The News in Brief
Tuesday, January 15
New Akhalgori travel restrictions delayed for one month
South Ossetia has postponed for a month the coming into force of a new regulation which makes it harder for Akhalgori residents to cross the de facto border.
On December 26, Tskhinvali adopted a new regulation which makes it much harder to cross the de facto border between Akhalgori and Georgia proper.
The regulation was set to come into force from January 1, and would severely impact the ethnic Georgians who make up the brunt of the area’s population and depend on being able to travel through the checkpoint for their livelihood.
Currently, locals need either a South Ossetian ‘passport’, or a special pass, in order to be allowed through the checkpoint, but new regulations imply that every time a person is crossing the administrative borderline, they must obtain a special permit which in practice will be a significant obstacle.
The decision to make the rules effective from February 1 instead of January 1 might be related to the immense resentment the new regulation has caused among locals, Tamar Mearakishvili, an Akhalgori civic activist, told Ekho Kavkaza.
“The people’s reaction was strong. They used to say: ‘The authorities have only to say: Leave here! Everything goes to this’,” she said.
South Ossetia will be holding elections for de facto president this summer. Locals hope this might make Tskhinvali more attentive to their problems to garner more votes.
Even in Tskhinvali, many oppose the travel restrictions, Mearakishvili says.
( DF watch)
Georgian agriculture and construction companies to profit from energy efficiency loans
The Green for Growth Fund (GGF) has provided a loan of 10 million USD to Georgia’s Basisbank for supporting energy efficiency lending to large and medium-sized companies in the agriculture and construction sectors.
The synthetic GEL loan will enable BasisBank to on-lend to eligible Georgian businesses in local currency without bearing exchange rate risk upon repayment to GGF.
The loan will be further supported through tailored capacity building activities of the GGF Technical Assistance Facility to enable the lender to better assess the environmental impact of its prospective investments.
“Basisbank’s focus on working with growing businesses in Georgia offers promising potential for helping companies become trendsetters in energy efficiency. We are confident that the partnership with Basisbank will significantly help stimulate awareness and implementation of energy efficiency measures in Georgia,” GGF Chairman Olaf Zymelka said.
The Green for Growth Fund invests in measures designed to cut energy use and CO2 emissions and improve resource efficiency in 19 markets across Southeast Europe, the Caucasus, Ukraine, Moldova, the Middle East and North Africa. The fund provides financing to local partners that on-lend to enterprises and private households, and invest directly through the contribution of senior debt in renewable energy projects.
(Agenda.ge)
South Ossetia has postponed for a month the coming into force of a new regulation which makes it harder for Akhalgori residents to cross the de facto border.
On December 26, Tskhinvali adopted a new regulation which makes it much harder to cross the de facto border between Akhalgori and Georgia proper.
The regulation was set to come into force from January 1, and would severely impact the ethnic Georgians who make up the brunt of the area’s population and depend on being able to travel through the checkpoint for their livelihood.
Currently, locals need either a South Ossetian ‘passport’, or a special pass, in order to be allowed through the checkpoint, but new regulations imply that every time a person is crossing the administrative borderline, they must obtain a special permit which in practice will be a significant obstacle.
The decision to make the rules effective from February 1 instead of January 1 might be related to the immense resentment the new regulation has caused among locals, Tamar Mearakishvili, an Akhalgori civic activist, told Ekho Kavkaza.
“The people’s reaction was strong. They used to say: ‘The authorities have only to say: Leave here! Everything goes to this’,” she said.
South Ossetia will be holding elections for de facto president this summer. Locals hope this might make Tskhinvali more attentive to their problems to garner more votes.
Even in Tskhinvali, many oppose the travel restrictions, Mearakishvili says.
( DF watch)
Georgian agriculture and construction companies to profit from energy efficiency loans
The Green for Growth Fund (GGF) has provided a loan of 10 million USD to Georgia’s Basisbank for supporting energy efficiency lending to large and medium-sized companies in the agriculture and construction sectors.
The synthetic GEL loan will enable BasisBank to on-lend to eligible Georgian businesses in local currency without bearing exchange rate risk upon repayment to GGF.
The loan will be further supported through tailored capacity building activities of the GGF Technical Assistance Facility to enable the lender to better assess the environmental impact of its prospective investments.
“Basisbank’s focus on working with growing businesses in Georgia offers promising potential for helping companies become trendsetters in energy efficiency. We are confident that the partnership with Basisbank will significantly help stimulate awareness and implementation of energy efficiency measures in Georgia,” GGF Chairman Olaf Zymelka said.
The Green for Growth Fund invests in measures designed to cut energy use and CO2 emissions and improve resource efficiency in 19 markets across Southeast Europe, the Caucasus, Ukraine, Moldova, the Middle East and North Africa. The fund provides financing to local partners that on-lend to enterprises and private households, and invest directly through the contribution of senior debt in renewable energy projects.
(Agenda.ge)