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The News in Brief

Friday, August 18
Georgia’s Interior Ministry solves swindling case

“An unprecedented case of swindling by an organized group against insurance companies was exposed and solved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs,” Georgia’s Interior Ministry reports.

The officers of the Central Criminal Police Department as a result of operative-searching and investigative activities detained members of the organized criminal group, currently only identified as Sh.T. (DoB 1978)I.TS. (DoN 1989) G.S. (DoB 1984) and I.T. (DoB 1980).

Investigation established that beginning from December 5, 2015 till November 17, 1016 detainees acted in accordance with the previously elaborated scheme and insured various vehicles owned by them with insurance companies. After the mentioned, detainees staged the car crashes and reported about the alleged accident to the insurance companies for receiving refund. The refund cash was transacted on the accounts of persons who ensured their properties. As a result of the mentioned criminal scheme detainees illegally appropriated 33 000 GEL from the insurance companies.

The investigation against I.T. is in progress under the article 19-180 II and III parts, sub-paragraph B, article 180 II and III parts, sub-paragraph B, while investigation against I.Ts. is in progress under the article 180 part II, sub-paragraph B, investigation against Sh.T. is in progress under article 19-180 III part, sub-paragraph B and article 180 III part, sub-paragraph B, and G.S. is charged under the article 19-180 II part sub-paragraph B of the Criminal Code, the Ministry reports. (Police.ge)



Liquid gas explodes at Abashidze Street, Batumi, three injured

Liquid gas has caused an explosion at Gen. Aslan Abashidze Street in Batumi. As reported, four buildings were engulfed in flames and two people were injured. They were hospitalized, and two of them remain in a critical condition.

Locals at the scene demanded a meeting with Batumi Mayor Giorgi Ermakov, declaring they had earlier demanded the liquid gas station be closed down.

Two houses were totally destroyed and two were damaged; five vehicles also burnt.

Batumi Mayor Giorgi Ermakov visited the scene and declared that the liquid gas station had no relevant permission from Batumi City Hall, adding that the incident will be investigated without delay. (IPN)



Tbilisi to host UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifiers

Georgia's capital Tbilisi will host six matches of the UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying stage, with the fixtures set to kick-off over three matchdays starting next week.

The MikheilMeskhi 2 stadium and David Petriashvili Arena in the city will be the venues for games played between GintraUniversitetas of Lithuania, Turkey's KonakBelediyespor, Slovakia's PartizanBardejov and local favourites Martve.

The four teams are part of the qualifying Group 1 for Europe's premier women's club tournament, and among 40 teams vying to reach the final stage of the competition's 2017-2018 season.

For each group of the qualifying round, UEFA has designated a host team, with matches of the group played in the country of the club.

Martve, the Georgian champions and the country's first Women's Champions League entrants since the 2010-2011 season, have been selected as hosts of Group 1.

Players of the club, based in Georgia's western city Kutaisi, are set to return to Tbilisi on August 19 following their pre-qualifiers training in Azerbaijan. They will face KonakBelediyespor in the opening match on August 22.

Held over August 22-28, the qualifying round will reveal clubs from all groups claiming 11 available spots at the finals of the tournament, which will progress over the rest of the football season and end in the final match played in Ukraine's capital Kiev.

UEFA said a record 61 teams from 49 European football associations had signed for the current Women's Champions League season.

France's Lyon are the current champions of the continental competition, which was first launched in 2000. (Agenda.ge)



Saakashvili announces plan to return to Ukraine via Poland

The Georgian-born former governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region, Mikheil Saakashvili, announced on Wednesday the time and date of his return to Ukraine despite being stripped of that country’s citizenship.

Saakashvili, who recently launched a new political party in Ukraine to try to enter the VerkhovnaRada, was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship in late July. His native Georgia, of which he was president from 2004 to 2012, revoked his citizenship in 2015.

Speaking live from Warsaw via the social networking site Facebook, Saakashvili proclaimed that he will cross the border from Poland to Ukraine on September 10, at the Korczowa-Krakovets border crossing.

Without citizenship and at odds with President Poroshenko, Saakashvili might be expected to run into difficulties in the border control, but during the online conference, which was held in the Ukrainian language, he called upon his supporters to facilitate his return and offered a hotline that they can call to get appropriate instructions. He asked his supporters to establish a human corridor to help him cross the border. (dfwatch.net)