Wednesday, July 25, 2007, #140 (1407)

News in Brief:

40 Percent of Russians Believe that Russia Must Recognize Independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia
About 40 percent of Russian citizens believe that Russia must recognize the independence of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia if the UN resolution authored by Martti Ahtisaari on Kosovo is adopted, the data of the sociological poll organized by the Analytical Center of Yuri Levada notes.
1600 Russian citizens participated in the poll.
The question was: “Should Russia recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia if the UN contrary to the protests of Serbia approves the decision to recognize the independence of the Autonomous Region of Kosovo?”
16 percent of respondents provided a definitely positive response, 23 percent inclined to say “yes”, and only 10 percent had a negative response.
48 percent abstained from answering.
At the same time, 37 percent of those polled noted that Russia must use its right of veto so that the independence of Kosovo is not recognized.
(Black Sea Press)

Foreign Minister of Armenia to Visit Georgia
Vardan Oskanyan, Foreign Minister of Armenia, will arrive on a working visit in Georgia on July 25-27.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that Oskanyan held a telephone conversation with his Georgian counterpart Gela Bezhuashvili on Wednesday.
During the conversation the sides discussed aspects of bilateral relations and details of the visit.
(Prime News)

De Facto Government Officials Sign Agreement on Implementation of Tskhinvali–Sokhumi Direct Flights
De facto government officials of the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have signed an agreement on implementing Tskhinvali–Sokhumi chartered flights announced Moris Sanakoyev, head of the transport committee of the de facto government of South Ossetia reports the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee.
According to Sanakoyev, the agreement was made between the transport committee of Tskhinvali and AbkhazAutoTransport.
Sanakoyev also admitted that the committee had signed the agreement with the Ministry of Transport of North Ossetia in 2003.
(Prime News)

Citizens of Ukraine and Armenia Detained for Illegal Crossing of Border
The Georgian border guards arrested an Armenian and Ukrainian citizen at the Sadakhlo-Railway Red Bridge checkpoint of the Border Police Office.
The Border Police stated that while going through customs control, border guards discovered the suspects had entered Georgia through the Roki Tunnel.      
The investigation is ongoing.
(Prime News)

Head and Engineer of Tsageri Road Department Arrested For Misappropriation
Employees of the Imereti Division of Investigative Department of the Revenue Service have detained Shakhman Gugava, head of the company Tsageri Road Department, and Amirna Khvadagiani, chief engineer of Tsageri Road Department, accused of misappropriation of state money.
Allegedly, Gugava and Khvadagiani misappropriated GEL 55 000. The money allocated from the state budget was to reconstruct roads.
If convicted they will face from four to seven years imprisonment.
(Prime News)

Strategic Document on Millennium Development Elaborated for Capital 
The presentation of the report “Millennium Development Goals in Tbilisi” elaborated by the UN Development Program and Tbilisi City Hall, was held at Tbilisi City Hall on Tuesday.
Gigi Ugulava, Tbilisi City Mayor, and Robert Watkins, UNDP ambassador to Georgia, have presented a strategic document about development for the next millennium.
According to Ugulava, all priorities have been set forth in the document in order to make the capital more secure and to establish a healthy environment for the population.
According to him, the priorities of the development of the capital are: Tbilisi – a rich city, Tbilisi – a city of education, Tbilisi – a city of equals, Tbilisi –a healthy city, Tbilisi – a green city and Tbilisi – a modern city.
“The document is a good guide book for planning the next strategy… This is the first attempt at strategic planning in Georgia,” stated Ugulava.
Watkins stated that Tbilisi was the only city in the world, which had separately elaborated a strategic development document. “We think in the UN that it was the right decision. 24 percent of the population of Georgia resides in Tbilisi and it is the most important place for the country’s development,” remarked Watkins.
(Prime News)



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