The Daily Beat: 24 January

Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili arrived on his first official visit to Saudi Arabia, where he met with the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Faisal bin Farhan, and signed an agreement on establishing an Intergovernmental Coordination Council. According to the foreign ministry, the document will boost political and economic cooperation between the countries, bringing Georgia-Saudi Arabia relations to a new level. During the meeting, the ministers discussed the economy, Georgia’s investment potential, tourism, regional situation, and challenges, agreeing to deepen bilateral ties further.  

Russian government’s decision of late last year to grant Kremlin-controlled Rosneft the exclusive right to export fuel to the occupied territories of Georgia prompted discontent in the occupied Abkhazia. Because of this decision, most gas and petrol stations in occupied Abkhazia are either closed or unable to function properly due to a lack of fuel. The so-called “fuel association” of Abkhazia, which includes 40 local companies, rallied against Russia’s decision, seeing it as a threat of monopolization and refusing to sign exclusive contracts with Rosneft.   

A new Eastern Partnership (EaP) Index 2023, launched on January 24, ranked Georgia third among six EaP countries with an overall score of 0.63. Moldova came first, and Ukraine second. Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus follow in fourth, fifth, and sixth place, respectively. “Georgia lost considerable ground across both democracy and good governance, and policy convergence indicators,” adding that “in fact, Georgia’s performance was characterized by a significant downwards drift if not a sharp plunge in many areas which reflects the country’s political polarization,” reads the text of EaP index on Georgia.

The Information Integrity Coalition issued a statement condemning “the Georgian government’s targeted attacks on civil society organizations.” In particular, the Coalition recalls recent statements by senior political officials “aimed at discrediting the organizations that fight against disinformation and work on election issues and human rights,” stressing that such campaigns and political manipulation around important issues are particularly dangerous.  The statement separately mentions Speaker Shalva Papuashvili’s relentless attacks on the head of the Tolerance Center, the research organization SovLab, the other CSOs, and USAID.  

NGOs, opposition leaders, public figures, experts, and students appealed in a letter to the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, urging them to ask the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine to launch an investigation and identify those involved in crimes against the third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. The letter says that Mikheil Saakashvili “is a victim of egregious inhumane treatment and torture” and a “personal prisoner of Russian President Vladimir Putin,” asserting that his release is essential for dismantling Bidzina Ivanishvili’s rule in Georgia.  

New Ambassadors have been appointed to China, Israel, Kuwait, and Jordan. All the newly appointed ambassadors – Paata Kalandadze, Ambassador to China; Zaza Kandelaki, Ambassador to Israel; Archil Dzuliashvili, Ambassador to Jordan; and Noshrevan Lomtatidze, Ambassador to Kuwait – are long-serving career diplomats. According to the official press release, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili met with the newly appointed ambassadors, instructing them to deepen ties with their respective countries and wishing them success.

The Data of the Day

The National Statistics Office‘s data indicates that in 2023, Georgia’s dependence on imports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons (natural gas) from Russia and Iran increased compared to the previous year, while imports from Azerbaijan decreased. According to the same data, Russian gas imports to Georgia increased by 16.4%, while the imports of Azeri gas dropped by almost 4% compared to 2022. Iranian imports also increased significantly, although their share in total purchases is still insignificant.

The share of each country in the total number of gas imports looks following:

• Azerbaijan – 78.47% in 2023 (81.55% in 2022);

• Russia – 21.53% in 2023 (18.45% in 2022);

• Iran – 0.0033% in 2023 (0.0005% in 2022).