Press Digest 19.12.2014

Despite a drop on the world market, petrol cost in Georgia has not changed

Our Prime Minister must dare and pay a visit to Russia -- Soso Tsintsadze

New reform in Georgia – high risk prisoners to be isolated from others ***

Despite a drop on the world market, petrol cost in Georgia has not changed

“Reportedly, by the Prime Minister’s order, Georgian oil importers have cut the price of oil. However, the decrease is minimal. As we have established, today, when the price of petrol and diesel has been halved across the world, a liter of petrol should cost no more than 1.5 GEL,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.

“Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili has urged the representatives of Georgian Competition Agency to inform him what has kept them from making the price of petrol in line with the current global standard. Irakli Gharibashvili has reportedly focused on this issue at the government’s session. “I’ve commissioned the representatives of our Competition agency to study the prices of fuel around the world. Despite having been reduced quite substantially on the world market, to our surprise, the price of fuel has remained the same on our market. Therefore, I asked the Competition Agency to provide us with detailed information regarding this within 10 days,” declared Mr. Gharibashvili.

As the Head of Georgian Competition Agency, Giorgi Barabadze claims, since October 1, the issue of analyzing the oil market is now at the top of their agenda,” says the article.

“We have already obtained the relevant information in terms of this issue from the National Statistics Office of Georgia, our neighbor countries as well as our economic agents. The information is now being carefully studied. As the Prime Minister instructed, in the coming days, we plan to release detailed information regarding this subject to the public and keep you posted,” stated Mr. Barabadze and refused to any further details,” reads the paper.

“As Director General of JSC Wissol, Vasil Khorava states, the company is gradually reducing its fuel prices and will continue to do so in the future too. As for the “GULF” Company, its leadership plans to cut prices by 4-10 tetris. However, despite these hopeful allegations saying petrol prices will be lowered in Georgia soon, representatives of the organization “Protest against Fuel Prices” plan to stage a rally outside the Chancellery tomorrow. As Head of the organization, Beka Kemularia states, the Competition Agency is obliged to explain why the price of fuel is still so high in Georgia when it has been halved across the world. According to him, the public must not be kept in the dark,” writes the author of the article.

To adequately assess the situation and know the wholesale price of gasoline, we decided to present our reader with the following information: the international price of a tone of petrol is 528 USD, while in Georgia the price of 1 tone of petrol is 1003 USD to which we add VAT - 180 GEL, excise tax - 250 GEL, transport - 90 lari. Thus, our oil importers pay a maximum of 1523 GEL to purchase a tone of petrol. From all this it follows that a wholesale price of a tone of petrol is 1.17 GEL, whereas 1 litre of “regular” at our filling stations cost 1.84-1.93 GEL. On the basis of the aforementioned information, we can easily conclude that the operating margin of gasoline in Georgia is 67-76 tetris,” concludes the author of the article.

Our Prime Minister must dare and pay a visit to Russia -- Soso Tsintsadze

“There are some key words in diplomacy and as a rule, political leaders often use them in their speeches. Obviously, Russian President Vladimir Putin is no exception to this rule. In his address last year, he repeatedly used “I don’t know”, “I am noncommittal about this” and these were his key words then. Though, now he is saying: “it’s difficult but we can find a way out of this situation.” So, can we conclude from his words that Georgia’s territorial integrity is possible to restore? This way or that, one thing is clear: we will prove unable to create a federation or return the bygone days. The only thing that really matters now is a relevant political will that must emerge in the country. By turning a deaf ear to Putin’s words again, the Georgian authorities will make a truly unwarrantable mistake,” claims political expert Soso Tsntsadze in his interview with the Alia newspaper.

“As for our Prime Minister, he must dare and pay a visit to Russia. His is simply obliged to do so. He may face people warning him against taking this step at every turn but he must still meet the Russian leader under any circumstances. There is no other way out from this blind alley,” maintains Mr. Tsintsadze.

“Vladimir Putin must have already drawn up some plans. It’s obvious that by his words “Go and talk to your Abkhazian and Ossetian brothers,” he tells us that we can talk with them only if he plays the role of a mediator. Therefore, we must obviously know that his assistance will always be conditional,” stresses the political expert.

To a journalist’s question asking: why is Putin so kind to Georgia when he has already set sanctions against Moldova, the expert responds:

"Experience shows that he is just more comfortable with our country’s new government. From the very beginning, he was considerate towards Shevardnadze’s as well as Saakashvili’s government and he is doing the same now. As you know, sanctions have already been set against Russia and the Russian leader is simply obliged to make concessions. However, if we continue to avoid meeting with the Russian leader, we will gain absolutely nothing. Consequently today, when the country is passing through hard times, Gharibashvili must take Charles De Gaulle’s lead, go to Moscow and try to rebuild ties with our neighbor.”

New reform in Georgia – high risk prisoners to be isolated from others

“As First Deputy Minister of Corrections, Kakha Kakhishvili states, in our penitentiary facilities, especially dangerous inmates (the so-called “watchers”) will soon be isolated from other convicts. After a reform is enacted, a special board will create to evaluate which facility prisoners should serve their term in. Especially dangerous prisoners will be sent to Supermax prisons,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.

“Obviously, by placing the inmates in Supermax prisons, we don’t plan to subject them to inhumane treatment; certainly, we don’t intend to starve them to death or forbid them to meet their relatives. The most dangerous prisoners with a desire to control and intimidate their cellmates will only be deprived the right to file a report with the parole commission. The new reform will simply enable the Ministry of Corrections to protect prisoners through legal measures,” asserts Kakha Kakhishvili.

“However, Human Rights Protector, Dimitri Lortkipanidze, thinks that their new initiation will have a counterproductive effect and will only worsen the situation in our penitentiary facilities. In his words, by isolating especially dangerous inmates from their cellmates, they will just increase their authority as well as the respect from other inmates,” concludes the author of the article.