Saturday, May 30, 2026

Construction of new Georgian parliament still engulfed in secrecy

The lack of transparency in the building of a new Georgian parliament is so severe that corruption might well be passing unnoticed, says a group of lawyers.

TBILISI, DFWatch – An advocacy group of young lawyers says the construction of a new parliament building in western Georgia is so opaque that there could well be corruption without anyone noticing.

Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association (GYLA) has researched the

Read more

South Africans arrive to learn secrets of Georgian soil

Farmers who came from South Africa up to two years ago share their experiences with other South Africans considering to follow their example. (Photo: Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – A delegation of South African farmers have arrived in Georgia to check the prospects of taking root here.

Papuna Davitaia, State Minister for Diaspora Issues, opened the conference, which is held at Radisson Hotel, by underlining that business relations

Read more

As Elit Electronics takeover is completed, ex-owner fights on

Anzor Kokoladze believes the takeover of Elit Electronics was a conspiracy. (Photo: Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – One of the largest electronics chains in Georgia has been taken away from its founder, as the remaining 15 per cent of shares were sold at an auction.

Anzor Kokoladze, who built the chain from scratch, is serving an eight year prison term after a tax

Read more

Georgian opposition: Zero tax for those with low income

Bidzina Ivanishvili will exempt from income tax everyone with less income than the minimum wage. Georgia today has a flat tax rate of 20 %. (Photo: Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – Saturday, the opposition party everybody expects to challenge Mikheil Saakashvili in October’s parliamentary election gathered for a founding congress in Tbilisi.

Its unofficial leader, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, promised to revive agriculture

Read more

Georgian ambassador protests country's portrayal as Orwellian

In a report on Swedish public broadcaster SVT, Georgia is depicted as part of "the dictatorship belt", but the host clarifies that it is "not a dictatorship, but not a democracy either". (Screengrab from SVT1.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s ambassador to Sweden protests against the portrayal of his country as an Orwellian society where everybody is under surveillance by the secret police.

Ambassador Konstantin Kavtaradze sent a letter to SVT, the Swedish public broadcaster,

Read more

Trump spoke about planned high rise, left Georgia

Georgian TV channel Imedi showed Mikheil Saakashvili giving Donald Trump a guided tour of the presidential palace in Tbilisi Saturday. Sunday, the two spoke in Batumi about the planned high rise Trump Towers. (Photo: Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – American billionaire Donald Trump has left Georgia, after a two day visit.

Trump arrived Saturday in Tbilisi, and Sunday held a press conference in Batumi, where he plans to cooperate with local investors on building a 47-storey residential high rise

Read more

Global weapons trade may be brought under control

Viktor Bout was sentenced to 25 years in jail in April 2012, after a long career as a weapons trader. In July, talks begin in New York over an Arms Trade Treaty. (Official photo from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – The international trade in weapons which fuels conflicts around the world may be brought under control, if talks in New York in July bear fruit.

If successful, the talks will lead to the world’s first Arms Trade Treaty, aimed at preventing weapons from reaching the

Read more

Georgian opposition movement chooses woman to front party

Lawyer Manana Kobakhidze will be chairwoman of the opposition Georgian Dream party until a constitutional amendment is passed and enforced which allows billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili to take over. (Photo: Interpressnews.)

TBLISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s main opposition party today chose a female lawyer as its temporary leader.

As there is less than six months left until the parliamentary elections, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili today formally established his Georgian Dream party.

Due to

Read more

Bankruptcy frees companies of all debt

Vladimer Papava, economics professor at Georgian Foundation for International and Strategic Studies, says the law seems tailormade to help some particular companies ahead of the election in October 2012.

TBILISI, DFWatch – A new law lets companies escape all debt if they go bankrupt, freeing the owners of all responsibilities.

Following a decision by the government, companies in Georgia will be able to liquidate without paying debts. Creditors won’t be able to ask

Read more