DFWatch staff 
TBILISI, April 15 – Claims that the railway in self-proclaimed Abkhazia could compete with the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars transport corridor are exaggerated, according to new report by the Transport Corridor Research Center (TCRC). The report was a response to recent public claims from the head of the container terminal in Ochamchire, who said the route through Abkhazia … Read more
TBILISI, April 15 – Georgia’s opposition has asked the country’s president to pardon four jailed miners from the western town of Chiatura. The appeal came from the opposition party For Georgia, led by exiled former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, MP Shalva Kereselidze said the party would send a formal petition … Read more
TBILISI, April 14 – The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, met non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Tbilisi on Tuesday, discussing protests, detainees and recent legal changes. Interpressnews reported that the commissioner met representatives of civic society, including Transparency International Georgia, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association and the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics. … Read more
TBILISI, April 14 – Heavy rainfall and a surging river have forced traffic restrictions on a key road in eastern Georgia, with authorities temporarily banning light vehicles from one affected section. Georgia’s Roads Department said the restriction is in place at the 130-kilometer mark of the Tbilisi-Bakurtsikhe-Lagodekhi road, near the village of Heretiskari. The road … Read more
TBILISI, April 9 – Moldova has moved into the final phase of leaving the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), after President Maia Sandu signed decrees denouncing the founding agreements of the bloc, according to local outlet Newsmaker. The decrees signed by Sandu took effect on April 8, marking the final stage of Moldova’s withdrawal from … Read more
TBILISI, April 9, Georgia’s annual memorial for the victims of the April 9, 1989 Soviet crackdown turned tense on Thursday, as mourning ceremonies outside parliament were repeatedly interrupted by shouting and scuffles. Citizens and activists spent the night at the April 9 memorial in central Tbilisi, where people gathered through the morning to honor the … Read more
TBILISI, April 9 – Georgia on Thursday marked 37 years since the April 9 tragedy, one of the most painful and defining dates in the country’s modern history. In the early hours of April 9, 1989, units of the Soviet Union’s armed forces broke up a peaceful protest in central Tbilisi near the parliament building. … Read more
TBILISI, April 8 – Georgia’s government says train travel is about to get faster and broader, with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announcing new rail directions from Tbilisi and major cuts in travel time on two key routes. Speaking at a government meeting on Wednesday, Kobakhidze said the railway network will add a Tbilisi-Kutaisi direction and … Read more
TBILISI, April 8 – Georgia’s parliament is set to take up a bill that would wipe out fines and late-payment penalties imposed on people punished after recent rallies and demonstrations. The proposal was submitted by the opposition party For Georgia, led by former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, and is due to be discussed in first … Read more
TBILISI, April 7 – Georgia’s central bank chief backs parliament’s price probe as a way to enhance competition and transparency, while the IMF warns against sliding into blunt price controls. It started as a Christmas Eve video message by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, and developed into first a government commission and then a parliamentary one. … Read more