Press Digest 22.12.2014
Invitation to Moscow holds nothing but humiliation in store, a political expert claims
Psychotropic medication is still sold over the counter - The problem remains unsolved
Controversial Kus tba privatization scheme revealed
***
Invitation to Moscow holds nothing but humiliation in store, a political expert claims
"The Association Agreement, which we have completed with the European Union, is a big feather in our cap and one of our greatest accomplishments. By ratifying this deal, we have taken a great step forward and have moved closer to the EU. Obviously, it’s not a nonissue; this agreement will bring positive results soon and improve our people’s lives.
However, I have discussed this issue with my colleagues from the Baltic States several times and I know that our people should not have over exaggerated expectations about this deal for now,” states expert Soso Tsiskarishvili in his interview with the Kviris Palitra newspaper.
“The ratification of the agreement has triggered a negative backlash from our people, and this is no surprise. As you know, the Europeans are forced to follow rather strict regulations, while the residents of the post-Soviet countries are reluctant to do this. Our citizens, obviously, are not eager to increase their inpidual responsibilities; however, there is not even a shadow of doubt that this issue will soon be put on the top of our agenda,” claims the expert.
“The aforementioned pact is very auspicious for us. We will definitely benefit from it economically by exporting our agricultural products to Europe. Though, this will not happen immediately. First, we must boost the quality of our products and gear it towards European standers and norms.
We must endeavor to meet their requirements. We have already started to work in this direction, and we do hope that the demand for our agricultural products will soon increase on the European market,” says the respondent.
“In my mind, President Margvelashvili made the right decision by visiting Strasbourg. By taking this step, he demonstrated that he is not afraid of PM Gharibashvili or the Russian leader.
Now let’s move onto another subject – regarding Putin’s move to publicly offer Georgia a political proposal, I would say that we must neither turn down nor pin all our hopes on it. We must only show restraint and take well-measured steps.
We have to do this, especially today, when Putin has started giving out Russian passports to our people in the region of Kakheti, where he plans to build a road. If we continue to be inactive and refuse to enact a law banning them from granting Russian citizenship to our people, we may soon lose the entire region,” contends the expert.
“Thus finally, I would emphasize that by inviting our authorities to Moscow, they just want to belittle them. If such a meeting actually takes place, it must be led by one of the international organizations and must be held in a country other than Russia. I think it’s clear that our President should attend this meeting; however, all branches of the government must organize it,” concludes Mr. Tsiskarishvili.
Psychotropic medication is still sold over the counter - The problem remains unsolved
“Despite having enacted rather strict regulations against issuing psychotropic medications without prescription, buying them in some of Tbilisi’s pharmacies is a piece of cake. A pharmacist will not even ask you for a prescription when you decide to purchase these drugs in pharmacies of Didube and Saburtalo districts. Believe it or not, even juveniles can freely buy them.
According to State Regulation Agency for Medical Activities, dispensing of medications is being carefully monitored in the country; however, unfortunately, this has not decreased the instances of law violations in our pharmacies in the slightest,” reports the Rezonansi newspaper.
As Davit Matcharashvili, Acting Head of the Department of Pharmacy Regulatory Agency states, psychotropic medications were issued without a prescription in Georgia for years. However, if we believe him, a substantial decrease in exported psychotropic medications in Georgia has caused a reduction in overall sold product.
Mr. Matcharashvili also claimed that as many as 131 instances of violation of the law have been detected in the Saburtalo district, where these drugs are being systematically dispersed without a prescription,” says the paper.
“This issue has remained unresolved in Georgia for 12 long years; it has not surfaced in our country until recently. All things considered, one thing is clear – for the last 2 years, the law has repeatedly been broken in our country. However, despite this, we have still resolved some problems in this direction. Drugs containing Codeine, for instance, will not be sold over the counter in our country from March,” Davit Matcharashvili assures.
“As many as 10 pharmacies have lost their licenses recently. Accordingly, if they don’t drop the practice of breaching the law in the future, they will be forced to pay a rather heavy fine. According to new regulations, the first offence will result in a 6 thousand GEL fine. For a second offense, the fine will increase to 12 thousand GEL and if a pharmacy breaches the law for a third time, it will lose its license.
Despite being systematically monitored, our pharmacists often break the law. We know that this issue is not so easily to resolve but thanks to our public’s determination to help us to achieve this aim and their high involvement in this process, we will definitely find a solution soon,” concludes Mr. Matcharashvili.
Controversial Kus tba privatization scheme revealed
“After power changed hands in Georgia, hundreds of our businessmen marched on the Prosecutor’s Office en masse, claiming to be victims of terror. As you know, under the former government, many Georgian businessmen were illegally deprived of their property.
Among them was Beso Khardziani, a shareholders in the “Kus Tba” Complex, who is now vigorously trying to regain his lost shares As our experts allege, the acting authorities have put the process of restoring justice on hold and have done very little to restitute our people’s property,” reports the Kviris Palitra newspaper.
“On February 16, 2011, they planted an illegal substance on me and sent me to a Gldani prison afterwards. My family was forced to give the company’s shares to them. One of the most loyal slaves of the former government was Gia Udesiani, who beat my brother.
They subjected me to psychological and physical pressure in prison and callously treated me. They kept me locked up for 2 years. If not for the current authorities, I would not even be with you now.
These shameless monsters shook me down and stole my company’s shares. Today Badri Kurasbediani and Gia Udesiani are presiding over the Complex “Kus Tba” and I have been left with nothing.
By the way, one of the key players among these thugs was former Chairperson of the Tbilisi City Council and acting Head of the Department of Veterans, Irakli Shikhiashvili. He tried to alienate the Kus Tba Complex by selling it to Arabs; however, fortunately, he failed to fulfill this task,” says Beso Khardziani.
“The Prosecutor’s Office has deliberately put my case on hold. As I was informed later, Davit Chkartishvili, one of the former high officials serving in the body, was in collusion with Mr. Udesiani and these two thugs contrived their corrupt schemes against me together. As for Lasha Natsvlishvili, who repeatedly blocked my case, he must be questioned at least,” says the respondent.
According to Human Rights Protector Dimitri Lortkipanidze, only after Mr. Natsvlishvili’s resignation from his post of Deputy Chief Prosecutor did they start looking into the cases of Kezrashvili, Ugulava, Merabishvili and others. “As you know, former high officials’ cases have been shelved in the Prosecutor’s Office for years,” states Mr. Lortkipanidze.
