The News in Brief
Friday, July 15
“AGILE SPIRIT 2016” planning conference takes place
The final planning conference of an international military exercise, “AGILE SPIRIT 2016”, is going on in the Hotel Crowne Plaza Borjomi. Military Education Commander Colonel Malkhaz Makaradze, who is also the leader of the exercise, opened the conference. He thanked the Georgian and foreign participants and expressed hope that the issues discussed and the measures implemented within the conference will cause the exercise to go well.
The first working day of the conference was conducted according to the syndicates of various profiles. At the end of the day, the conference results were summarized and two working teams were created. These two teams will evaluate the Vaziani and Orpholo live firing grounds within two days and assess their suitability for hosting the exercise.
The four-day conference will end on the 14th of July.
The International military exercise “AGILE SPIRIT 2016” will be held in August and September with participation of the military units of various sizes from the United States, Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Turkey, Ukraine and Georgia. The exercise will take place at both the Vaziani and Orpholo and training grounds and will test combined arms operations skills. (mod.gov.ge)
EUMM mission head: Security situation in Georgia relatively stable but fragile
Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia Kestutis Jankauskas informed 57 member states of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) about current security situation in Georgia, as the country had two occupied regions.
Today, Jankauskas addressed the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) Security Dialogue, where he said that the security situation remained "relatively stable in Georgia but fragile and not free from challenges.”
He provided examples of the EUMM's daily activities and how the EUMM contributed to maintaining stability and security on the ground, as the EUMM was the only international mission in Georgia monitoring the situation near (but not in) the two occupied regions of Georgia-Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
The head of the mission underlined that EUMM access to Abkhazia and Tskhinvali would benefit everybody by the EUMM providing an impartial and factual picture on many issues.
The large number of delegations around the table thanked the Mission for its important and good work which Head of Mission attributed to teamwork on the part of all international monitors and national staff, the EUMM webpage wrote.
Georgia’s breakaway regions are currently occupied by Russia, which continually commits a range of violations of international law on Georgian soil with the cooperation of the de-facto regions’ authorities, starting from kidnapping of Georgian citizens to depriving Georgian population living in the occupied areas of receiving education on the mother language. (agenda.ge)
UNESCO removes monuments of Mtskheta removed from the list of endangered monuments
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee removed historical monuments of Mtskheta from the list of endangered monuments and put them back on the World Heritage List, InterpressNews was informed by the Ministry of Culture.
According to the agency, the decision was adopted at the 40th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, where the Georgian delegation was represented by Minister of Culture and Monument Protection Mikheil Giorgadze, Deputy Minister Mikheil Giorgadze, Head of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Protection Nikoloz Antadze and employees of the agency.
The committee members and international organizations positively assessed the complex efforts of the Georgian state in the protection of world heritage areas.
Minister of Culture and Monument Protection Mikheil Giorgadze presented information about the achieved progress to the committee members.
Historical monuments had been pot on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1994, though due to the government's inconsistent actions and neglect of international obligations they were moved to the list of endangered monuments. (IPN)
Georgia upgrades gas supply system in eastern region
Georgia is continuing to build and rehabilitate the main pipeline in the Kakheti region to safeguard the country’s natural gas supply in its eastern area.
Today the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC) announced Georgian firm Rapid Engineering & Construction Ltd had won the tender and would continue building the Kakheti Main Gas Pipeline.
In particular, Rapid Engineering & Construction Ltd will be responsible for building and rehabilitating the Telavi-Akhmeta 27km section of the Kakheti Main Gas Pipeline.
The GOGC and Rapid Engineering & Construction Ltd have already signed a contract that ensured the construction of the Telavi-Akhmeta section would be completed by February 2017.
The total price of construction of this particular section of Kakheti Main Gas Pipeline was 2,120,000 GEL (about $902,127/ˆ815,384*).
After the completion of the project in early 2017, damped pipes initially built in 1976 will completely be replaced, announced the GOGC.
In the Soviet Union, Kakheti region was supplied with natural gas through the Rustavi-Telavi gas pipeline. In the 1990s, gas delivery to Kakheti region was stopped and pipes were plundered.
The Rustavi-Sagraejo 25km section of the Rustavi-Telavi pipeline was completely stolen at that time.
Currently Kakheti region receives its gas supply only from the Zhinvali branch.
The GOGC said it was necessary to upgrade the Kakheti gas supply system and increase the pipeline performance as well as its reliability. (agenda.ge)
The final planning conference of an international military exercise, “AGILE SPIRIT 2016”, is going on in the Hotel Crowne Plaza Borjomi. Military Education Commander Colonel Malkhaz Makaradze, who is also the leader of the exercise, opened the conference. He thanked the Georgian and foreign participants and expressed hope that the issues discussed and the measures implemented within the conference will cause the exercise to go well.
The first working day of the conference was conducted according to the syndicates of various profiles. At the end of the day, the conference results were summarized and two working teams were created. These two teams will evaluate the Vaziani and Orpholo live firing grounds within two days and assess their suitability for hosting the exercise.
The four-day conference will end on the 14th of July.
The International military exercise “AGILE SPIRIT 2016” will be held in August and September with participation of the military units of various sizes from the United States, Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Turkey, Ukraine and Georgia. The exercise will take place at both the Vaziani and Orpholo and training grounds and will test combined arms operations skills. (mod.gov.ge)
EUMM mission head: Security situation in Georgia relatively stable but fragile
Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia Kestutis Jankauskas informed 57 member states of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) about current security situation in Georgia, as the country had two occupied regions.
Today, Jankauskas addressed the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) Security Dialogue, where he said that the security situation remained "relatively stable in Georgia but fragile and not free from challenges.”
He provided examples of the EUMM's daily activities and how the EUMM contributed to maintaining stability and security on the ground, as the EUMM was the only international mission in Georgia monitoring the situation near (but not in) the two occupied regions of Georgia-Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
The head of the mission underlined that EUMM access to Abkhazia and Tskhinvali would benefit everybody by the EUMM providing an impartial and factual picture on many issues.
The large number of delegations around the table thanked the Mission for its important and good work which Head of Mission attributed to teamwork on the part of all international monitors and national staff, the EUMM webpage wrote.
Georgia’s breakaway regions are currently occupied by Russia, which continually commits a range of violations of international law on Georgian soil with the cooperation of the de-facto regions’ authorities, starting from kidnapping of Georgian citizens to depriving Georgian population living in the occupied areas of receiving education on the mother language. (agenda.ge)
UNESCO removes monuments of Mtskheta removed from the list of endangered monuments
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee removed historical monuments of Mtskheta from the list of endangered monuments and put them back on the World Heritage List, InterpressNews was informed by the Ministry of Culture.
According to the agency, the decision was adopted at the 40th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, where the Georgian delegation was represented by Minister of Culture and Monument Protection Mikheil Giorgadze, Deputy Minister Mikheil Giorgadze, Head of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Protection Nikoloz Antadze and employees of the agency.
The committee members and international organizations positively assessed the complex efforts of the Georgian state in the protection of world heritage areas.
Minister of Culture and Monument Protection Mikheil Giorgadze presented information about the achieved progress to the committee members.
Historical monuments had been pot on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1994, though due to the government's inconsistent actions and neglect of international obligations they were moved to the list of endangered monuments. (IPN)
Georgia upgrades gas supply system in eastern region
Georgia is continuing to build and rehabilitate the main pipeline in the Kakheti region to safeguard the country’s natural gas supply in its eastern area.
Today the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC) announced Georgian firm Rapid Engineering & Construction Ltd had won the tender and would continue building the Kakheti Main Gas Pipeline.
In particular, Rapid Engineering & Construction Ltd will be responsible for building and rehabilitating the Telavi-Akhmeta 27km section of the Kakheti Main Gas Pipeline.
The GOGC and Rapid Engineering & Construction Ltd have already signed a contract that ensured the construction of the Telavi-Akhmeta section would be completed by February 2017.
The total price of construction of this particular section of Kakheti Main Gas Pipeline was 2,120,000 GEL (about $902,127/ˆ815,384*).
After the completion of the project in early 2017, damped pipes initially built in 1976 will completely be replaced, announced the GOGC.
In the Soviet Union, Kakheti region was supplied with natural gas through the Rustavi-Telavi gas pipeline. In the 1990s, gas delivery to Kakheti region was stopped and pipes were plundered.
The Rustavi-Sagraejo 25km section of the Rustavi-Telavi pipeline was completely stolen at that time.
Currently Kakheti region receives its gas supply only from the Zhinvali branch.
The GOGC said it was necessary to upgrade the Kakheti gas supply system and increase the pipeline performance as well as its reliability. (agenda.ge)