Press Digest 02.09.2014
Price of bread in Georgia is higher than in other post-Soviet states
Putin plans to reinstate the former minister in the post-soviet space – Irakli Menagharishvili
At the Wales summit, NATO will first of all focus on its own security***
Price of bread in Georgia is higher than in other post-Soviet states
"In Tbilisi a kilo of bread costs 1.5-1.7 GEL, while in Erevan, Baku, Minsk, Kiev, Kishinev etc. bread is 20/40 tetris cheaper. However, in Moscow, this product is even more expensive than in our country, and here its price runs up to 55 Rubles, approximately 2.6 GEL. In Moscow, on bread they set the so-called fixed social tariff that is much less than its market price. Thus, the residents of the capital of Georgia have to pay a higher price for bread than in other cities. However, the actual fact is that besides Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia, all countries import wheat from other states,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.
“In general, the price of wheat is in accordance with the prices established on the international market; although despite the fact that the price of wheat has ratcheted down there, in Georgia, the price of bread has remained the same. Retail price of bread has not changed for a year here; the situation in this direction is also stable in our neighbor countries, besides Russia,” says the article.
“As Malkhaz Dolidze, Bread Producers’ Association President says, besides the upper crust, in Georgia, the shops also don’t hold back from setting a higher price on this product. “One kilo of bread costs 1-1.5 GEL; however, I cannot say at what price the shops sell it. The fact that bread is more expensive in Georgia than in Yerevan or Baku, for instance, has its own reason – a store owner in Yerevan, for example, is not entitled to add more than 5 percent of its actual cost, while in our country, they add 10-15 and even 20 percent on bread’s actual cost,” explains Mr. Dolidze.
“It should also be noted that unlike the aforementioned countries, in Georgia, the so-called social price has never been set on bread. As the Bread Association President claims, in Ukraine, they have the agrarian fund that buys wheat at a beneficial price and then distributes flour to hundreds of bakeries.
“These factories bake the so-called social bread that is much cheaper than other products placed on the market. If in Ukraine, for example, an average price of bread is 90 tetris, the social-bread is even cheaper. Similar systems operate in Russia and in many other countries. This system can prove to be auspicious for Georgia too; however, unfortunately, no one thinks to implement it in our country,” stated Mr. Silagava.
“It is also worth noting that across the world including the post-soviet countries, each and every Government attempts to take control of this sphere and adopt different measures to avoid a deficit of bread when crisis hits the country; however, in Georgia no one thinks to follow their lead,” concludes the author of the article.
Putin plans to reinstate the former minister in the post-soviet space – Irakli Menagharishvili
"Our cooperation may become oriented on practical objectives. I find it difficult to speak of concrete steps now as a more precise answer to this question will be given to us after the Wales Summit. I surmise that they will elaborate a program that will deal with concrete issues,” states former Foreign Minister, Irakli Menagharishvili in his interview with the Rezonansi gazette.
“Presumptions regarding the NATO Wales Summit cannot be really defined as unfounded. We all know that they will not grant MAP to us at this summit, however, there is no question that by attending this summit, we are taking a step in the right direction. A supposition that Georgia’s security will become more ensured after the summit seems really credible. We must not build castles in the air though and must always remain realists. ..”declares Mr. Menagharishvili.
“Within the NATO-Georgia summit, they will focus on the reinforcement of the country’s security as well as some technical and organizational issues; from this it follows that our cooperation can center on practical goals. It’s a bit early to talk regarding concrete steps though; all questions surrounding this issue will be answered after the summit,” maintains Mr. Menagharishvili.
“The Caucasus, on its part, will also render some particular services to NATO thanks to its road corridor. And I do think that this will turn out to be one of the core elements leading to the formulation of the NATO-Georgia cooperation package. And this package, by all odds, will not be a gift to Georgia. This will be pure cooperation – in return for its transit corridor, Georgia needs something – its service is obviously conditional,” says the respondent.
"No one on earth can see through to Putin’s political plans; although everyone who carefully follows the ongoing developments has detected some dangers from Russia in relation to Kazakhstan. On top of that, the West has also recognized the writing on the wall and realized that Russia can take aggressive steps in the NATO member Baltic States. I think at the Wales summit, they will draw up some kind of plan to deter Russia’s aggression. It may be smile provoking but it is the fact that reinstating the former minister in the post-soviet space falls into Putin’s plans,” concludes the respondent.
At the Wales summit, NATO will first of all focus on its own security
"On 4-5 September, the next summit of the north-Atlantic alliance at which the leaders of 28 countries will gather, is set to be held in the UK, Wales. Last year, when they decided that the next summit would be conducted in Wales, they planned to discuss the issue of Afghanistan’s military mission. However, the ongoing developments in Ukraine as well as Russia’s move to annex the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine wrecked havoc on the NATO plans,” reports military-analytical journal, Arsenali.
“The question is: Is NATO powerful enough to counter Russia’s aggression and bar the entrance of Russian troops in Latvia, for instance? As you know, here half of the population speaks Russian, and Putin can easily take similar steps to those it took in Ukraine’s Donbas… Russia has been empowered, especially after occupying two regions of Georgia after the Russian-Georgia war of 2008; and it got away with everything easily as NATO focused all its attention on the ISAF mission of Afghanistan. Alongside this, since 2008, all NATO member states have cut their budget by 15-20 per cent, while Russia has replenished its budget each year, and today, this country spends much more financial resources on the building of its army and military equipment than it used to. Whether they want to admit this or not, the actual fact is that with its military resources, NATO will fail to deter Russia’s aggression against this or that country,” writes the author of the article and adds:
“The U.S. military units can be described as the only counterweight power of Russia in Europe today. Only they can curb Russia’s overwhelming military aggression. The high road to defending NATO is to use nuclear deterrence forces against Russian tanks if they raid Europe, as they did this during the Civil war. What do you think, will NATO be apt to think regarding giving a MAP to Georgia, the territories of which have already been annexed by Russia, today when it has to rack its brains how to safeguard security of its member states with its underfunded budget?...” concludes the author of the article.
***
"On 25 August, when this issue of “Arsenal” was about to be published, the Ukrainian military were attacked by their enemies that achieved success soon; their temporary success was conditioned by Putin’s move to send paratroopers and military units to the East,” reports military-analytical journal “Arsenali.”
“The Ukrainian army’s victory pushed Putin to take this paramount decision – if he lost control of Donetsk and Luhansk, he would have lost his trump cards – the Russians would have presided only over Ukrainian villages in this case... Kiev’s attempt to reinforce the border guards with military units, ended in failure as they, in fact, came under siege; they were attacked not only by pro-Russian terrorists but also were bombarded by Russian artillery. If they lost control of this section, the chance of achieving success in the anti-terrorist operation and, in fact, in the war against Russians would obviously be below zero,” reads the article.
“Against this backdrop, the reaction from Europe and the US to the current events in Ukraine can be described as strange – due to some vague reasons, they have refused to publicize the photo materials corroborating the allegation as per which the Russian army illegally crossed Ukraine’s borders. The fact that their reconnaissance service has failed to get hold of these materials, speaks of their weakness; however, in the era of technology, this version seems truly hard to believe,” concludes the author of the article.
