted by Looed on the 11th July :-

Article linking the Sanctions Bill and FRR
Pt.1

US House committee approves bill that will withhold 15% of $135 mln in aid to Georgia

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has passed a bill that will withhold 15% of $135 million in aid to Georgia in 2021 as, the authors of the bill argue, the Georgian government is not taking sufficient measures to combat internal corruption and ensure the independence of the judiciary.

The Georgian authorities, however, consider this decision to be the result of lobbying in Washington by the opposition.

The same assumptions are made about Frontera, an American investment company operating in Georgia which has long accused the Georgian government of discriminating against US investments.

The House Appropriations Committee’s approval of the bill is only an interim decision. The final vote will be held in congress in August 2020.

If the bill is approved, Georgia will receive approximately $20,000,000 less than the total planned aid of $132,025,000.

Georgia turning away from the West? US legislators claim foul play against US business in Georgia

US oil exploration company Frontera accuses Georgia of ‘anti-Americanism’

What does the US government think is wrong with the administration in Georgia?

In a document published by the US Congress, representatives urge the Georgian government to turn its attention to the following issues:

Strengthening democratic institutions, including the independence of the judiciary, accountability and transparency of government activities, including free access to public information.

Protecting the rights of civil society, political opposition parties, and independent media.

Redoubling efforts against corruption in the government, including the implementation of anti-corruption laws.

Ensuring adherence to the rule of law in the private sector in accordance with internationally recognized standards, including protecting the rights of foreign business and preventing foreign businesses from being prosecuted.

If these conditions are met, the Georgian government will receive the full amount of funding.

However, funding to civil society will still be paid in full

The bill clarifies that this suspension of funding does not apply to programs that support “democracy, the rule of law, civil society, media, or programs aimed at reducing gender-based violence and protecting vulnerable groups.”

“There have been no reforms for years” – non-governmental organizations urge authorities to change their approach immediately

A group of non-governmental organizations note that no significant reforms have been made in Georgia over the past few years, and that the fight against corruption is dwindling every year.

Posted by toatie on the 10th July :-

Part 3
‘Coming from Texas, Frontera Resources has been drilling in Georgia for years and years and years. They’ve created great jobs in America, great jobs in Georgia. They’ve created freedom. That was, until the government took over all their operations, all the equipment. Now they are drilling zero wells in Georgia’, said Olson.
According to Opensecrets.org, a nonprofit research group tracking money in US politics, since 1998, Frontera affiliates have spent more than half a million dollars on lobbying.

All three republican representatives who spoke in Frontera’s defence have received donations from the company, as accounted by opensecrets.org.

In 2017, US representative Steve Russell introduced a bill that would require the US to determine whether the Georgian Government was undermining any commitments or contracts with US citizens doing business in Georgia,

The bill ‘calls for sanctions including visa refusals for current or former Georgian government officials engaged in such activities. The bill is mostly a warning and will probably never be voted upon by the US House of Representatives’, Ifact.ge, a Georgian investigative outlet reported in 2018.

Russell has also received a donation from Frontera Resources, according to opensecrets.org.

Posted by toatie on the 10th July :-

Part 2
A Frontera well in Eastern Georgia's Kakheti Region. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
Despite owning 50% of Frontera’s local operations, Frontera Eastern Georgia, the state-run Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation said they were unable to intervene.
In February 2020, the director of the corporation, Goga Tatishvilii, told Radio Tavisupleba that the company fired up to 90 employees following the strike.

The president of Frontera Resources, Zaza Mamulashvili, told Radio Tavisupleba this was not true that the company owed only several months’ salary to its employees.

‘Their people were encouraged by the Ministry of Economy and by Mr Tatishvili. We don’t even know most of these people who appear on TV and pose some demands. Several of them are our employees’, said Mamulashvili.

‘A while ago, some of them on their own, others by our demand, left our company. They don’t work for us. How can they be on strike?’

Frontera’s lobbyists in US Congress
Georgia has accused Frontera of violating the terms of their contract by refusing to return to the state land they were no longer using for extraction.

In January 2018, Georgia filed an appeal against Frontera at the International Arbitration Tribunal. Frontera responded with a counterclaim, claiming $3.5 billion in damages.

In April 2020, the government claimed that the tribunal had upheld ‘the vast majority’ of their claims.

Frontera has disputed this and insisted they are pleased with the tribunal results, which are not public.

Since then, the government has threatened to terminate their contract with Frontera, although they later took a more conciliatory approach.

The dispute has led to a number of highly critical comments from US legislators aimed at the government and the ruling Georgian Dream party.

In January 2020, several US legislators sent letters to Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia accusing the Georgian Government of ‘aggressive actions against US companies’.

‘For the first time in Georgia’s modern history, your country has been cast in a negative and cautionary light with respect to appropriation from the US Government’, Republican representative Markwayne Mullin wrote on 17 January.

‘The result is that foreign direct investment in Georgia is on the decline because US and European business interests have been subjected to harassment and expropriation attacks. The oil and gas company from Houston, Texas, Frontera Resources, is a notable example of this’, the letter said.

In another letter, republican representative Brian Babin wrote that members of the congress were concerned about ‘notable increasing negative trend in Georgia’s democratic and free-market economic indicators’.

He reiterated Mullin’s concerns over Frontera Resources.

Speaking in the house of representatives in January, Pete Olson criticised the Georgian government and defended Frontera.

Posted by toatie on the 10th July :-

just found this load of *******s,
Support Us
Frontera employee reportedly takes own life after ‘not being paid for 14 months’
10 July 2020
By OC Media

Avtandil Onanashvili. Photo via Facebook.
An employee of American oil and gas firm Frontera Resources has taken his own life in Georgia after not being paid for 14 months, the head of the Georgian Trade Union Federation has said.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Irakli Petriashvili wrote that 53-year-old Avto Onanashvili’s family had ‘collapsed’ after the Frontera worker was left without an income.

Petriashvili also pointed the finger at US congressional lobbyists.

Since January, several high-profile US congresspeople have made statements criticising the state of democracy in Georgia and tying their criticism to the ongoing dispute between the Georgian government and Frontera,

Another employee of Frontera, Vazhura Tsiklauri, told OC Media that he and Onanashvili had worked side-by-side as firefighters for the company for the past 22 years.

An oil well on the Mirzaani field. Photo: Frontera.
He said they had both signed 25-year contracts with Frontera when it first started operating in Georgia in 1997.

Tsiklauri said that both he and Onanashvili had not been paid for 14 months.

Petriashvili told OC Media that Onanashvili was ‘pushed to suicide’

‘We continue living in a system of wild capitalism, in which a company can avoid taxes and even withhold workers’ salaries earned through hard labour’, he said.

Petriashvili said that for the case to affect the ongoing debates around labour rights in Georgia, everything depended on public involvement.

‘The rights that exist in developed Western societies today have been achieved through years of struggle. Everything depends on the public, the media so that the state steps up and ensures that businesses take on their responsibilities.’

Frontera was not immediately available for comment.

A long-standing labour dispute
Local trade unions have long accused Frontera of not paying its employees.

In December 2019, several dozen employees went on strike claiming the company owed them 11 months of pay.

One of the striking employees, Shota Moseshvili, told Netgazeti in December that management had repeatedly promised that they would receive their salaries but that they never did.

‘We stopped working several times, but they were always promising that they’d pay us. They were asking us to be understanding, and that an investor would come in with a 70 million investment. They said everything would be alright and that’s why the process was taking so long’, said Moseshvili.

‘Eventually, we decided to stop because the company had oil and they weren’t giving us salaries.’

Posted by Arnie26 on the 10th July :-

Hope someone’s covering your 6 Zaza
I promise, in October I will be holding your hands during Ivanishvili’s defeat and Georgia’s victory - Mikheil Saakashvili
09-07-2020 17:27 51

I promise, in October I will be holding your hands during Ivanishvili’s defeat and Georgia’s victory. Such a statement made today the former President of Georgia.

“Ivanishvili restored the criminal environment of the 90s. His son, Bera, who is a friend of a “thief-in-law” and his son Katsro, formed a criminal gang that kills young people. Ivanishvili’s brother and his business partners have also formed a group of criminalized athletes and bandits, who terrorize businesses and intimidate political opponents.

Dear friends, we have no government. The Georgian government is completely illegitimate. I do not recognize its legitimacy and I do not recognize the legitimacy of this situation.

The U.S. Congress imposed sanctions on Georgia for the first time since our independence. We had always been the major recipient of U.S. assistance in the world. We had been an exemplary country and now Ivanishvili has embarrassed our country all over the world.

My fight will be decisive and I will be at the forefront. I promise, in October I will be holding your hands during Ivanishvili’s defeat and Georgia’s victory. This lawlessness, illegitimacy must be over. They are a gang of bandits. They are Georgia’s enemies, traitors, and, of course, they are controlled by a foreign power”, - concluded Mikheil Saakashvili.

Posted by Looed on the 10th July :-

This is what Wiki says about the committee that just passed the Bill -

"The bills passed by the Appropriations Committee regulate expenditures of money by the government of the United States. As such, it is one of the most powerful of the committees, and its members are seen as influential."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Appropriations

Posted by Looed on the 10th July :-

Political parties and financing
Short version - its all a bit murky.

Only 13 of the 19 political parties received private donations. More specifically, the political parties received a total of GEL 8 362 581 from 450 individuals and 26 legal entities, of which GEL 7 036 166 (84% of all donations) went to the ruling Georgian Dream party. The Lelo Movement was second with GEL 520 000 and the European Georgia was third with GEL 289 982. The data show that the private donations received by the Georgian Dream are about 14 times higher than the donations of the second-ranked Lelo and five times higher than the donations received by all 18 other political parties;

From January 1, 2019 to May 1, 2020, nine legal entities donating Georgian Dream and 15 companies related to individual donors (who donated a total of GEL 1 745 000) got simplified public procurement contracts amounting to GEL 15 750 924. During the same period, they also won public tenders of GEL 126 092 739.

Over the years, several major groups have been formed among the ruling party's donors, contributing large sums of money to the Georgian Dream in almost every election. All such groups have a common story when a large part of its members donate money to the ruling party on the same day or 1-2 days apart. It raises some doubts about whether such collective action is organized in advance by someone. Georgian legislation prohibits third-party donations, so the SAO should be interested in such suspicious circumstances.

Full article here - https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/108312-ti-georgia-georgian-dream-alliance-of-patriots-and-european-georgia-enjoy-the-biggest-revenues/

And the full report is here - https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://transparency.ge/sites/default/files/georgias_political_finance_in_2019_0.pdf

There are many interesting articles on corruption, political parties etc on the main site - https://transparency.ge/en

Congressional Committee approves document containing 15% of US aid to Georgia
The Committee on the Associations of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress has approved a bill that will also talk about funding Georgia. The bill was supported by 29 lawmakers, against 21.

According to the document, Georgia will receive more than $ 132 million in aid in 2021, and 15% of aid may be suspended until the Secretary of State submits a report to the State Committee that the Georgian government is taking effective steps to strengthen democratic institutions, fight corruption and the rule of law in the private sector. In terms of the protection of the supremacy, including the rights of foreign business.

https://rustavi2.ge/ka/news/169809

Posted by Looed on the 10th July :-

More statements on the sanctions bill
"Mikheil Saakashvili: I promise I will be holding your hands during Ivanishvili's defeat and Georgia's victory in October"

"The U.S. Congress has imposed sanctions on us for the first time since our independence. We had always been the major recipient of American assistance in the world. We had been an exemplary country and now Ivanishvili has embarrassed our country all over the world,” Saakashvili said"

Full article here - https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/108316-mikheil-saakashvili-i-promise-i-will-be-holding-your-hands-during-ivanishvilis-defeat-and-georgias-victory-in-october

"Salome Samadashvili: This is a message scrupulously written in Washington and intended for the Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili"

"As Samadashvili told reporters, it is noteworthy that Congress considered it necessary to explain in detail what the issues of democracy and the rule of law mean."

Full article here - https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/108314-salome-samadashvili-this-is-a-message-scrupulously-written-in-washington-and-intended-for-the-georgian-dream-and-bidzina-ivanishvili

And for the Govt 'Much Ado About Nothing' point of view -

"Gia Volski: It is a lie that Congress made that decision. It is only a bill"

"One group has submitted this resolution to Congress, but it is a lie that Congress has already made a decision. It is only a bill, there have been such bills referring to oligarchic governance earlier too, but nothing has been proved."

https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/108313-gia-volski-it-is-a-lie-that-congress-made-that-decision-it-is-only-a-bill