DFWatch staff 
TBILISI, September 15 – Authorities in Russia’s North Ossetia region are preparing to declare a state of emergency after a record number of freight trucks jammed the main crossing into Georgia. Regional deputy prime minister Irbek Tomaev told Russian media that nearly 2,500 trucks are currently registered in an online queue to pass through the … Read more
TBILISI, September 15 – Elene Khoshtaria, one of the leaders of Georgia’s opposition group Coalition for Change, was taken to a temporary detention facility in the Tbilisi district of Zahesi, local media reported. Earlier this morning, police detained Khoshtaria outside her home and took her to a police station. Supporters from her party later gathered … Read more
TBILISI, September 15 – Tensions in Georgia’s capital flared this weekend after police detained a prominent opposition leader over an act of vandalism targeting the ruling party’s mayoral campaign. Elene Khoshtaria, one of the leaders of the opposition Coalition for Change, was taken into custody outside her home, according to local media. Authorities said her … Read more
TBILISI, September 15 – The lawyer of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder and honorary chairman of Georgia’s ruling party, has accused foreign journalists of trying to discredit his client while covering an ongoing case involving alleged misappropriation of Ivanishvili’s bitcoin holdings. In a statement released this week, lawyer Temo Tsikvadze said he had been contacted … Read more
TBILISI, September 15 – Giga Bokeria, leader of the small opposition party Federalists, blasted the detention of Elena Khoshtaria, the head of the opposition group Droa. Bokeria described the move as “another shameless example of double standards” by what he called the “unconstitutional regime of Bidzina Ivanishvili,” the billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream … Read more
TBILISI, September 15 – A jailed leader of Georgia’s largest opposition party has accused the country’s most powerful political figures of locking him up to silence dissent, calling his arrest proof that the government fears its own people. Levan Khabeishvili, a senior figure in the United National Movement (UNM), made the comments in a handwritten … Read more
TBILISI, September 14 – Georgia’s opposition parties gathered in Tbilisi on September 13 for a rally that passed peacefully, drawing between several hundred and up to 3,000 people, according to different estimates. The demonstration, which started at Tbilisi State University and ended in front of parliament on Rustaveli Avenue, was joined by ex-President Salome Zurabishvili, … Read more
TBILISI, September 13 – Levan Khabeishvili, chairman of the political council of the opposition United National Movement (UNM), has been formally charged in Georgia with promising bribes to officials and publicly calling for the overthrow of state authority. His arrest has triggered sharp debate, with the opposition accusing the government of fear mongering ahead of … Read more
TBILISI, September 12 – Georgia’s distributors are pushing back against new rules that limit the movement of large trucks in Tbilisi during peak hours, warning that the measures are driving up costs and complicating deliveries. Lasha Rijamadze, president of the country’s Association of Distributors, told Business Press News that companies face major difficulties since the … Read more
TBILISI, September 12 – Georgia’s tourism industry is seeing more visitors this year, but guides warn the change in who is coming could hurt the country’s earnings. “There are tourists in terms of numbers, but the share of solvent tourists has sharply decreased,” guide Aleksandre Giorgidze told BPN. He said arrivals from Asia have grown, … Read more