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News in brief

Monday, December 3


Azerbaijan to restore gas supply to Georgia

The Government of Azerbaijan is to restore gas supplies to Georgia from December 1, the Azeri news agency Trend has quoted Alikhan Malikov, President of Azerigas, as saying.

According to Malikov, 1.3 million cubic meters of gas will be delivered to Georgia every day.

“The volume of gas to Georgia in 2008 hasn’t been fixed as yet – we’re due to discuss that issue in December,” he added. (Prime-News)



New building for Georgian election commission

The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia is set to move to new premises in the next two weeks.

The commission will occupy several floors in the Georgian Roads and Highways Administration building at 29a, Gagarin Street, CEC chairman, Levan Tarkhnishvili, told commission members.

“The move will start next week, and should be complete within a fortnight,” Tarkhnishvili said, adding the new premises would contain a media center. (Black Sea Press)



Russian Embassy in Tbilisi “knows nothing” about elections in Abkhazia and South Ossetia—diplomat

The Embassy of the Russian Federation in Tbilisi has “no information” about preparations for, or the holding of, elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the territories of the unacknowledged republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Press Attache of the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi, Zarina Gabiyeva said, according to the news agency RIA Novosti.

“Polling stations for the elections to the State Duma have been set up in the Embassy building in Tbilisi. Everything’s ready for citizens to cast their vote,” Gabiyeva told RIA Novosti, but could not comment about the election situation in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Voting in the Duma elections is taking place on Sunday, December 2, from 7.00 till 19.00 Moscow time. (Black Sea Press)



Single electoral register for Georgian voters

Georgian voters will be able to check whether their name appears on the new single electoral register using the Central Election Commission (CEC) telephone hotline or by visiting the CEC website, Levan Tarkhinshvili, the chairman of CEC of Georgia, announced at the weekend.

“From December 1, the CEC site will be updated over a three-day period. Voters whose names don’t appear on the single register of electors, or who find anomalies in it, can contact the CEC or the district or station commissions”, Tarkhinishvili explained.

The free hotline – accessible by dialing 003 from landlines, or 9003 from cellphones – is launched on December 3. As well as allowing people to check their details on the electoral register, the hotline will also provide them with information about their nearest polling station, and about voting procedures.

The electoral register can be found online at www.cec.gov.ge. (Black Sea Press)



More state schools to get Winter fuel supplies

Davit Chantladze, Georgian Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Maia Miminoshvili, the Minister of Education and Science, and Gia Natsvlishvili, the President’s Envoy in Kakheti, are to visit state schools in Sighnaghi and Dedoplistskaro this week to distribute winter firewood.

Schools in two other regions – Imereti and Samegrelo – have already received their fuel supplies from the government. (Prime-News)



Photo exhibition opens at Georgian National Museum

A photo exhibition of German film directors, artists and journalists who visited Georgia in the last 10 to 12 years will open at the Georgian National History Museum in Tbilisi on December 3.

“Location Georgia”, a three-phase project, contains about 100 exhibits, and aims to reflect the crisis and perspectives of Georgian cinematography.

Cologne was the venue for the first phase of the project, and the final stage is planned for Berlin. (Prime-News)