The Messenger #144 (1411)

Tuesday, July 31, 2007, #144 (1411)

Press Scanner
Prepared by Diana Dundua

Headline: Giorgi Arveladze: "Internet service providers are deceiving consumers!"

The newspaper Akhali Taoba reports that new internet service providers are setting up shop in the country, ending years of a Caucasus Online monopoly. Minister of Economic Development Giorgi Arveladze spelled out Tbilisi's position on the matter.

"The internet service providers are deceiving consumers; subscribers are obliged to pay at least GEL 45 more for the low-speed internet. This shouldn't happen in the 21st century. There are foreign companies which are planning to work on the local market with all rules observed. If the existing providers continue deceiving consumers, in the future they will be deprived of their business altogether," said the state minister.

Arveladze said the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) should act immediately to change the situation, otherwise the commission itself could be shut down.

"Everyone must know that we won't let thousands of consumers be deceived and others to do business at their expense!" Arveladze warned.

The state minister said that head of the GNCC Zurab Nanikashvili was abstaining from commenting on the issue so far, though will take a public position soon.

There are 17 internet service providers in Georgia, but Caucasus Online holds about 90 percent of the market. Domestic communications giant United Telecom recently announced its own foray into the market, sparking a protracted conflict with Caucasus Online over tariff charges. The two companies eventually signed an agreement brokered by Arveladze and the GNCC.

Headline: Kazakhstanis apologize to Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Kazakhstani football club FC Astana officially apologized to the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for distributing a controversial Georgian map, the newspaper Mteli Kvira reports.

FC Astana representatives handed out promotional brochures before a match between FC Astana and FC Lokomotive Rustavi. The brochures depicted a map of Georgia minus the regions of Adjara, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry sent a formal note of protest to the temporary representative of Kazakhstan in Georgia.

Headline: David Meskhishvili: "The water is clean and not dangerous in Adjara!"

Deputy Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs Davit Meskhishvili, writes the newspaper Sakartvelos Respublika, sought to assuage worries about pollution in Adjara's waters.

"The drinking and recreation water in Adjara is clean and absolutely not dangerous for the population," the deputy minister said.

Meskhishvili said he takes full responsibility for the safety of the water, and that tests have shown the water to be crystal clean.

More attention is being paid to water quality in Adjara as tourist season opens and thousands flock to the popular Black Sea resort region.

Note: This year, the number of the tourists holidaying in Adjara resorts increased markedly over previous years, with the province already playing host to about 100 000 tourists.

Headline: Registration for IDPs in Tbilisi nearly complete

Akhali Taoba reports that the compulsory registration process for IDPs in the capital should wrap up in several days.

According to the Ministry of Refugees and Resettlement, registration for IDPs in Vake-Saburtalo, and Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi districts in Tbilisi, plus those in Tskneti are nearly finished. Most IDPs living in Gldani-Nadzaladevi, Isani-Samgori and Didube-Chugureti districts have already passed through the procedure.

Registration is also underway in Shida-Kartli, Kvemo Kartli and Kakheti provinces.