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The News in Brief

Monday, January 27
By Liza Mchedlidze



Mamuka Khazaradze talks about the development of Kutaisi at the Lelo regional office opening

The Lelo for Georgia's leader Mamuka Khazardze gave a speech at Lelo’s regional office opening in Kutaisi and talked about the importance of Kutaisi becoming more independent from Tbilisi and soviet mentality of ‘capital city deciding how should other cities live.’

According to Khazaradze, Kutaisi must become one of the most exceptional cities and it must be the whole region’s logistics and financial centre. He stated that Lelo can solve the employment issue and create job opportunities for locals, so people can return from emigration.

“We believe that Kutaisi should become the logistics and financial center of the whole region. In the coming months, we will present a detailed plan to return Kutaisi to what it has always been historically. Unfortunately, Kutaisi is deserted and most of the people living here have left the country. Our task will be to overcome the greatest challenge, create jobs and bring these people back. We know how this is done. We have created tens of thousands of jobs that still work well across Georgia today.”

Khazaradze underlined the importance of creating infrastructure, so it does not matter where you live and every part of the country is developed enough to be suitable for every Georgian to reside and don’t seek job opportunities in other cities of Georgia or foreign countries.



European Union names winners of EU Prize for Journalism in Georgia 2019

At a formal award ceremony in Tbilisi, the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia awarded the winners of the EU Prize for Journalism 2019 in six categories covering print, broadcast, online, and photojournalism. Besides, the European Union Monitoring Mission presented a special prize for conflict-sensitive journalism contributing to confidence-building and peace.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Carl Hartzell, Ambassador of the European Union noted:

“The EU has been awarding journalism in Georgia since 2012. The aim is to inspire journalists and media towards high quality, ethical work, which is key to a vibrant democracy. We are impressed with the submissions and finalists this year, and I strongly encourage everyone to read and see the winning pieces themselves.”

Ms. Kate Fearon, Acting Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission commented on the importance of media:

“In situations where unresolved conflicts and tensions remain, confidence-building remains imperative. Independent, investigative media are essential in taking forward a process of discourse between people across the Administrative Boundary Lines.”