Thursday, July 19, 2007, #136 (1403)

News in Brief:

President of Georgia Announces State Program to Teach Georgian to Ethnic Minorities
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has announced a state program to teach Georgian to ethnic minorities residing in the countryside.
“We plan to train 100 representatives of ethnic minorities from Samtskhe–Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli in the Georgian language, and have them study at Georgian institutions of higher education,” Saakashvili said.
Many ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis reside in these regions, and many do not know the state language. This bars them from working in most places.
Saakashvili then went on to say, “It’s not their fault that they can’t speak Georgian. However, it’s our job to remove the language barrier so that they can succeed.”
(Black Sea Press)

Levan Choladze Presents New Adjaran Leader
On Wednesday, Levan Choladze, head of the Chamber of Control of Georgia, along with his deputy Levan Mkheidze, presented the title of head of the Adjaran Chamber of Control to Levan Kiknavelidze.
Levan Kiknavelidze was formerly the head of the Financial Police in the Imereti region, and worked as an advisor to the head of the government of Adjara.
(Prime News)

Students to Help in Renovation of Cultural Monuments
Students will help in renovating the fortresses of Ujarma, Khertvisi, Manavi, Zakagori, Khemiskuri, and Peter.
Three groups of students have already arrived at these fortresses to begin renovating them, according to the Ministry of Culture, Monument Protection and Sport.
Each group is comprised of 20 students who work for ten days with architects to restore the monuments.
(Prime News)

National Exams Finish

Georgian Deputy Minister of Justice Visits Austria
Georgian Deputy Minister of Justice Nato Gagnidze and Chairman of the Ministry’s Civil Registry Agency Giorgi Vashadze left for Austria on Wednesday.
The officials plan to attend a meeting about the International Civil Aviation Organization’s travel standards organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The meeting will address ICAO standards and OSCE obligations and state-of-the-art technologies, e-reader travel documents, biometric and e-passports, and other forms of identification.
The meeting will also consider issues of security including the Interpol’s database of stolen and lost documents, and will discuss funding an updated record program.
(Prime News)

Saakashvili and Yushchenko Discuss Cooperation Issues 
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko recently discussed issues of cooperation in a telephone conversation.
According to the Ukrainian President’s press office, the two presidents discussed developing the Ukrainian–Georgian relationship and ways to settle the so-called ‘frozen conflicts.’ They also discussed energy security.
(Prime News)

Meeting on Baku–Tbilisi–Kars Railway System Held in Baku
A meeting discussing the setup of the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway was held in Baku on Wednesday.
The Georgian delegation includes Irakli Ezugbaia, head of the Georgian state-run Railway Company, and Davit Natroshvili, Georgian Deputy Minister of Economic Development.
The group plans to discuss repairing a 192-kilometer stretch of railroad track passing through Georgia.
The full project envisages a 105-kilometer railroad track from Kars to Akhalkalaki, with a 29-kilometer section from Akhalkalaki to the Turkish border.
The Turkish side will fund construction in its own territory. Azerbaijan will loan Georgia USD 200 million to finance its section of the track. The Ministry of Transport of Azerbaijan plans to coordinate the project.
(Prime News)



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