Press Digest 08.12.2014
GEL exchange rate will be stabilized but it is unlikely to return to what it was – Irakli Lekvinadze
Much more is still to come – experts don’t rule out the Prime Minister’s resignation
Facts released at Buta Robakidze’s trial
*** GEL exchange rate will be stabilized but it is unlikely to return to what it was – Irakli Lekvinadze
"Last week, our national currency was faced with really alarming problems and this has triggered a massive backlash from our public. Information vacuum in which our people have been kept has also added fuel to the fire and seriously aggravated the situation. The government has failed to pass urgent information onto their people and an entirely unexpected and steep drop in the GEL value clearly frightened them,” declares expert Irakli Lekvinadze in his interview with the Kviris Palitra gazette.
“Internal as well as external issues have caused the present situation in the country and have resulted in the depreciation of our national currency. As far as I can see, the value of the GEL is expected to remain unstable for a certain period of time; later it will be stable but it is unlikely to return to what it was. Currency Exchange Booth owners have shown flagrant irresponsibility by contributing to an artificial devaluation of the GEL. These people are simply on the make and they are now trying to fill their pockets with as much cash as possible. As I have already mentioned, several factors have resulted in a drastic drop in the GEL value, and all economic agencies, starting with the National Bank and ending with different ministries, are to assume the liability over the current situation in Georgia,” maintains Mr. Lekvanadze.
“Generally, the structure of the balance of payments with its constituent elements is what determines the currency rates. Naturally, external factors, and first of all, the U.S. dollar’s strengthening, play a significant role in this process. In addition, when it comes to this issue, the ongoing developments in Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are apparently worth taking into account. A deficit in the USD in the aforementioned countries has obviously negatively impacted their key trading allies,” states the respondent.
“Plus, the current status quo in Russia has resulted in a decrease of cash flow to Georgia. As you know, the largest flow of such funds has been channeled to Georgia from Russia – out of a billion and half USD, our country received around 800 million dollars from Russia.
Let’s now move onto internal factors. In relation to this issue, we, first of all, must stress that investment activity is not inclined to increase in Georgia because of some reasons such as a rather tensed situation in the country, the problem of breakaway regions and pending threats from Russia. Due to all these factors, the investors’ interests in our country obviously cannot be kept on the boil. Some decisions by the government, including moratoriums on land, stiffened visa-regulations etcetera as well as their inaptitude to make rational decisions have also scared investors away from Georgia,” claims the expert.
"On top of that, the number of our products shipped abroad has also ratcheted down and this has apparently resulted in a decreased flow of foreign currency into Georgia. In addition, the flow of tourists has also decreased, not to mention that the demand on the USD has alarmingly gone up recently. Panic that has gripped the Georgian people has made an outstandingly bad situation even worse, and all this has finally resulted in a drastic drop in the value of lari,” concludes expert Irakli Lekvinadze.
Much more is still to come – experts don’t rule out the Prime Minister’s resignation
"Last week has turned out to be ominous for PM Gharibashvili and his entourage. Many of our high officials that were deemed to be the Prime Minister’s right hands and had rather great influence in the government explicitly declared their resignation and left their posts voluntarily. Plus, most surprisingly, none of them named a particular reason having pushed them to make this decision. Our political experts have evaluated the top officials’ unexpected move to bow out from their posts in different ways: some think that by forcing Gharibashvili’s team members to resign, the former Prime Minister punished and publicly insulted his heir. According to them, these massive resignations are a smack in the acting PM’s face,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.
“The first report on leaving his post was filed by the PM’s scandalous relative, Zviad Jankarashvili. He stepped down of his own accord and declared that he will not work in the public service ever again. His move to relinquish his post was followed by massive resignations. Minister of Infrastructure, Zurab Kopadze, who under the former government was a business partner of Tsezar Chocheli and Gen Director of LTD Natakhtari, has also left his post of his own volition. Mr. Kopadze was replaced by Bidzina Ivanishvili’s trustee Nodar Javakhishvili, who was mandated to refine the system and establish order there,” says the article.
“Shortly after his appointment, Nodar Javakhishvili issued a statement that stimulated some suspicions from our public and experts regarding the massive government overhaul. As they presume, irrational decisions regarding the declared tenders, rampant corruption in the government and unrelenting pressure on business made them cleanse the government of some members. As the circulating reports have it, Economic Council Secretary, Roman Chkhenkeli, who is Gharibashvili’s friend, has also stepped down. He has reportedly been replaced by business ombudsmen Giorgi Gakharia. In addition, brothers Chkenkheli, who were dubbed as Gharibashvili’s trusties and the most influential people in the government also left their posts,” reads the paper.
Plus, resignation reports were also filed by Head of General Inspection of MIA, Irakli Samkhurashvili as well as Head of State Security Service, Malkhaz Chikviladze.
"As political expert Khatuna Lagazidze states, it’s a bit difficult to guess what has actually happened in the government recently. “As it appears, Ivanishvili just decided that Gharibashvili and his team are incapable of pursuing a trenchant policy and making rational decisions. I cannot apparently label this team as a clan as they have not done any inexcusable misdeeds; they might not have enough time for this. Anyway, it’s clear that the recently resigned officials were the pillars of Gharibashvili’s government. Thanks to brothers Ckhenkeli, for instance, Gharibashvili exerted full control on the economic block.
A man who knows the ins and outs of our government and is really versed in the situation will say without hesitation that the current developments in the government are nothing more and nothing less than a smack in Gharibashvili’s face. Therefore, a key question pops up here – How will he manage to continue fulfilling his duties with such a tarnished reputation? He has lost credibility; all officials in whom he placed confidence have been forced to resign. The situation within then government has become entirely absurd and deplorable,” declarers the political expert.
As Chairman of “Peace, Democracy and Caucasian Development Institute”, Gia Nodia alleges, Gharibashvili has gone too far and received his due. “Irakli Gharibashvili has crossed the line by granting responsible positions to his relatives; clearly, he could not have gotten away with this. He was punished because of his arbitrary steps and not due to the fact that under him the country has been dragged into a ditch,” claims Mr. Nodia.
Facts released at Buta Robakidze’s trial
“The case of Buta Robakidze’s murdered on Nov.23, 2004, is being discussed in Tbilisi Municipal Court. Former law enforcers have recalled some interesting facts regarding the fatal night for us,” reports the Kviris Palitra gazette.
“I witnessed this scene while going home. Buta Robakidze was dead. One Kalashnikov rifle was placed besides his body, while another one was in the car. Other rifles, 2 hand grenades and 330 bullets were inside the trunk of the car. Starting with Zurab Mikadze and ending with an ordinary patrol police officer, everyone followed Guram Donadze’s instructions. At the scene of the fatal incident, we were informed that actually a physical altercation had not occurred between the opposing sides and inspector Bashaleishvili fired a shot by accident. I’ve tried my best to release those innocent guys from prison. They had never been convicted before,” announces former investigator of the Prosecutor’s Office, Shalva Nikabadze.
“Mr. Adesihvili urged the investigators to accept the patrol police officials’ testimony as per which first Robakidze opened fire on them and in the wake of this, he was killed. However, so far it’s has not been proven that Robakidze fired a shot. Moreover, he did not even have a gun. They mandated me to tamper with the evidence and change the conclusive reports; However, I refused to follow their instructions. I asked them to present me with the video material regarding Donadze’s case. I was told that the older material was destroyed. If those materials had actually been destroyed, Irakli Pirtskhalava would have clearly failed to put the evidence on the table. In the old video material, you can clearly hear a policeman’s voice: “guys have nothing;” although one cannot hear this voice in the video materials having been shown by Mr. Pirtskhalava,” maintains the former prosecutor. In addition, when a journalist asked the question of whether the police have accused Mr. Pirtskalava of falsifying the case, the respondent replies:
"In my mind, criminal police officials were sidelined from this case completely; everything was controlled by Guram Donadze.”
To a remark that in his words, the boys were armed, however, he is said to have told Buta Robakiodze’s father the opposite, the former investigator states:
"I have never said anything like that to Soso Robakidze. It goes without saying that the arrested guys had weapons. Reports were also spread that near the Dinamo arena, they were involved in altercations in which Buta Robakidze was caught by accident. In the car, out of 6 guys, 2 of them were wounded. Plus, except for 2 people, none of them sitting inside the car had a clean record. One of them was involved in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs for 12 years and was repeatedly convicted in the past. Having been released several times, when he was imprisoned again, in his testimony he wrote that the police officials were so negligent that they failed to retrieve a gun that was right under their nose.”
