Day: November 8, 2023

The European Commission has recommended opening EU accession negotiations with Ukraine, Moldova, and candidate status for Georgia.

Abortion law in Georgia

The law on abortion in Georgia has been amended, according to which in case of violation of the 5-day abortion planning period, the issue of professional responsibility of the doctor is raised.

Paragraphs concerning medical abortion have also been edited:

● If the gestational age is less than 7 weeks, medical abortion should be performed at a first-level prenatal facility;

● Abortion should be performed by a certified obstetrician-gynecologist in a medical facility authorized to perform obstetric and gynecological activities

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• Abortion ban in Abkhazia. “Is my child really more important to the deputies than to me?”
• “Don’t cry – you can get pregnant again” – Georgian women on miscarriage

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What else has changed?

● In case of artificial termination of pregnancy of more than 12 weeks’ duration, medical intervention by any method must be carried out only in a hospital-type medical institution authorized to carry out obstetric and gynecological interventions.

● A clause was added stating that after consultation before abortion and expiration of the specified 5-day review period, the results of X-ray examination before the procedure must be recorded and the image placed in the patient’s medical records

● Pre-abortion consultation with an obstetrician-gynecologist, as well as a social worker and psychologist, will become mandatory on January 1, 2024, under confidentiality in a designated room

According to official information, 86 underage girls had abortions in Georgia in 2018. Half of these were recorded in Tbilisi.

In 2019, 38 cases of abortions in girls under 18 years of age were registered in medical institutions of the country.

The most frequent cases of artificial termination of pregnancy were among women between 25 and 34 years old.

The highest number of abortions after Tbilisi was recorded in the south-west of the country, in Adjara.

Article 12 of the Constitution of Georgia: “Everyone has the right to free development of his/her personality”.

The first paragraph of Article 15 of the Constitution of Georgia: “Private and family life of a person is inviolable. Restriction of this right shall be permitted only in accordance with the law, for the purpose of ensuring necessary state or public security in a democratic society or for the protection of the rights of other persons”.

Leasing the Ingur plant

The government of the republic intends to lease three parts of the Inguri hydroelectric power plant complex that provides Abkhazia with electricity to a private company. The transaction must first be approved by the parliament, but the opposition promises to do everything possible to prevent this from happening.

The Ingur HPP is located in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict and is the only joint Georgian-Abkhazian project. The plant’s 270-meter-high concrete dam is on Tbilisi-controlled territory, while the five generators are on Abkhazian-controlled territory.

According to a gentlemen’s agreement reached between the Georgian and Abkhazian sides after the end of the 1992-93 war, Abkhazia receives 40% of the total amount of generation produced by the Ingur HPP. And until 2020 this was quite enough.

But in recent years, illegal crypto-mining has increased the country’s electricity consumption from 2 to 3 billion megawatts. The resulting deficit is not even covered by the overflow provided by Russia.

Restoration of these three hydropower plants with a capacity of up to 40 megawatts each, which have been out of operation since the end of the war, can significantly improve the situation. The government says that it cannot restore them at its own expense.

But, according to the current legislation, private business can own hydroelectric power plants whose capacity does not exceed 5 megawatts. And despite the pressure of Abkhazian President Aslan Bzhania, the parliament is in no hurry to revise this rule. Moreover, in the summer of 2023, when there were rumors that the government intended to lease the overflow hydropower plants on preferential terms, the parliament played a proactive role, and now any lease agreement in the energy sector must be previously agreed upon.

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• Leasing a hydroelectric power station in Abkhazia possible only by permission of parliament – why?
• Energy crisis in Abkhazia: the role of crypto-mining

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The Abkhazian opposition believes that if the authorities repair the overflow HPPs on their own, the republic will be able to avoid a deficit. Especially as, beginning in 2024, tariffs on electricity will increase, which means that investments in repairs will be profitable.

If the government leases out the hydropower plants, the opposition believes there is no guarantee that the energy generated by them will be used for the needs of the republic and not be sold somewhere else, for example to the owners of large mining farms.

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Armenian Security Chief, U.S. Caucasus Advisor Meet in Yerevan  Hetq Online

#Erdogan prepares ground for further blocking of #Sweden #Nato bid.Matter tossed to parliament that will do his bidding. Fresh tensions w/ West highlighted by legislature banning Coca-Cola sales on premises #Geopolitics #Turkey https://t.co/FFccq56PEL pic.twitter.com/e3Sm23UE3m

— bne IntelliNews (@bneintellinews) November 8, 2023

⚡️BREAKING: The European Commission recommends opening accession talks with #Ukraine and #Moldova, as announced by the President of the EU Commission, Ursula @vonderleyen. pic.twitter.com/TzVrmqvh4E

— KyivPost (@KyivPost) November 8, 2023

https://t.co/Uns4mXWJmY

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) November 8, 2023