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The News in Brief

Wednesday, June 20
Briefing at president`s Administration

President’s press speaker Manana Manjgaladze spoke about the development of the farmers’ service centers, which are already in operation in the regions, the growth of pensions from September and the details of the new pension package.

Manjgaladze said at the briefing yesterday that the farmers’ service center is a novelty within the agriculture development program of the government along with the centers of agriculture for using modern technology. These centers have been operating in the regions for the past few weeks and it also provides laboratory services to locals.

"Such centers operate in Zestaponi, Abasha, Gurjaani, Marneuli, Akhaltsikhe, Kareli. There are also centers which provide the rental of agricultural vehicles. Such centers operate in Samtredia, Kaspi, Ozurgeti, Dedoplistkaro, Ambrolauri and Bolnisi," Manjgaladze said and added that these service centers provide 42 types of agricultural services to farmers.

The president`s press speaker also touched on the issue of pension growth, saying the promise of the government was in force and that pensions throughout Georgia would increase up to $100 from September. From July 2012, the Ministry of Health and Social Care will provide detailed information about the pension insurance to all pensioners in the country. (Rustavi 2)



Giorgi Karbelashvili to be Vake majority Deputy Candidate

Deputy Minister of Economy Giorgi Karbelashvili will be majority candidate in Vake, Chair of the Legal Issues Committee of Parliament, Pavle Kublashvili confirmed via InterPressNews.

Kublashvili thinks it’s too early to speak about who will be number one on the list of candidates for the National Movement for the elections. “Before the date of the elections is known, it’s too early to speak about different presumptions, though you have a right to your assumptions,” said Kublashvili to the journalists.

The MP said that there will be new faces in the top-ten of the list of candidates.

Giorgi Karbelashvili actively took part in freeing the Georgian sailors or solving their problems in various countries recently. Karbelashvili headed the process of liberating 15 Georgian sailors from Somali pirates. Bringing 4 Georgian sailors from Spain, who had problems with their employment there, is linked with the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development. Karbelashvili led the talks on freeing 4 Georgian sailors kept hostage in Sokhumi. Karbelashvili continues to act as deputy Minister. (IPN)



Basisbank Confirms Ongoing Talks on Selling the Bank

“Talks are under way to sell Basisbank, though a decision has not been made in favor of anyone, Head of the press service of Basisbank, Tamar Khaduri told InterpressNews. She says that talks have been taking place for a long time with many different investors. “I can assure you that Basisbank has not been bought by anyone. What about the article in the Financial Times? It reads that negotiations are under way and it doesn’t specify that anyone bought anything,” Khaduri says. She says that there is a high interest of international financial institutions in Basisbank. “We are proud and this is caused by our many years of experience in financial stability and transparency,” Khaduri said. The Financial Times informs that a Chinese company is planning to buy a bank in Georgia. Following the edition, the Xinjiang Hualing Industry and Trade Group will be the first privately-owned Chinese group to buy a foreign bank. (IPN)



Authorities count damage in Guria

A special commission formed by the local government in Guria is counting the damage inflicted on several districts within the region yesterday. The roads, which were blocked up by the landslide yesterday, isolating three villages from the rest of the region, have already been cleaned-up and the traffic has resumed. Heavy rain flooded yards of the houses in the Ureki resort, damaging ground floors and furniture held there. The flood has also killed poultry. The damaged families were offered alternative lodgings by the municipal governments. (Rustavi 2)



Meeting at Health Ministry

The special council of the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Care, which works on issues related to the disabled citizens of Georgia, held a session today to discuss the new state policy towards the disabled.

It has been reported that from September 1st, disabled citizens in Georgia will be insured by the government along with pensioners, children under the age of 5, as well as students.

The state insurance program includes issuing insurance policies to all disabled persons under the age of 18 and the disabled with grave disabilities. The new state insurance policy also implies simplification of procedures for providing equipment for the disabled for free. (Rustavi 2)



NDP calls for simplification of land area registration procedures

The National Democratic Party of Georgia has called on the government to nullify the taxes required for the registration of personal plots in the regions. The head of the Guria regional branch of the party, Merab Chkhaidze told journalists today that unregistered land areas in the regions cause serious problems in the development of agriculture, as financial institutions refuse to cooperate with farmers who have not registered their personal plots.

"We think that imposing privileges on property registration is necessary. By distributing their funds, people should be given an opportunity to register the land areas, which they inherited from their ancestors and those which were handed over for free in the 90s," Merab Chkhaidze said. (Rustavi 2)



Tortladze says Ivanishvili is a pro-Russian politician

Leader of the Democratic Party of Georgia, Gia Tortladze says Bidzina Ivanishvili and his opposition coalition [Georgian Dream] have a pro-Russian political course. Tortladze held a press conference at the Prime Time Press Club today. He said the statement made by Ivanishvili that he is not going to run in the next elections, confuses his supporters.

"On one side we have the government and on the other - this pro-Russian union, which unifies pro-Russian opposition parties and Ivanishvili, who earned his billions in Russia. Between these two sides our citizens will have to make a choice. However, all surveys show that most Georgian voters have pro-western views," Gia Tortladze said.

The leader of the Democratic Party of Georgia has not decided yet if his party will run in the upcoming parliamentary elections. (Rustavi 2)