Monday, March 16, 2026

Georgian lawmakers grill major retail chains over prices

TBILISI, March 16 – Nearly three months after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze criticized high retail markups, lawmakers are pressing supermarket chains to explain how shelf prices are actually formed. At the parliamentary commission’s seventh working session on Monday, representatives of large retail operators including Carrefour, Ori Nabiji, Nikora and Daily Group were called in to … Read more

OSCE report criticizes Georgia for democracy deficit

TBILISI, March 13 – A fresh political fight broke out in Georgia after the OSCE published its long-awaited report under the so-called Moscow Mechanism, saying the country experienced a drop in democratic standards during the period under review. The report, which was made public Thursday evening, examines developments in Georgia since the spring of 2024. … Read more

22 Georgians safe as tanker ablaze in Iraqi waters

TBILISI, March 12 – One of the two oil tankers that caught fire overnight near Iraq was carrying 22 Georgian crew members. All of them were safely evacuated, according to Georgian media reports. Interpressnews, citing Greek media, reported that the vessel was the Zefyros, a Maltese-flagged tanker owned by a company in Greece. The report … Read more

Georgia evacuates residents after landslide in Tkibuli

TBILISI, March 12 – Emergency crews began evacuating residents in western Georgia on Thursday after a landslide hit a village in the Tkibuli municipality, while authorities also shut down a nearby section of road because of damage caused by the same slide. Georgia’s Emergency Management Service said the landslide struck the village of Kursebi, in … Read more

51 arrested in nationwide weapons raids

TBILISI, March 11 – Georgian police said Wednesday they had seized dozens of illegal firearms, ammunition and explosive materials across the country over the past two days, with 51 people detained in a broad security operation. The announcement was made at a briefing by Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, who said the searches … Read more

EU removes Kulevi terminal from 20th sanctions package

TBILISI, March 11 – Georgia’s Kulevi oil terminal is back in the spotlight after Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili said there was no evidence to justify putting the facility into the European Union’s latest sanctions package against Russia. Speaking on Tuesday, Botchorishvili said the Georgian side had once again shown the European Commission what steps the … Read more

Most municipal property auctions have just one bidder

TBILISI, March 11 – A new state audit has found that most municipal properties sold through electronic auction in Georgia drew just one bidder, spotlighting how local governments are privatizing public real estate. The findings, reported by BPN, touch a sensitive subject in Georgia, where privatization of public assets has been a recurring feature of … Read more

Rail losing ground to trucks due to deteriorating tracks

TBILISI, March 10 – Georgia’s domestic rail freight has fallen sharply over the past decade, with transport experts blaming neglected branch lines, very low speeds and a system that can no longer compete with road haulage. Speaking on Palitra News, Paata Tsagareishvili, head of the Transport Corridor Research Center (TCRC), said local cargo shipments on … Read more

OSCE calls for dialogue, competition and access to detainees

TBILISI, March 10 – A delegation of parliamentarians from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ended its visit with a blunt message: the country has a dialogue problem, democracy needs real competition, and the mission was denied access to detainees. On Tuesday morning, Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili met OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President … Read more