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The News in Brief

Friday, August 2
100 new buses to 6 Georgian towns

100 modern buses will be given to Kutaisi, Gori, Telavi, Zugdidi, Rustavi, and Poti as part of the Urban Transport Enhancement Programme of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The goal of the project is to establish regular bus services in each city as well as enhance the existing transport companies and establish new ones if needed.

The total project cost is Euro11 800000, including local contribution. The EBRD is to allocate Euro10 000000. The approval of the project will be discussed in October. After Georgian Foreign Ministry receives the loan, the Municipal Development Fund will implement the project.



Kakhaber Kemoklidze to be Chief of Staff of Security Council

Kakhaber Kemoklidze, director of Information-Analytical Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs since 2018 has been appointed as the head of the Office of National Security Council. He has held a different analytical position in the Ministry of Internal Affairs since 2011.

He also served as Deputy Chief of Information-Analytical Department of the State Security Service and led the Tbilisi delegation in Ergneti and Gali, at Incident Prevention and Response Team meetings.

Starting on August 1, Kakhaber Kemoklidze will head the Office of the Security Council, which will be the analytical center under the Prime Minister and Secretary of the National Security Council.

The first meeting of the National Security Council, led by the Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze, was held on May 1. According to the order of the head of government, the post of Secretary of the National Security Council was assigned to Vice-premier Giorgi Gakharia.



Georgia’s Oscar nominee film will be ‘Shindisi’

The 12-member Georgian jury made this decision in a secret ballot: Georgia’s candidate film for the international full-length film nomination of the American Film Academy will be Dito Tsintsadze’s movie for the Oscars Foreign Language Film category.

4 other Georgian films competed for the Oscar nomination this year: Nino Zhvania’s “Parade;” Mari Gulbiani’s documentary “Until Dad Returns;” “Inhale and Exhale” by Dimitri Tsintsadze and Gigisha Abashidze’s “Neighbors.”

Shindisi tells of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war and the heroes of Shindisi (a village located in the vicinity of the Russia-occupied Tskhinvali region). The script, which is based on real facts, was written by Irakli Solomanashvili. The main characters of the film are Georgian soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the defense of their homeland, 17 Georgian soldiers who died during the Shindisi battle. The cast includes Georgian actors as well as real Georgian soldiers with combat equipment.
(By Natalia Kochiashvili)