DFWatch staff 
TBILISI, October 24 – The U.S. Treasury has clarified that transactions with sanctioned Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft, including their international subsidiaries, will only be permitted until November 21, 2025, under a temporary exemption covering fuel purchases and essential services, BPN reports. The clarification follows Washington’s decision earlier this week to sanction Russia’s two … Read more
TBILISI, October 24 – Former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has been formally charged with large-scale money laundering. According to prosecutors, Garibashvili is accused under Article 194 of Georgia’s Criminal Code of legalizing illicit income involving particularly large sums. Prosecutors said he pleaded guilty to the charges, though the former premier has not yet commented … Read more
TBILISI, October 23 – Georgia’s banks will play by the rules after Washington slapped sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil, and 34 of their subsidiaries. Natia Turnava, president of Georgia’s National Bank, said on Thursday that the country’s lenders “fully observe international sanctions” and that in this case “we will act … Read more
TBILISI, October 23 – A veteran opposition figure in Georgia says the country’s most powerful political patron is tightening control and humiliating formerly loyal lieutenants in public view. Roman Gotsiridze, a former member of parliament for the National Movement, used a Thursday interview to paint Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream … Read more
TBILISI, October 23 – Tbilisi has officially launched a tender for the design and construction of its first modern tram line in decades, a major step toward reintroducing electric streetcars to the Georgian capital. Mayor Kakha Kaladze announced Thursday that the new line will connect the rapidly growing Didi Dighomi residential district with the central … Read more
TBILISI, October 22 – Police detained around 20 protesters on Wednesday evening during renewed clashes outside Georgia’s parliament in Tbilisi. The solidarity rally for jailed journalists was held amid steady stream of detentions in recent days, and turned tense when demonstrators again blocked Rustaveli Avenue, the city’s main thoroughfare. According to the Ministry of Internal … Read more
TBILISI, October 22 – Conflicting reports have emerged after Reuters claimed that a tanker carrying Russian crude arrived in Georgia’s Black Sea port of Kulevi for processing, potentially putting the country in a politically sensitive position amid Western sanctions on Moscow. According to Reuters, the tanker Kaiseri delivered more than 105,000 metric tons of “Siberian … Read more
TBILISI, October 22 – Georgian police detained twelve demonstrators in the capital during the past 24 hours for violating public assembly laws, as protests continue outside the parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue despite mounting restrictions. According to a statement from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, protesters “continued to engage in unlawful actions” by blocking traffic … Read more
TBILISI, October 22 – Journalists in the Georgian coastal city of Batumi held a rally on Wednesday to protest the recent arrests of several reporters, calling the detentions an attack on media freedom. Carrying banners that read “Who will expose corruption and nepotism if there is no media?”, demonstrators gathered outside the Constitutional Court and … Read more
TBILISI, October 22 – Georgia’s long-awaited Anaklia deep-sea port will receive its first ships by 2029, according to Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Tamar Ioseliani, who spoke during a panel discussion at the Silk Road Forum in Tbilisi. Ioseliani described the project not just as a port, but as “a platform for services … Read more