The Daily Beat: 15 August
On August 14, Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s Charge d’Affaires to the United Nations, quoted parts of the August 13 statement by Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, in which the GD framed the 2008 war as the culmination of the effort of the United National Movement (UNM) administration and former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to “bring Russian troops to Georgia” on “order from outside [of the country].”
On August 14, Ambassador Francesca Gatt, Deputy Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations made a statement on behalf of the UN Security Council members (including three permanent ones), calling on the Russian Federation to “withdraw its military and security forces from the territory of Georgia without delay”. The statement also calls on Russia “to reverse the recognition of the so-called independence of Georgia’s regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, not to impede the creation of international security mechanisms and to allow access of international human rights and humanitarian organizations to both regions.”
On August 15, the U.S. Embassy in Georgia confirmed the termination of the delivery process of X-ray scanners, meant to be installed at the Kazbegi- Upper Larsi border checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border, as part of the U.S. State Department’s decision to suspend $95 million in aid to the Georgian government due to Georgian Dream’s anti-Western narratives and anti-democratic actions.
The government will allocate GEL 2 million (about USD 743 600) to the St. Andrew’s Georgian University (SANGU), as Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze signed a decree on August 14. Back in March, the Prime Minister announced that the government had earmarked GEL 35 million (about USD 11,194,000) in the 2024 state budget to support the Georgian Patriarchate’s educational projects, in addition to the GEL 25 million (about USD 9,328,000) the Patriarchate receives annually.
According to the Russian Ministry for Economic Development, on August 14, the Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Volvach said that Moscow and the de-facto authorities in Sokhumi have largely completed the process of “harmonization of legislation,” after almost four years since the signing of the program “on the formation of common social and economic space.”
The GORBI poll, commissioned by government mouthpiece Imedi TV, suggests that 59.3% would vote for the ruling Georgian Dream party, followed by the United National Movement with 13.1%, the Coalition of Lelo, Ana Dolidze, Aleko Elisashvili and Freedom Square with 5.8%, and the Coalition for Change including Girchi-More Freedom, Droa, Ahali with 5.5%. All other political parties including former prime minister Giorgi Gakharia’s “For Georgia” fell short of the 5% threshold. Commenting on the GORBI poll, the ruling party representatives claimed that they would gain even more support before the October parliamentary elections.
The Data of the Day
The National Statistics Office published adjusted data, indicating that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Georgia amounted to USD 1,902.2 billion in 2023, which is 15.6% less than the adjusted data of 2022 and 19.3% more than the preliminary data of 2023. The main reasons for the decrease in FDI are the adjustment of reinvestments and debt volume by several enterprises. In 2023, the largest amount of FDI came from the Netherlands — USD 386.3 million, followed by the United Kingdom — USD 364.3 million and the United States — USD 182.2 million.
