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The News in Brief

Tuesday, February 19
Bidzina Ivanishvili to mark his 57th birthday at work

The Prime Minister of Georgia will celebrate his 57th birthday at work, the press service of the Georgian minister's office told Trend.

The press service also added that the minister "does not like to celebrate his birthday".

Several public and private meetings were held including a meeting with representatives of NGOs. “The minister's birthday will make no changes to the schedule of his working day," the press service said.

It should be noted that it will be Ivanishvili's first birthday anniversary as the Prime Minister of Georgia.

On October 1, 2012 the Georgian Dream coalition led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili won the parliamentary election.

At the end of last October was elected the Prime Minister of Georgia.
(Trend)



5 Confirmed Deaths from so called Swine Flu in Georgia

The fifth death attributed to swine flu has been confirmed in Georgia, head of the Scientific Council of the National Disease Control Center, Paata Imnadze told InterPressNews.

He reports that 143 people have been infected from November, 133 with type A and 10 with type B of the virus. According to the national center, it is an ordinary winter and ordinary flu and patients must not delay seeing a doctor.

“If a child has a temperature above 38 ?C that lasts for a day and an adult for three days, you should see a doctor, also in cases of difficulty in breathing and signs of inflammation of the lungs,” Paata Imnadze said.
(IPN)



Labour Party demands free vaccinations against viral infections

Labour Party calls on the government to fund vaccination against viral infections by allocating funds from the government`s reserve funds.

The Labour Party commented on the statements made by the health care ministry, which recommends citizens to undergo vaccinations against viral infections, but the opposition party members say the vaccination is not free and most of the population can't afford it.
(Rustavi 2)



Results of Georgia’s elections were shocking to the Kremlin - Gary Kasparov

Results of Georgia’s elections were shocking to the Kremlin, Gary Kasparov, the leader of the Russian opposition stated. According to him, Russia is unable to hold democratic elections.

‘It seems to me that election results were shocking to the Kremlin, as they were sure that governments would never be changed democratically in post- Soviet countries. "I think the democratic change of Georgia’s government ruined some of the Kremlin’s plans," Kasparov said.
(IPN)



Russian Specialists to visit Georgia this week

Specialists of Russia’s Federal Service on Customers' Rights Protection and Human Well-being Surveillance will presumably visit Georgia this week, the Russian media reports. The Georgian side should send additional documents to Russia’s sanitarian service, Russian Chief Sanitarian Genady Onyshenko told the Interfax news agency. "If they present the documents by Monday, we will discuss them for two days and then we will be ready to visit Georgia. However, the exact date of the visit is unknown at this time," Onyshenko said. According to him, Russia’s sanitary service sent the Georgian side a list of 31 factories that are ready to export wine and mineral water to Russia. However, the Georgian side removed 6 factories from the list, saying they were shut down or could not satisfy control requirements.
(IPN)



Parliamentary majority to withdraw bill on the country’s foreign course

The parliamentary majority will withdraw its bill on the country’s foreign policy. According to Parliament vice Speaker Giorgi Baramidze, the initiator of the bill, the National Movement drafted the bill as they did not have enough MPs for initiating constitutional changes.

According to him, the government is alleging it is not going to change the country’s foreign course and that the opposition is breaking down an open door. "Negotiations are under way now, and we will withdraw this bill not to hamper the talks," Baramidze said.

Consideration of the above-mentioned bill was planned at the session of the committee of foreign affairs today.
(IPN)



Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia expressed its deep concern regarding the reports quoting the officials of the Russian Federation, regarding the plans of integrating the Tskinvali region/South Ossetia, Georgia, into the revenue and tax administration systems of the Russian Federation. If implemented, such a decision would represent a regrettable step backwards in the recent efforts of both sides to create positive dynamics in bilateral relations. This decision would also solidify the occupation regime on sovereign Georgian territory.

The Russian news agencies reported Monday that the matter of integrating the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, into the revenue and tax administration systems of the Russian Federation was discussed during the meeting between the Deputy Head of the Federal Treasury of Russia, Mr. Stanislav Prokofyev and the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Ossetia, Mr. Sergey Takoev. Based on the same reports, Mr. Prokofyev and the officials of the North Ossetian Treasury section agreed that the Republic of North Ossetia will assist the Tskhinvali region to establish the treasury institution.
(Rustavi 2)



Victimized Clients address Chief Prosecutor

The Association of Victimized Clients has appealed to the Prosecutor’s Office to stop the function of the Dexus Development Company. A statement concerning the issue was made by the chair of the association Temur Pipia.

Pipia claims that Dexus that continued the actions of the Centre Point Group in 2010 and took the responsibility on the constructions launched by the Centre Point is trying to cheat people and take additional sums from already affected consumers.

“It is true that the company has already finished the construction process of several blocks of flats. However, this construction work did not require a serious financial background,” Pipia said and addressed the Prosecutor’s office to shut down Dexus,

Pipia also stated that there are evidences against the chair of Dexus, Ivane Tsaguria concerning his roguish actions.

“The investigation over the issues is ongoing. Several analysts and investigators have gotten involved. However, based on the fact that the issue is large scale, the human resources are not enough and the issue is lengthened. For this reason we demand that the Prosecutor Office involves more people in the investigation,” Pipia said.

The association chair also stated that they have already appealed to the Minister of Justice concerning the problems of registering the flats. However, there has been no response as of yet.
(The Messenger)