DFWatch staff 
TBILISI, September 18 – Georgia’s public transport fleet is showing its age. According to the country’s statistics office, almost 93 percent of all minibuses and buses in Georgia are more than ten years old. The 2024 data show a total of 54,600 buses and minibuses registered nationwide. Of these, 50,600, or 92.7 percent, were built … Read more
TBILISI, September 18 – More than 70,000 passengers have flown on direct routes between Russia and Abkhazia since Moscow resumed air links to the breakaway region earlier this year, according to Russian aviation chief Dmitry Yadrovo in a briefing with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. Flights into Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, restarted on May 1, … Read more
TBILISI, September 18 – As Georgia heads toward local elections, in 25 municipalities across the country, only the ruling Georgian Dream party has put forward mayoral candidates, according to official data released by the Central Election Commission (CEC). The country has 74 election districts outside the capital Tbilisi, meaning one-third of races will be uncontested. … Read more
TBILISI, September 18 – Russia is facing its worst gasoline shortage in two years, with wholesale sales dropping sharply while prices hit record highs, according to business daily Kommersant. On September 16, sales of A-92 gasoline at the St Petersburg commodity exchange fell 21.7% to 15,600 tons, the lowest level since 2023. A-95 gasoline sales … Read more
TBILISI, September 18 – The joint Lelo and For Georgia candidate for mayor in landslide hit Kharagauli surveyed affected villages today, as the elections are only weeks away. Inga Maghradze was joined by Aleko Elisashvili, who is running for deputy mayor of the capital for the same two party ticket, although he is leader of … Read more
TBILISI, September 18 – Georgian opposition leaders are turning to Europe for support ahead of the country’s heated municipal elections. On Thursday, Mamuka Khazaradze, chairman of the Lelo coalition, and joint opposition mayoral candidate Irakli Kupradze met with Brussels Mayor Philippe Close in the Belgian capital. They were joined by their campaign chief, Tazo Datunashvili. … Read more
TBILISI, September 18 – The opposition in Georgia are divided ahead of the October 4 local elections, a day some groups have called for using to stage a “peaceful revolution,” while other disagree. Former prime minister Giorgi Gakharia, now leader of the For Georgia party, dismissed the plan as an illusion and “the biggest mistake.” … Read more
TBILISI, September 18 – One of Georgia’s most high-profile opposition figures, Elene Khoshtaria, has been ordered to pay 5,000 lari (about USD 1,800) in bail following her arrest for defacing a ruling party election banner. A judge in Tbilisi set the bail on Monday, but Khoshtaria, one of the leading figures of the opposition Coalition … Read more
TBILISI, September 18 – Georgia’s Olympic judo champion Zurab Zviadauri is refusing to speak to investigators, while still in detention after being arrested on charges of illegal gun possession. His lawyer, Datuna Modebadze, told reporters that while Zviadauri already had defendant status in a separate murder case, he was not barred from carrying a firearm. … Read more
TBILISI, September 18 – Prosecutors in Georgia say five people have been charged with running a large-scale illegal cannabis operation in the eastern wine region of Kakheti. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, investigators from the Ministry of Internal Affairs uncovered 1,337 cannabis plants in the village of Vakiri, part of Sighnaghi municipality. The plants weighed … Read more