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The News in Brief

Wednesday, November 9
Bad weather to continue in Georgia for the next few days

Bad weather will continue in Georgia for the next few days. The heavy snow caused serious problems on the roads in all regions of the country, mostly causing problems on highways.

It stopped snowing in the Shida Kartli Region by 10 a.m. yesterday. The depth of the snow exceeded 10 cm. The road cleaning works were underway in the region all night. The road department brigades were spreading technical salt on the highways. The traffic was blocked at the villages of Ortasheni and Ruisi. Patrol police, rescuers and the technical brigades were mobilized at the site.

Road cleaning works are underway on the Gori highway too. Special commissions are counting damaged inflicted onto the region.

Heavy snow has affected the Adjara region as well. The snow depth exceeded one meter there. Movement is restricted for all types of vehicles as there is a serious danger of road accidents. Four vehicles are still stuck in the snow; however, people have been evacuated from the disaster areas. The representatives of the emergency services have already inspected the territory. The region is disconnected from the electricity network due to the bad weather conditions.

It snowed in the capital the entire night; however, it stopped snowing in Tbilisi last morning. The forecast is for low temperatures will continue in the capital for several more days.

Bad weather will continue throughout Georgia until November 11. (Rustavi 2)



Foreign Minister holds meetings in Armenia

A Delegation from the Georgian Foreign Ministry is paying an official visit to Armenia. Minister Grigol Vashadze has already held a meeting with the President of Armenia Serzh Sargisyan. The two discussed bilateral economic relations. After the meeting, the Georgian Minister reported that the President of Armenia would pay official visit to Georgia in the near future.

Grigol Vashadze also discussed cooperation issues with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandyan. The two ministers discussed the details of an agreement aimed at enhancement of bilateral relations. (Rustavi 2)



The first Jury Trial to be held in Georgia on 9 November

The first jury trial will be held in Georgia on 9 November. Tbilisi Civil Court announced today.

As speaker judge of Tbilisi Civil Court, Eka Areshidze stated, the trial will start at 10:00 tomorrow. 12 jurors and 3 alternate jurors were selected yesterday.

Eka Areshidze said that the jurors will hear the case of deliberate murder and group robbery. She said that the trial is open and all interested people will be able to attend.

Eka Areshidze stated that identities of the jurors will not be made public for their security.

The jurors will hear evidence in a murder case committed on Bush Street in 1994 and robbery against Family of Neshen Minasiani. (Rustavi 2)



Ivanishvili meets with NGOs

Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian billionaire, who a month ago moved from business to politics, has met with the representatives of the non-governmental sector today. The meeting was held at the Hotel Courtyard Marriot on Monday. Ivanishvili addressed the audience and said his goal was to draft a future action plan together.

`I`d like to draft the action plan together with you, according to which we`ll obstruct this machine of violence and agree how to involve as many people in this process as possible,` Ivanishvili said.

After the businessman`s speech, the meeting was closed for media. (Rustavi 2)



Tbilisi Railway Bypass Project Restructured

Following extensive discussions between both parties, Georgian Railway LLC will pursue the construction of a new bypass to re-route rail traffic outside the centre of Tbilisi without financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The company has chosen to restructure the implementation of the project, which is designed to improve the efficiency and safety of rail operations and free more than 70 hectares of land in the Georgian capital for urban renewal projects.

The EBRD had agreed last year to provide a ˆ100 million loan to help fund new tracks and develop the key east-west freight corridor, used for the transportation of oil and other products from Azerbaijan and central Asia to Georgia’s Black Sea ports and will now consider supporting other priority projects with the railways.

Since the start of operations in Georgia, the EBRD has invested approximately ˆ1.6 billion in 140 projects, and remains committed to developing the country’s infrastructure sector.

The EBRD, owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions, is supporting the development of market economies and democracies in countries from central Europe to central Asia. (Prime-News)