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Chinese Hauling Group builds new district in Tbilisi, Georgia


 

(firstpost.com) Georgia, Russia tiptoe toward partial restoration of ties

TBILISI (Reuters) – Russia and Georgia set out a blueprint for the partial restoration of ties at their first direct talks about bilateral relations since the former Soviet republics fought a five-day war in 2008, the Georgian negotiator said on Saturday.

Russia and Georgia severed diplomatic ties due to the war, which followed years of tension over Moscow’s support for two rebel regions and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s drive to bring his nation into NATO, and trade all but dried up.

Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose coalition beat Saakashvili’s long-ruling party in an October 1 parliamentary election, says he wants to mend ties with Moscow while maintaining warm relations with the United States and Europe.

“We defined those issues that we plan to start negotiations about: trade, humanitarian and cultural ties and restoration of regular flights between the two countries,” Zurab Abashidze, Ivanishvili’s envoy for relations with Russia, told reporters.

At the meeting on Friday, held in Geneva and mediated by Switzerland, the countries agreed to continue talks on regular basis, he said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the representatives “exchanged views on possible ways to normalise relations between Russian and Georgia in specific spheres.”

Georgia is eager to revive trade with Russia, which banned imports of Georgian wine and mineral water, two of its main products, as tensions increased two years before the war.

Restoration of diplomatic ties is not yet on the agenda, and Russia has made clear it will give no ground on the issue of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two breakaway Georgian regions it recognised as independent nations after the war.

Russian forces crushed a Georgian assault on South Ossetia in August 2008 and drove toward Tbilisi, pulling back after a cease-fire brokered by the European Union. Each accuses the other of starting the conflict.

Russia and Georgia have held talks in recent years on issues related to Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organisation and to the breakaway regions, but not on bilateral ties.

(Reporting by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Steve Gutterman and Jason Webb)

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TRAFFIC: Opening of Abkhazian railway meets the interests of all South Caucasian countries (armradio.am)

(armradio.am) Gita Elibekyan

“Radiolur”, Tbilisi

Exploitation of the Abkhazian railway meets the interests of the all countries of the South Caucasus, some Georgian experts say. They consider that this will have a positive influence on the economies of those countries. The new authorities in Georgia have declared recently about the willingness to restore the railway communication with Russia interrupted 20 years ago.

“If we open our part of the railway, Abkhazia will have an alternative,” says Paata Zakareshvili, Georgia’s State Minister for Reintegration. “The railroad will serve all –Russia, Georgia, Armenia. This will increase the geopolitical role of our country. The cargoes will then be shipped not only from the east to the west, but also from the north to the south.”

“Surely, the operation of the railway will be positive for the economies of Armenia and Georgia  also as other countries of the region. The volume of commodity turnover will increase,” political analyst Georgy Areshidze says. However, he advises the Georgian authorities to be cautious and consider the issue primarily from the point of view of national security.

As for the negative reaction of the Azerbaijani side, the expert says it’s understandable. “Azerbaijan fears that the Russian military cargoes will reach Armenia this way. If the railway is really re-launched, it will bring about tension in the Georgian-Azerbaijani relations,” Areshidze notes.

It’s worth mentioning that in response to assessments of some Azerbaijani political scientists, Paata Zakareshvili said “it’s not up to Azerbaijani political scientists to decide whether the rail communication with Russian should be restored or not.”

“No Georgian government will ever question the Georgian-Armenian and Georgian-Azerbaijani relations, but it’s not going to sacrifice its interests to the benefit of other countries,” the Minister for Reintegration declared.

The railway was constructed during Tsarist times. The railway communication was suspended in 1992-1993 after the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict.

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