» Timeline:  2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006

January	February	March	April	May	June
July	August	September	October	November	December

January 3 - Frontrunner presidential candidate Mikheil Saakashvili paid a surprise visit to Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia and met with the local population in the streets of the town. Saakashvili also visited several Georgian villages located in the conflict zone.

During the meeting with the local population of the Georgian village of Tamarasheni, Saakashvili vowed that during the next presidential elections in 2009 the polling stations will be opened in Tskhinvali too.

January 4 - Snap presidential elections held in Georgia. Five presidential candidates were running for presidency – Mikheil Saakashvili, Temur Shashiashvili, Zaza Sikharulidze, Roin Liparteliani and Kartlos Gharibashvili.

Mikheil Saakashvili, who led Rose Revolution in November, 2003, won a landslide victory with almost 96% of votes. Around 450 observers from the OSCE, as well as local and CIS observers were monitoring the elections.

January 7 - Leader of the Adjara Autonomous Republic Aslan Abashidze re-imposed the sate of emergency in the Autonomous Republic. The state of emergency, which was declared in Adjara during the November Rose Revolution, was temporarily canceled on January 3 just day before the snap presidential elections in Georgia. The renewal of the state of emergency was followed by the crackdown of the Adjarian law enforcement agencies on the opposition Kmara movement. 
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=5971

January 8 – Talks between Georgian Foreign Minister Tedo Japaridze and First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Yuri Baluyevsky held in Moscow over pull out of Russian military bases from Georgia yielded no results. “The Russian side is categorically against the proposals of Georgia over pull out of military bases from Batumi [Adjarian capital] and Akhalkalaki [southern Georgia] within 3 years. This plan is unreal,” Yuri Baluyevsky said.

January 8 – The Tbilisi prosecutor’s office filed criminal charges against one of the allies of ex-President Shevardnadze, former governor of the Kvemo Kartli region Levan Mamaladze, who is accused of misuse of power and state funds. Levan Mamaladze left Georgia after the November Rose Revolution and reportedly is still in Russia at the time of publication of Timeline-2004.

January 10 – Police released Tamaz Maghlakelidze, member of the board of trustees of the United Georgian Bank, as a result of a special operation near Tbilisi.  Tamaz Maghlakelidze was kidnapped at gunpoint on December 5, 2003.

January – 12 – Turkish State Minister Mehmet Aydin arrived in Georgia. He also visited Adjara Autonomous Republic.

January 13 - U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Lynn Pascoe arrived in Tbilisi to sign an agreement with the Georgian leadership on allocation of USD 3 millions by the U.S. Government, which was a salary support for Georgian troops trained by the U.S. military instructors in frames of Georgia Train and Equip Program (GTEP).

In December, 2003, following the Rose Revolution the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles signed an agreement with the Georgia government permitting the payment of up to USD 5 million for pensions.

January 13 - Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana paid one day official visit to Georgia.

January 14 - Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy arrived in Tbilisi on a two-day visit.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6027

January 14 - The Parliament approved Irakli Okruashvili, former governor of Shida Kartli region, as the General Prosecutor.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6019

January 14 - The Parliament approved on January 14 Irakli Rekhviashvili as the Economy Minister.

January 14 - The Parliament of Georgia approved today a new national flag. The proposed flag, previously used by Mikheil Saakashvili's National Movement as a party banner, represents a white field with centered red cross and smaller four crosses in the corners.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6018

January 14 - Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze left for Moscow to hold talks with the Russian officials.

January 15 - Georgia Defense Minister Davit Tevzadze left for Iraq to inspect 70-strong Georgian peacekeeping unit deployed in the town of Tikrit.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6032

January 16 – Police arrested ex-chief of the state-run Georgian Railway Company and former ally of ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze Akaki Chkhaidze in Batumi, the capital of Adjara Autonomous Republic. The Interior Ministry filed the criminal charges against Akaki Chkhaidze on December 19, 2003 for tax evasion and misappropriation of $216,000.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6045

January 16 – Richard Boucher, the Spokesman of the U.S. Department of State, announced that in the 2004 budget the U.S. will have $164 million of support for Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6039

January 18 – Temur Inaishvili, head of the Emergency Situations Department of the Adjarian Interior Ministry, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in the center of Batumi.

January 19 – President-elect Mikheil Saakashvili left for Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.

January 19 – In a report to the UN Security Council the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that progress in resolving the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict remains "painfully slow."
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6053

January 19 – Dozens were injured as a result of the clash between the protesters and the police in the southern Adjarian village of Gonio. The protesters demanded resignation of Aslan Abashidze, the head of Adjara Autonomous Republic.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6060

January 20 – In the wake of Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze’s visit to Moscow, Russian foreign Ministry issued a statement on January 20 backing Abashidze’s policy and condemning his opposition as “extremist forces.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6060

January 21 - Georgian Prosecutor General Irakli Okruashvili and Security Minister Valerie Khaburdzania left for Moscow to discuss the issue of extradition of kidnapper suspect Shota Chichiashvili, who was arrested on July 24, 2003 in Moscow. Chichiashvili allegedly masterminded kidnappings of two Spanish businessmen in 2000, Georgian Parliamentarian Petre Tsiskarishvili and the British banker Peter Shaw in 2002. Chichiashvili was extradited to Georgia on the same day, January 21.

January 21 - Leader of the Adjara Autonomous Republic Aslan Abashidze left for Strasbourg to meet with Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer.

January 22 - In a joint news conference with Georgian president-elect Mikheil Saakashvili at the World Economic Forum on January 22, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Mark Malloch Brown and philanthropist George Soros, founder of the Open Society Institute, announced the creation of a new Capacity Building Fund to support governance reforms in Georgia.

This $2 million seed fund, provided by the Open Society Institute (OSI) and the UNDP, will be used to support key administrative and legal reforms in Georgia. It was also agreed that increased salaries of the top-level Georgian officials will be financed from this fund.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6080

January 23 – Interim President Nino Burjanadze left for Adjarian capital Batumi to hold talks with the leader of Autonomous Republic Aslan Abashidze.

January 23 - Levan Varshalomidze appointed as the chief of the state-owned Georgian Railway Company. Varshalomidze, 32, was one of the founders of the DVNK legal and financial consulting firm.

January 24 - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Georgian capital Tbilisi to attend the presidential inauguration of Mikheil Saakashvili on January 25.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6100

January 24 - Georgian President-elect Mikheil Saakashvili took a spiritual oath on the Bible and received a blessing from Catholicos-Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II at the Gelati Cathedral in western Georgia.

January 25 - Mikheil Saakashvili arrived in Batumi and together with the Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze attended the military parade in the capital of Adjara Autonomous Republic, shortly before Saakashvili was sworn in as the President.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6091

January 25 - Mikhail Saakashvili was inaugurated as Georgia's new president. Saakashvili, 36, who is the youngest President in Europe, was elected with more than 96% of votes. Thousands of people, including foreign guests and official delegations, gathered in front of the Parliament building to attend the inauguration ceremony.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6098

January 26 - President Mikhail Saakashvili signed a declaration on National Accord and Reconciliation. Under the declaration, about 30 supporters of Georgia’s first President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who was ousted as a result of military coup in early 1992, were pardoned. All of them were arrested during and after the civil war in early 90s.

January 26 - Entire government of Georgia filed resignation after the inauguration of the new President,

January 27 - President Saakashvili appointments his close ally Vano Merabishvili as the Secretary of the National Security Council.

January 28 - Two major political parties – President Saakashvili’s National Movement and State Minister Zurab Zhvania’s United Democrats announced that they will run jointly in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for March 28.

January 28 - The Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE), in its recommendations to the Georgian government, expressed concern regarding “the current reshaping of Georgian political life and the risk of a disappearance of all parliamentary opposition after the forthcoming [March 28] elections and, in consequence, of any true institutional counterweight.” 
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6134

January 29 - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili left for Germany from Strasbourg, where he has already addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe on January 28.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6126

January 29 - Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Bureau Kakha Ugulava said the Bureau announces about self-liquidation. “All the materials revealed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau will be delivered to the National Security Council for further inquiry,” Kakha Ugulava said on January 30.
 
The Anti-Corruption Bureau was set up in 2001 on initiative of ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze. Several high officials have been dismissed as a result of recommendation of the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

January 31 - Hundreds of street traders staged a protest rally in front of the State Chancellery, the President’s office in Tbilisi. The protesters' action is in response to the Tbilisi City Council decision to ban outdoor markets in the capital city.

February

February 3 - Koba Davitashvili, the political secretary of the President Saakashvili’s party National Movement, announced that he quits the party, expressing protest regarding the anticipated constitutional changes.

“It is inadmissible when we change the constitution for Zurab Zhvania [State Minister], who wants to become a Prime Minister. The constitution can not be adjusted just for one particular person. We should make this statement duly to save parliamentarian system in the country,” Koba Davitashvili said.

February 3 - Acting Minister of Transport and Communications of Georgia Merab Adeishvili was detained for alleged misuse of power and misappropriation of state funds.

February 5 - Parliament approved Kote Kemularia as a Georgia’s new ambassador to Russia, replacing Zurab Abashidze.

February 6 - The Parliament approved constitutional changes altering Georgia’s political power arrangement in favor of President Saakashvili.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/detail.php?id=6172

February 7 - Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze left for Moscow.

February 9 - President Saakashvili appointed MP Irakli Chubinishvili as a chief of his administration.

February 10-11 - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili paid a two-day official visit to Moscow and met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6212

February 10 - The Abkhazian delegation led by de facto Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba arrived in Tbilisi to hold talks with the Georgian side regarding the security issues in the conflict zone.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6198

February 10 - A group of opposition MPs set up a special commission to investigate the suspected facts of government’s pressure on Rustavi 2 and Mze independent television stations. These two leading television stations simultaneously stopped broadcasting of the popular political talks shows, which were on air every night except the weekends that sparked rumors over the possible pressure on the TV companies from the authorities.

February 11 - The Parliament approved draft of structural reforms of the executive government. The reforms considered reshuffle of the ministries and state departments, as well as outlined the rule of activity of the cabinet of ministers.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6232

February 12 - The Parliament approved anti-corruption bill with 111 votes to 1. The bill implies confiscation of assets of those officials who fail to prove assets were acquired legally.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/detail.php?id=6155

February 13 - The Vienna-based International Press Institute, which unites editors, media executives and leading journalists from over 120 countries, sent a letter to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili expressing deep concern “about the pressure applied by the Georgian authorities on mass media since the 2003 November Rose Revolution.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6220

February 17 - Zurab Zhvania, nominee for the Prime Minister’s post said at the parliamentary session that the new cabinet of ministers would support adoption of law on lustration. Zhvania said that Zurab Adeishvili, nominee for the State Security Minister’s position would work over the law on lustration, which will make the security service legally bound to reveal any links with foreign special services of current senior officials or nominees to such a post. Despite this statement of Zhvania that draft has not been proposed by the new cabinet.

February 17 - The Parliament approved with 165 votes to 5 Zurab Zhvania as Prime Minister and the new cabinet, which consists of 15 Ministers and four State Ministers.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6227

February 17 - Georgian Finance Minister Zurab Nogaideli and the Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia Roy Reeve signed an agreement with which the OSCE made 1 million euros available to cover the administrative expenses of Georgia's parliamentary elections scheduled for March 28.

February 18-21 - Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer paid an official visit to Georgia. He also traveled to Adjara Autonomous Republic and met with the Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze in Batumi.

February 18 - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili raised concern over “the Wahhabism threat” in the Pankisi Gorge, adding that Pankisi “cannot become a center of Wahhabism.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6258

February 18 - A group of Chechen refugees living in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge staged a demonstration to protest the disappearances of two Chechens, Bekkhan Mulkoev and Husein Alkhanov. These two Chechens were acquitted by a Tbilisi court on February 6 of having violated border regulations and entered Georgia illegally. The relatives of the two men acquitted fear they have been abducted and secretly handed over to Russia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6339

February 18 - Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze declined President Mikheil Saakashvili’s demand and said that he will not arrive in the capital city Tbilisi.

February 19 - The New Rights and the Industrialists opposition parties formed an election bloc – the Rightists Opposition – New Rights and Industrialists to jointly run for the March 28 parliamentary elections.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6263

February 20 - Co-founder of MagtiCom mobile phone company Gia Jokhtaberidze, who is son-in-law of ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze was arrested aboard of scheduled Tbilisi-Paris flight this morning in Tbilisi airport.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6272

February 20 - The opposition movement Our Adjara’s offices were raided in Adjarian capital Batumi, after the opposition staged a protest rally in Batumi. The clashes between the supporters and opposition of the Adjarian leader also took place in Batumi. Disorders coincided with the visit of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) Walter Schwimmer in Batumi, who held talks with Aslan Abashidze.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6284

February 22 - President Mikheil Saakashvili visited Norway en rout to the United States.

February 23 - President Mikheil Saakashvili arrived in the United States for five-day visit.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6314

February 23 - The delegation of the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) pays a fact-finding visit to Georgia to studies the cases of 13 Chechens, who were arrested by Georgian border guards in August 2002.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6293

February 24 - Badri Bitsadze, who is a husband of Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze, was appointed as Deputy Interior Minister and Commander of the Border Guard Department.

February 24 - Erosi Kitsmarishvili, owner of the Rustavi 2 television, was elected as a President of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6301

February 24 - A British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT), consisting of a major and 4 senior non commissioned officers arrived in Tbilisi to conduct a 5 week training program for 40 Georgian military personnel in peace support operations.

February 24 - The Parliament approved proposal to create a Financial Police to fight the economic and financial crimes. The new agency is under the subordination of Finance Ministry.

February 25 - The Georgian Parliament suspended its resolution of December 5, 2002, which stipulated Georgian government to veto Russia’s accession into World Trade Organization (WTO). Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze proposed to suspend the resolution “at least temporarily,” amid recent attempts of Tbilisi to defuse tensions with Moscow.

February 25 - Controversial political figure Petre Tsiskarishvili, who is President Saakashvili’s ally, has been appointed as governor of eastern Georgian region of Kakheti.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6315

February 25 - Matyas Eorsi, who leads the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) pre-election delegation to Georgia, said he is concerned over the political imbalance in the composition of the election administration at all levels. Matyas Eorsi said the PACE hoped that the new leadership would have changed the composition of the Central Election Commission and lower level election administrations in order secure political balance in the commissions.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6316

February 26 - Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said she is not satisfied with drafting of the party-list of MP candidates, which will run for proportional parliamentary elections on March 28.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6324

March

March 2 - OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Rolf Ekeus arrived in Georgian.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6357

March 3 - Head of the Adjara Autonomous Republic Aslan Abashidze visits Moscow.

March 3 - Deputy Security Minister Gigi Ugulava said several officials of the Samegrelo regional security service were arrested after they tried to obstruct appointment of the new chief of the regional security service.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6353

March 4 - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili left for Azerbaijani capital Baku for two-day visit.

March 4 – USD 150.000 was stolen from the Krtsanisi military training field near Tbilisi, which was used by the U.S. military instructors to train Georgia troops within the U.S.-funded Georgia Train-and-Equip Program (GTEP). Officials said thieves stole a 100-kg safe containing USD 150.000 and other personal valuables belonging to U.S. military instructors.

March 5 - The police carried out special operation in Georgia’s second largest city of Kutaisi and arrested 15 so called alleged ‘criminal bosses.’ Bondo Shalikiani, an influential oil monopolist in Kutaisi, who was elected as MP in Tkibuli single-mandate constituency near Kutaisi in last November parliamentary elections, was also arrested with illegal procession of arms allegations.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6379

March 5 - Vakhtang Komakhidze, journalist working for the Rustavi 2 television, was severely beaten up in the Khelvachauri district of the Adjara Autonomous Republic by the police.

March 5 - President Saakashvili demanded from Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze to abolish Autonomous Republic’s Security Ministry. But Abashidze refused to do so.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/detail.php?id=6377

March 6 - Russian Acting Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told French newspaper Le Figaro that foreign mercenaries and terrorists infiltrate Russia via Georgia.

March 8 - President Mikhail Saakashvili left for France for a two-day visit.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6394

March 12 - President Saakashvili visited Armenia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6414

March 12 - Defrocked Orthodox priest Basil Mkalavishvili, who has been wanted by police since last June for numerous attacks against the religious minorities, was arrested.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6415

March 12 - Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze left for Moscow.

March 14 - Armed groups blocked the administrative border between Adjara and the rest of the Georgia and prevented Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and other members of the government to travel to the Autonomous Republic.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6419

March 14 - In his televised address to the nation President Mikheil Saakashvili described Adjarian leadership’s activity as “a mutiny attempt against the Georgian State.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6429

March 14 - OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy arrived in Georgia.

March 14 - Anti-Crisis Center was set up to coordinate the Georgian government’s activities in resolving the confrontation with the Adjarian leadership. Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was appointed as the chairman of the center.

March 15 - President Saakashvili announced that Georgia’s central authorities imposed “partial” economic sanctions against its defiant Adjarian Autonomy in a bid “to exhaust Adjarian regime's resources.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6453

March 16 - Mayor of Russian capital Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, who has close links with Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze, arrived in Batumi.

March 16 - Zurab Chankotadze, former Chairman of the Georgian Civil Aviation Administration was arrested for alleged misuse of power.

March 16 - The Tbilisi-based Supreme Council of Abkhazia elected Temur Mzhavia to chair the council. Mzhavia replaced Tamaz Nadareishvili.

March 17 - Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, a son of Georgia’s first President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, arrived in Georgia, to start election campaign of the Freedom political party. Konstantine Gamsakhurdia immigrated to Switzerland in early 90s, when his further was ousted as a result of the 1991-92 military coup, and remained there till now. He established a political party Freedom to run for March 28 parliamentary elections shortly before his arrival.

March 18 - Tensions defused between Tbilisi and Batumi after President Saakashvili and Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze met and struck a deal that allowed for economic sanctions on Adjara to be lifted. An agreement has been reached over disarmament of paramilitary forces in Adjara, release of political prisoners, joint control of the customs and port of Batumi, providing conditions for free election campaigning in Adjara, holding of free and fair elections.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6478

March 18 - President Saakashvili left for Slovak capital Bratislava.

March 22 - Salome Zourabichvili was appointed as Georgia’s Foreign Minister. Zourabichvili, who was a French Ambassador to Georgia before the new appointment, was granted by President Saakashvili Georgian citizenship on March 20, however retained French passport as well.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6488

March 22 - Capacity Building Fund (CBF), set up with the financial assistance of the UNDP and billionaire philanthropist George Soros, to support governance reforms in Georgia, launched activity to provide salaries to the Georgian officials.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6492

March 22 - British Airways Tbilisi office announced on March 22 that the company pulls out from the country.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6498

March 22 - Georgian President’s representatives to Adjara, who were appointed by Mikheil Saakashvili to monitor operation of the Sarpi customs checkpoint and port of Batumi in the Autonomous Republic failed to perform their duties.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6499

March 24 - Three alleged criminal bosses died in a clash with police in western mountainous region of Svaneti. Special-purpose unit of the Interior Ministry was dispatched to Svaneti to carry out, as the law enforcers say “an anti-crime operation” in the region notorious for high rate of crime.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6513

March 24 - President Saakashvili issued a decree, according to which diplomatic passports of high officials of the Adjara Autonomous Republic, including Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze, Mayor of Batumi Giorgi Abashidze and Interior Minister Jemal Gogitidze, were cancelled.

March 26 - U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles traveled to Batumi and held talks with the leader of Adjarian Autonomy Aslan Abashidze.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6536

March 27 - Georgian Security Ministry announced that the law enforcers detained two persons, which together with allies allegedly intended to seize weapons in one of the military bases in western Georgia to cause disorders on elections day.

March 28 - Parliamentary elections, which were partial rerun of the disputed November 2, 2003 polls, were held in Georgia. The polling stations were opened in Adjara Autonomous Republic as well. There were 11 parties and 5 election blocs contesting for 150 mandates in the 235-seat legislative body. Ruling National Movement party won a landslide victory. International election observers noted progress in the Georgian polls
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article_elections.php?id=6715

March 28 - Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania held talks with Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze in Batumi.

March 30 - Georgian Defense Minister Gela Bezhuashvili left for Moscow to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov.

March 31 - Former chief of the state-owned Georgian Railway company Akaki Chkhaidze, who was arrested in January for alleged misappropriation of state funds, was released from custody after paying USD 3 million to the state budget.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6592

April

April 1 - Secretary of the National Security Council and Defense Minister of Armenia Serge Sarkisian arrived in Tbilisi for a four-day official visit.

April 1 - Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze left for Azerbaijani capital Baku.

April 1 - Former Minister of Transport and Communications Merab Adeishvili was released from custody after paying USD 1.5 million – sum he allegedly misappropriated while serving as a Minister. Merab Adeishvili was arrested in February for misappropriation charges.

April 5 - Tbilisi-based TV company Channel 9 suspended broadcasting.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6610

April 6-7 - President Mikheil Saakashvili visited Brussels and held talks with EU and NATO leadership.

April 6 – Georgian Prosecutor General Irakli Okruashvili, Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze and Security Minister Vano Merabishvili left for Moscow to hold meetings with their Russian counterparts.

April 6 – The commander of Russian troops deployed in Georgia Alexander Studenikin was injured in a bomb blast in capital Tbilisi.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6635

April 6 – Georgian detachment of 159 soldiers left for Iraq as a Georgia’s contribution to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Georgian unit replaced the combined unit of a 70 mine-clearing experts and doctors, which returned from Iraq in March after six months of deployment in the town of Tikrit.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6660

April 8 – The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Tengiz Asanidze, who was in custody in Adjarian Autonomy, should be released immediately after 12-year of imprisonment. Asanidze v Georgia was a first case discussed by the ECHR regarding Georgia. Asanidze was released on April 9.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6646

April 13 – Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania met with Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze in Batumi. But Abashidze refused to disarm his paramilitary forces.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6675

April 14 – Two crews of Rustavi 2 television were attacked in a two separate incidents in the Adjarian Autonomy. Georgian televisions broadcasted footage showing a group of men at Choloki checkpoint, which divides Adjara from the rest of Georgia, beating up cameraman of Rustavi 2. Another attack took place in Kobuleti.

April 15 – A group of Georgian businessmen, led by influential media and financial tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili left for Batumi to hold talks with Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze in an attempt to mediate between the central authorities and the Adjarian leadership.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6697

April 15 – Zurab Melikishvili was appointed as the State Minister in charge of regional policy and relations with local government and self-government bodies. Before the appointment he served as governor of Kvemo Kartli region.

April 16 – U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles met with Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze in Batumi.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6706

April 16 – Georgian Minister for Sport and Culture Goka Gabashvili said that the Georgian central government opposes holding of the Women’s World Chess Championship in Adjarian Autonomy’s capital Batumi, scheduled for May 21-June 7.

April 16 – According to the decision of the Georgian government, flags of the European Union will fly over all the governmental buildings alongside with the Georgia’s national flag.

April 19 – Maj. Gen. Roman Dumbadze, who was dismissed as a commander of the 25th Armored-Mechanized Brigade, deployed in Adjarian capital Batumi, has officially announced his insubordination to the Defense Ministry orders. Maj.Gen. Dumbadze says “the 25th brigade is subordinated only to [Adjarian leader] Aslan Abashidze.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6723

April 21 - Murad Tsintsadze, the commander of the Georgian Interior Ministry’s 300-man unit deployed in defiant Adjarian Autonomy said he would defy central authorities’ orders and remains in Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze’s loyalty.

April 21-23 – Georgian and Abkhaz sides met in Geneva at UN-sponsored talks to discuss security issues. Goga Khaindrava, the State Minister in charge of conflict resolution and Abkhaz de facto Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba participated in talks. Negotiations were attended by the representatives of the UN Secretary General's Group of Friends on Georgia – Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia and the United States, as well as by UN Secretary General’s special representative in Georgia Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini.

April 22 - German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer arrived in Tbilisi on a two-day official visit.

April 22 - Five months after Rose Revolution Georgia’s new Parliament was convened. President Saakashvili opened the inaugural session of the Parliament and urged his supporter MPs, which dominate in the legislative, “to keep unity.” Nino Burjanadze was re-elected as the Parliamentary Chairperson at the session.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6750

April 22 - Commander of the Georgian Border Guard Department Badri Bitsadze and his Russian counterpart, Director of the Federal Border Guard Service Vladimir Pronichev signed an agreement over cooperation regarding protection of the borders. An agreement considers exchange of information and interaction between the border guard services of the two countries.

April 22 - Sulkhan Molashvili, former Chairman of the Chamber of Control – main state audit agency, was arrested. Molashvili, who was a close ally of former President Eduard Shevardnadze, was accused of misuse of power and illegal financial transactions.

April 23 - The Parliament approved constitutional amendment considering restriction of MP immunity. According to the amendment law enforcers will be able to bring criminal charges against MP without the Parliament’s consent. Previously bringing criminal charges against legislator without the Parliament’s consent was prohibited. All other privileges remain in force. According to the constitution, police can search MP’s apartment, car or workplace, as well as arrest lawmaker only with the consent of the Parliament.

April 24 - Adjarian Senate, upper chamber of the Autonomous Republic’s legislative body approved Aslan Abashidze’s proposal to impose emergency situation and a curfew in the region.

April 25 - Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and Defense Minister Gela Bezhuashvili left for the United States for a five-day visit.

April 26 - President Mikheil Saakashvili left for Ukraine on a three-day official visit.

April 26 - Prosecutor General Irakli Okruashvili said Gia Jokhtaberidze, co-founder of Georgia’s biggest mobile phone company MagtiCom and ex-President Shevardnadze’s son-in-law, will be released after he agreed to pay USD 15.5 million.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6771

April 27 - 46 soldiers of Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze’s elite special purpose unit fled Adjara and pledged loyalty to the country’s central authorities.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6798

April 28 - President Saakashvili left from Ukraine for Warsaw, Poland on a two-day official visit.

April 29 - Police detained ex-chief of the Security Ministry’s Anti-Terrorist Center Levan Kenchadze, who was accused of misuse of power and fraud allegations. Georgian media speculated in 2003 that Kenchadze was allegedly involved in several high-profile abduction cases.

April 29 - Around three hundred supporters of the opposition Labor Party held a protest rally outside the Parliament building, demanding President Saakashvili’s and his government’s resignation.

April 29 - In his report to the UN Security Council on situation in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the conflict resolution remains "painfully slow."

April 30 - Georgia launched its largest ever military exercises at the Kulevi training ground, near the Black Sea town of Poti. The Large-scale war games, some 30 km away from Adjara’s administrative border, was a show of strength, amid confrontation between central authorities and self-minded Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6805

April 30 - Security forces broke up some 300 protesters in Adjarian Autonomy’s capital Batumi. Dozens of protesters were reportedly injured.

May

May 1 - President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said after separate talks with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Adjarian Autonomy’s leader Aslan Abashidze that the Women’s World Chess Championship will be held in the Russia’s Republic of Kalmykia’s capital Elista. Initially Adjarian capital Batumi should have hosted the tournament scheduled for May 21-June 8; whoever Georgia’s central authorities went against.

May 1 - Anzor Dumbadze, Deputy Interior Minister and Chief of the Ecological Police of Adjarian Autonym, left Batumi and pledged loyalty to the country’s central authorities.

May 2 - Two key bridges in Adjara – Choloki and Kakuti were blown up, by the local authorities, hence destroying the only road links between the Autonomous Republic and the rest of Georgia. Later Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze explained the move with an attempt to prevent incursion in Adjara allegedly planned by the country’s central authorities.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6824

May 2 - Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer expressed alarm over the recent developments in Georgia’s defiant Adjarian Autonomy. "It is shocking to hear that… in Georgia, bridges are exploded because the central and the local [Adjarian] authorities have lost their ability to dialogue", said Walter Schwimmer. Latter the CoE Secretary General’s this statement triggered a protest of the Georgian government, because the statement was perceived in Tbilisi as an attempt by Schwimmer to put a blame for escalations tensions both on Tbilisi and Batumi.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6917

May 3 - The U.S. Department of State condemned Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze and accused him of “trying to provoke military crisis.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6837

May 3 - Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania said at the session of the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finances, that he will propose setting up a free economic zone in a western Georgian region of Samegrelo, bordering Abkhazia.

May 3 - Gigi Tsereteli, the Healthcare Minister, filed resignation. Later he was replaced by Lado Chipashvili.

May 4 – An opposition protest rally was attacked by the local security forces in Adjarian capital Batumi. Dozens of protesters were reportedly injured. But the violent break up of peaceful demonstration triggered more protest rallies in Batumi later on the same day, demanding Abashidze’s resignation.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6856

May 4 – Georgian beer magnate and one of the leaders of the Industrialists-New Rights coalition Gogi Topadze officially quit the Parliament. Topadze, who owns Kazbegi company that unites a brewery and food processing outlets, has explained the decision by his wish to more actively pursue his “business interests.”

May 5 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin by phone to discuss situation in Adjara, where the thousands of protesters demand resignation of the leader of Autonomous Republic Aslan Abashidze.

May 5 – Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, who was in Adjara, said after the talks with Adjarian Interior Minister Jemal Gogitidze that those high officials of Adjarian government, who “will remain in the frames of the Georgian Constitution,” would be guaranteed with security.

May 5 – Secretary of the Russian Security Council Sergei Ivanov arrived in Adjarian capital Batumi to hold talks with Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze.

May 6 – “Aslan [Abashidze] has fled, Adjara is free,” President Saakashvili announced at dawn and congratulated Georgians, as he described, “with a second bloodless revolution” in Georgia. President Saakashvili also said that Abashidze’s resignation “will pave the way for Georgia’s prosperity.” “It will be the beginning of Georgia’s territorial integrity,” he added.

Saakashvili left for Adjara shortly after Aslan Abashidze left for Moscow after the overnight talks with the Secretary of Russian National Security Council Igor Ivanov in Batumi.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6880

May 6 – Former commander of the Batumi-based 25th Brigade of the Georgian Armed Forces Maj. Gen. Roman Dumbadze, who pledged loyalty to Aslan Abashidze and refused to obey the country’s central authorities, was arrested in Batumi.

May 7 – Direct presidential rule was imposed in Adjara and 20-member Interim Council was set up to run the Autonomous Republic before the fresh local elections in the region. Chief of the state-run Railway Company Levan Varshalomidze was appointed as the Chairman of the Council.

May 7 – In its statement passed by the Parliament of Georgian the lawmakers expressed “special gratitude towards Russia and President Vladimir Putin” for the efforts to solve Adjarian crisis peacefully.

May 8 – Police arrested former head of Adjara’s second largest town of Kobuleti Tariel Khalvashi. He was accused of violent attacks against the opposition activists and disobedience to the central government of Georgia.

May 10 – Democratic Revival Union party led by ex-Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze, ceased activity in the wake of Abashidze’s departure to Moscow. The Revival Union was founded by Aslan Abashidze in 1995. 

May 10 – Former commander of the Batumi-based unit of the Georgia’s Internal Troops Murman Tsintsadze, who refused to obey central command and pledge loyalty to ex-Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze, was arrested.

May 11 – Georgian Interior Ministry reported that German painter Lucas Cranach the Elder’s 16th-century painting has been recovered, which was stolen ten years ago from the Georgian Art Museum.

May 11 – The Parliament approved the state budget for 2004. Revenues were set at 1,7 billion Lari (USD 850 million), and expenditures - 1,4 billion Lari (USD 700 million) - an increase of around 520 million Lari over 2003.

May 11 – The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the recent arrests of Adjara’s former top officials, who were loyal to ex-Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze.

May 11 – 100-strong unit of Interior Troops was dispatched to Georgia’s southern multi-ethnic district of Tsalka. The move follows clashes between the local ethnic Armenians and Georgians on May 9. Several people were reportedly injured. Local officials described clashes between ethnic Georgians and Armenians, which have been reported sporadically for several years, as “a communal violence.”

May 14 – President Saakashvili left for Romania for a two-day official visit.

May 17 – Secretary of Russian Security Council Igor Ivanov, who paid four-hour long visit to Tbilisi, discussed Abkhazian conflict with the Georgian leadership.

May 17 – Georgia announced that its conflict with the Council of Europe (CoE) is over; however, Tbilisi made it clear that it will not vote for the Council’s current Secretary Genera, Walter Schwimmer, in the upcoming elections of the new chief of the 45-member European organization.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6956

May 18 – The Georgian Parliament approved proposal to disband Security Ministry of Adjara Autonomous Republic. The Parliament also abolished Tbilisi-based Abkhazian Security Ministry, which was under the subordination of the Abkhaz government-in-exile.

May 19 – Jean Lemierre, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) arrive in Georgia as a part of his South Caucasus trip.

May 19 – MP Giorgi Kenchadze of ruling National Movement-Democrats party was arrested. He was suspected of racketeering.

May 20 – President Mikheil Saakashvili left for Turkish capital Ankara on an official visit.

May 20 – The UN-sponsored Georgian-Abkhazian talks over security guarantees were held in breakaway Abkhaz capital Sukhumi. At the meeting both Georgian and Abkhaz sides reiterated their commitment to the non-resumption of hostilities and the settlement of all disputes exclusively by peaceful means.

May 20 – State Minister Goga Khaindrava, who is in charge of conflict resolution issues, appealed the General Prosecutor’s Office to launch investigation into a covert march of Chechen warlord Ruslan Gelaev’s armed group to the Georgian-controlled Kodori gorge in breakaway Abkhazia that took place in September-October, 2001.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6978

May 20 – The Parliament approved a new national anthem for Georgia.

May 23 – Breakaway region of South Ossetia held its fourth parliamentary elections, since seceding from Georgia in 1992. The ruling party, Unity (Edinstvo), which is backed by the de facto President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoev, gained most of the mandates in the 34-seat parliament. The Communist Party of South Ossetia could also secure several seats in the legislature.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6991

May 24 – Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania left for Moscow for a two-day visit.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6997

May 25 – Davit Onoprishvili was appointed as a new chief of the state-owned Georgian Railway company. Onoprishvili replaced Levan Varshalomidze, who now leads the Adjarian Autonomy’s Interim Council. Davit Onoprishvili served as a Finance Minster of Georgia in 1998-2000. Before a new appointment he was a visiting professor, teaching courses on transitions in economics with an emphasis on Eastern Europe at Vanderbilt University, the United States.

May 26 – At the largest-ever military parade in Georgia’s history that marked Georgia’s Independence Day, President Saakashvili addressed both the Abkhaz and South Ossetian sides in their native languages and called for peace talks to define status of these breakaway regions.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7009

May 27 – One local resident died in flood, as Iori river burst its banks after heavy rains with hailstorm in high mountain region of Tianeti in northern Georgia.

May 28-29 – Georgia hosted the largest-ever Georgian-Russian economic forum in Tbilisi.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7031

May 31 – Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze said that additional forces of the internal troops were dispatched in Shida Kartli region, near the Ossetian conflict zone after the commander of Russian peacekeeping forces deployed in the conflict zone, demanded to disband Georgia’s checkpoints near the breakaway South Ossetia. Georgian Interior Minister said additional checkpoints of the Georgian police were deliberately set up near the breakaway South Ossetia to prevent smuggling. The move triggered protest of both Tskhinvali and Moscow.

May 31 – Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili left for the United States.

May 31 – President Saakashvili proposed number of social benefits for the population living in the Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetian region, aiming at reconciliation with the region, which de fact seceded from Georgia in early 90s.

He said that starting from June population living in the breakaway region would receive pensions from Georgia’s budget. He also proposed to launch free emergency ambulance service “in Tskhinvali and villages populated by the ethnic Georgians.” “We can afford this,” the Georgian President said.  He also offered to the local Ossetian and Georgian population with free agricultural fertilizers.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7041

June

June 1 – Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania announced that the Russian-based tycoon, Kakha Bendukidze, a native Georgian, will become Georgia’s new Minister of the Economy, replacing Irakli Rekhviashvili.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7043

June 1 – The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a strongly worded statement regarding the situation in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia, warning that Tbilisi’s “provocative steps” might lead “to extremely negative consequences.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7055

June 3 – Defense Ministry reported that three Georgian servicemen of the 16th Mountain Battalion, which was deployed in Iraq as a part of the coalition forces, were lightly wounded in an attack on a U.S. military base.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7059

June 3 – The chief executive officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which administers the U.S. assistance program Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), arrived in Tbilisi to discuss the development of the various assistance proposals submitted to the MCA. In early May, the U.S. selected 16 countries, including Georgia which were eligible for funding offered by the MCA.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7065

June 4 – Georgian central government sent one hundred tons of agricultural fertilizers to the breakaway South Ossetia for distribution among the local population.

June 4 – The Georgian government sent a request to Moscow to resume talks over the withdrawal of Russia’s two military bases from Georgia and proposed, instead to set up a joint, anti-terrorism center in Georgia in exchange for the pullout. Georgia hopes that the proposal, described by Tbilisi as “a new approach,” could bring a breakthrough in stalled talks, which have been deadlocked for five years.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7074

June 7 – A delegation of Georgian officials, made up of Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili, Defense Minister Gela Bezhuashvili and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Gen. Maj. Givi Iukuridze, left for NATO headquarters in Brussels to begin detailed discussions concerning Georgia’s Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with the alliance. 

June 7 – The Georgian state radio station started a daily two-hour program aired in the Ossetian language, for the Ossetian-speaking population living in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetian region.

June 8 – A Russian delegation led by Igor Yunash, deputy head of the Federal Migration Service of Russia, visited Pankisi Gorge in eastern Georgia and met with Chechen refugees living there to discuss repatriation back to Chechnya.

June 9 – Riot police broke up a rally of some 60 residence from the village of Krtsanisi, near Tbilisi, who were protesting against the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline through their village. Villagers from Krtsanisi demanded compensation for the land on which the pipeline is being constructed.

June 9 – Gari Aiba, one of the leaders of the Abkhaz opposition movement, Amtsakhara, was shot dead.

June 10 – New cabinet won the confidence vote during the parliamentary session with a 150-6 victory in parliament. 
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7106

June 10 – Former Finance Minister of the Adjarian Autonomy, Davit Abashidze, was arrested for the alleged misuse of power and misappropriation funds.

June 10 – The Parliament approved Zurab Adeishvili, the former Security Minister, as General Prosecutor.

June 11 – Estonian Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland arrived in Tbilisi for an official visit.

June 11 – Chairman of the Supreme Court of Georgia Lado Chanturia filed resignation.

June 13 - Former Chairman of the District Election Commission of the Adjarian capital Batumi, Ednar Shamilashvili, and ex-chief of the Adjara’s customs service, Tengiz Bladadze, were arrested on June 13.

June 14-15 - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pays his first official visit to Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7128

June 14 - 41 inmates escaped last night from the Geguti prison, near the western Georgian city of Kutaisi, after killing one prison guard.

June 14 - The European Union included Georgia, along with Armenia and Azerbaijan, in its Wider Europe Neighborhood Initiative.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7156

June 15 - Georgian Parliament approved government’s proposal, envisaging the merger of the Infrastructure Ministry with the Economy Ministry.

June 16 - KLM Royal Dutch Airlines launched operation in Georgia and made its first regular Amsterdam-Tbilisi.

June 16 - Former chief of the railway of Adjara’s Autonomous Republic Nugzar Varshanidze was arrested. He was accused of misuse of power and misappropriation of USD 230 thousand.

June 16-17 - International donors from 31 countries and 12 organizations, gathered in Brussels at the Donors’ Conference in support to Georgia and pledged to provide around $ 1 billion to Georgia to meet its urgent needs for the period of 2004-2006.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7146

June 17 - The Parliament of Georgia adopted the Law on Freedom of Speech. The major novelty of the document is that a burden of proof lies on a plaintiff against the journalists, while the owner of the media company and not the journalist will be held responsible in case of slander.

June 17 - President Mikheil Saakashvili visited Adjara Autonomous Republic to campaign in support of his party on the eve of the June 20 local elections in the region.

June 20 - Snap elections of Adjarian Parliament held in the Autonomous Republic. Victorious Adjara, party backed by President Saakashvili won 28 seats out of 30 in the local legislative body. Remaining two seats were occupied by the Republican Party members.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article_elections.php?id=7161

June 21 - Leader of the Republican Party Davit Berdzenishvili announced that the party suspends cooperation with the ruling National Movement party, after he alleged the authorities of ballot-rigging during the June 20 local elections in Adjara.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7186

June 22-24 – Georgian delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Merab Antadze visited Moscow and held ninth round of talks with the Russian side over withdrawal of its two military bases from Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7183

June 23 - The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed protest regarding the interrogation of ex-Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze’s daughter Diana Abashidze, who arrived in Adjarian Autonomy on June 20 to mark one year anniversary of the death of her mother. Diana Abashidze has been interrogated by the local prosecutors for several times.

June 24 - Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Valeri Loshchinin will arrive in Tbilisi to discuss with Georgian leadership Abkhazia and South Ossetia conflict resolution. He also visited South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali.

June 24 - The Parliament approved Zurab Soselia as new chairman of the Control of Chamber – the main state audit agency.

June 24 - Three citizens of Russia, who were the residents of Russia’s North Ossetian Republic, neighboring with Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia, were detained by the Georgian security forces and charged for illegal crossing the border.

June 25 - The Parliament approved with 173 votes to 9 with the first hearing a draft constitutional law over distribution powers Georgian central authorities and Adjara Autonomous Republic.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7205

June 25 - The Parliament approved Kote Kemularia as Chairman of the Supreme Court. Before the new appointment he served as the Georgia’s Ambassador to Russia

June 28-29 - President Saakashvili attended the NATO Summit in Istanbul.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7233

June 28 - The Prime Minister of breakaway Abkhazia Raul Khajimba arrived in Moscow for a two-day visit.

June 29 - Foreign Minister of Italy Franco Frattini arrived to Georgia for a three-day working visit.

June 29 - The Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) decided to prolong its border monitoring mission in Georgia along the Ingush, Chechen and Daghestani sections of the Russo-Georgian border for six more months.

June 30 - Jeroen Kremers, Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), arrived to Georgia.

July

July 2 - Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Bruno Haller arrived in Tbilisi for an official visit.

July 3 - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili participated in an informal summit of the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Moscow.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7258

July 4 - The Georgian Foreign Ministry described the damage done to a Georgian fresco in the monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem as “an act of vandalism.” One of the monastery's   pillars bears a portrait which is believed to be the Georgian poet of XII-XIII centauries Shota Rustaveli, the author of the Georgian national epic The Knight in the Panther's Skin.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7349

July 4-17 - A company sized unit of the British officers and soldiers from the rifle volunteers held a joint military exercises with the Georgian servicemen from the 11th brigade at the Vaziani military base, near Tbilisi.

July 5 – The European Union’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Heikki Talvitie, met with South Ossetian de facto President Edward Kokoev in the capital of the self-styled Republic, Tskhinvali

July 5-6 - Janez Potocnik, the European Union Commissioner who together with Commissioner Gunter Verheugen is in charge of European enlargement, visited Georgia and details of the EU’s Neighborhood Policy with the Georgian leadership.

July 6 - President Mikheil Saakashvili met representatives from various Georgian civil society organizations and expressed a readiness to boost cooperation between his government and the non-governmental organizations.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7403

July 6-9 - President Mikheil Saakashvili paid an official visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

July 7-9 - Commanders of the border guard services of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) held meeting in the capital of the Adjara Autonomous Republic, Batumi.

July 7 - Mayas Eorsi, who chairs the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe’s monitoring group in Georgia, and Georgian MP Elene Tevdoradze, chairperson of the human rights parliamentary committee, visited former state audit chief Sulkhan Molashvili in jail, who faces embezzlement charges. The visit was organized in response to the allegation made by the lawyers for Molashvili, a close ally of ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze, and several human rights organizations, which reported that Molashvili was subjected to torture in the jail.

July 7 - Georgian peacekeepers, deployed in the South Ossetian conflict zone, seized nine trucks belonging to Russian peacekeepers and that were loaded with arms, ammunition and uniforms. The Georgian side accused Moscow of supply South Ossetian secessionists; while the Russian side claimed that the arms were intended to supply the Russian peacekeepers deployed in the conflict zone.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7280

July 8 - Around 50 Georgian peacekeepers, deployed in the South Ossetian conflict zone, were disarmed and detained by the South Ossetian militias overnight on July 8. Later the Russian television stations broadcasted footage showing the detained Georgian soldiers kneeling at gunpoint in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7353

July 8 - Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania met with accredited foreign diplomats in Georgia to inform them regarding the recent tensions in breakaway South Ossetia and in an attempt to activate international efforts in order to solve the crisis. On the same day Zurab Zhvania also held phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

July 8 - Three Georgian soldiers were wounded as a result of an armed attack on the checkpoint located between the Georgian villages of Kurta and Tamarasheni in breakaway South Ossetia.

July 8 - The U.S. Department of State condemned detention of Georgian peacekeepers by the South Ossetian forces.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7361

July 9 - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held phone conversations to discuss developments in breakaway South Ossetia.

July 9 - The South Ossetia side released the Georgian peacekeepers.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7363

July 9 - Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Moscow will protect its citizens living in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetian region. Most of the South Ossetian population has the Russian passport. Russian Foreign Ministry also accused Georgia of provoking tensions in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

July 9 - President Saakashvili held a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice over the South Ossetian crisis.

July 10 - Three servicemen of Georgian internal troops and one policeman were wounded in an overnight shootout in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

July 10 - President Saakashvili said on July 10 that the Georgian authorities “will regain control over Tskhinvali [the capital of breakaway South Ossetia] very soon.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7378

July 10 - Georgia set up a special center with the headquarters in the Georgian village of Eredvi in South Ossetia, to coordinate activities of the Georgian government in order to overcome crisis in the breakaway region.

July 11 - Secretary of the Georgian National Security Council Gela Bezhuashvili left for Moscow in order to discuss crisis in South Ossetia with Russian authorities.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7394

July 12 - President Mikheil Saakashvili left for London for a three-day visit. He told reporters in London that Georgia could avoid armed conflict in South Ossetia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7407

July 13 - Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Goga Khaindrava left for the Russian capital Moscow to hold takes with senior Russian officials over the situation in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

July 13 - The Georgian side has blocked a convoy of trucks from the Russian Emergency Ministry carrying humanitarian aid. The cargo was meant for the population of Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetian region but was barred from reaching its destination at the village of Ergneti in the conflict zone.

July 14 - Georgian and South Ossetian sides launched talks in Moscow in frames of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC), which also includes the Russian and North Ossetian sides, in an attempt to defuse tensions in breakaway South Ossetia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7432

July 14 - Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Vladimir Rushailo arrived in Tbilisi.

July 15 - U.S. special representative for Eurasian conflicts Steven R. Mann, who is also a Senior Advisor for Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy, arrived in Georgia.

July 15 - Georgian Economy Minister Kakha Bendukidze presented a list of those state-run enterprises which will be privatized within the next two years. The list included a total of 372 enterprises and firms.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7134

July 15 - Director of the Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute Tbilisi office Davit Darchiashvili and two other colleagues were detained by local security forces in the breakaway South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. All of them were released after six hours of interrogation by South Ossetian law enforcers.

July 16 - President Saakashvili told reporters in Tbilisi that armed groups of volunteers, which supported the South Ossetian militias, pulled out from Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia. He said that armed groups were pulled out from breakaway South Ossetia after “the orders from Moscow.”

July 16 - The European Union launched its first ever ‘Rule of Law’ mission in Georgia to help the country in reforming its criminal justice system.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7477

July 16 - Representatives of the Georgian and Russian Foreign Ministries launched talks in Tbilisi over a framework agreement between Russia and Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7441

July 16 - One local resident died after a flood swept through the Mestia district of high mountain region of Svaneti in north-eastern Georgia.

July 18 - Georgian troops in the South Ossetian conflict zone seized a mini-van loaded with anti-tank guided missile system "Fagot" (NATO reporting name "Spigot").

July 19 - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili unexpectedly visited the Georgian village of Eredvi in the breakaway South Ossetia.

July 19 – News broke that Georgian businessman Kibar Khalvashi has purchased 90% of the shares of one of Georgia's leading television company, Rustavi 2.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7452

July 20 – Abkhaz opposition movements Amtsakhara and United Abkhazia nominated Sergei Bagapsh to run for president in the upcoming elections scheduled for October 3.

July 20 – Adjarian parliament approved Levan Varshalomidze as the Chairman of the Autonomous Republic’s Government.

July 21 – The Paris Club of creditors agreed to a restructuring plan for Georgia’s external debt.

July 22 – The British Petroleum (BP) company, which heads the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil export pipeline, has suspended construction works in the Borjomi valley of western Georgia for two weeks as requested by the Ministry of the Environment of Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7494

July 23 – Georgian policeman was wounded in an overnight shootout near the village of Eredvi in the South Ossetian conflict zone. 

July 24 – Georgian authorities handed over a couple of hundred helicopter-born unguided missiles, which have been in their possession since July 7, to the Russian authorities at the Larsi checkpoint on the Russo-Georgian border.

July 25 – Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan arrived in Georgia for an official two day visit.

July 26 – President of Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia Eduard Kokoev visited Moscow.

July 26 – At a cabinet session Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania said the Georgian government sets a new precedent: “instead of cutting the expenditures the government asks the Parliament to increase budgetary targets.” The amendments to the law on the state budget for 2004 envisaged an increase in revenues by GEL 211 million (approximately USD 106 million) and an increase in expenditures by GEL 223 million (approximately USD 112 million).
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7580

July 27 – President Mikheil Saakashvili left for Israel for a four-day official visit.

July 29 – Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania left for Ukraine to attend a bilateral, inter-governmental economic session.

July 29 – Georgia unilaterally simplified visa requirements for Russian citizens.

July 30 – Elizabeth Jones, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs arrived in Georgia for a one-day visit to discuss the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.

July 30 – The Georgian coast guard opened fire on a Turkish vessel en route to Abkhazia. Following this incident, the Abkhaz de facto authorities suspended all negotiations over conflict resolution with the Georgian side.

July 31 – A session of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC), involving the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and North Ossetian sides, was held in the capital of the self-styled South Ossetian Republic Tskhinvali, in a bid to defuse recent tensions in the region.

August

August 1 - Six South Ossetians were reportedly killed and two Georgian policemen wounded in an overnight shootout in the Ossetian conflict zone.

August 2 - Police in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia detained Revaz Okruashvili, editor of the newspaper "People's Newspaper" alleging the illegal possession and sale of narcotics. He was later sentenced by the court to three months of preliminary detention. The detention triggered protest of the human rights activists, as they allege fabrication of evidence and spoke about political persecution of Okruashvili from the governor of Shida Kartli - Mikheil Kareli. Revaz Okruashvili was released on December 6 after the pressure from the human right groups.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article_ngo.php?id=7552

August 3 - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili left for the United States for an unofficial visit.

August 3 - Zinaida Bestaeva, an ethnic Ossetian, was appointed as a Deputy State Minister of Georgia.

August 5 - The Georgian Ministry of the Environment authorized the British Petroleum (BP), which heads the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil export pipeline, to resume construction works in the Borjomi valley, in western Georgia.

August 5 - Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov arrived in the capital of breakaway Abkhazia, Sokhumi.

August 5 - Developments in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia were discussed during talks between visiting Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

August 9 - Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolutions Goga Khaindrava and Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze left for the Russian capital Moscow for an official visit.

August 10 - President Mikheil Saakashvili left Ukraine on an unofficial one-day visit.

August 11-12 - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by a large delegation of Turkish businessmen, visited Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7616

August 12 - Three Georgians were killed and several others injured as a result of overnight shelling that took place in breakaway South Ossetia.

August 12 - Russian Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador for Special Affairs Lev Mironov arrived in Tbilisi to discuss South Ossetian conflict resolution issues with the Georgian leadership.

August 13 - Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze was barred from passing the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali. Nino Burjanadze intended to visit the Georgian villages located in north of Tskhinvali.

August 13 - Georgian peacekeeper was wounded by a sniper’s bullet in breakaway South Ossetia.

August 13 - The Georgian and South Ossetian sides agreed on August 13 to a cease-fire after three nights of gun and mortar fire in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia. The agreement was signed by Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and South Ossetian de facto President Eduard Kokoev. But the agreement was violated shortly after the signing.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7627

August 16 - Two Georgian servicemen were killed and several others injured as a result of an overnight shootouts near the Georgian villages of Tamarasheni and Eredvi in breakaway South Ossetia.

August 16 - The U.S. Department of State called on the conflicting sides in South Ossetia “to exercise restraint” and to implement the ceasefire agreement signed by the Georgian and South Ossetian sides.

August 17 - One Georgian soldier died as a result of overnight fighting near the village of Eredvi in breakaway South Ossetia.

August 17 - At the meeting of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC) in Tbilisi the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and North Ossetian sides, agreed on a ceasefire. The sides also agreed to demilitarize the South Ossetian conflict zone and to ensure free movement of people.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7640

August 17 - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell held phone conversations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in order to discuss the situation in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia.

August 18 - Three Georgian soldiers were killed and four others injured during an overnight battle near the village of Eredvi in breakaway South Ossetia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7645

August 18 – Outgoing President of breakaway Abkhazia Vladislav Ardzinba said in an interview with the local newspaper Abkhazian Republic that he will support Abkhaz Prime Minister Raul Khajimba in the upcoming Presidential elections, scheduled in the breakaway region for October 3.

August 18 – Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his scheduled visit to Georgia would be “inappropriate” amid the increased tensions in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia. Putin planned to visit Georgia in September.

August 18 – Zurab Zviadauri gave Georgia its first-ever Olympic gold medal after defeating Hiroshi Izumi of Japan in men's 90-kilogram judo. Georgia won total of two gold and two silver Olympic medals in Athens.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7726

August 19 – Seven Georgian soldiers were killed and at least seven wounded after heavy overnight fighting on August 18-19 in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

August 19 – Georgian internal troops, together with the Security Ministry’s forces attacked a strategic hill near the Ossetian village of Trianakhana, from which the South Ossetian militias and mercenaries were shelling Georgian villages, according to Georgian officials.

However, shortly after the operation, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced that Georgia will give “a last chance for peace” in breakaway South Ossetia and added that Tbilisi will pullout its non-peacekeeping troops from the conflict zone in exchange of peace. Georgian troops handed over strategic hilltops in the South Ossetian conflict zone to the joint peacekeeping forces, involving Georgian, Russian and Ossetian troops, late on the same day.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7658

August 20 – Police dispersed a rally in the town of Borjomi protesting the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline through the Borjomi Valley in western Georgia.

August 21 – Seven people were wounded after their off-road vehicle exploded on a mine in the seaside village of Chakvi in the Adjara Autonomous Republic. More mines have been uncovered in the area after a mine-clearing operation was launched. Georgian officials allege that the seacoast was mined by the previous authorities of Adjara during the standoff between the Georgia’s central government and Adjara’s deposed ex-leader Aslan Abashidze in late April.

August 23 – European Union’s special envoy to the South Caucasus Heikki Talvitie arrived in Tbilisi to discuss the situation in breakaway South Ossetia with the Georgian authorities. Heikki Talvitie also visited Tskhinvali during the visit.

August 25 – Chief of Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces Major General Givi Iukuridze was dismissed. U.S.-educated Vakhtang Kapanadze replaced Iukuridze.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7695

August 25 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said “Georgia should have tens of thousands of army reservists.” He said, while speaking in western Georgian sea resort of Grigoleti, that special reservist centers will be set up to train reserve forces.

August 26 – Three servicemen - logistic chief of the Osiauri military unit and Interior Ministry’s two officials were arrested for alleged misappropriation of the ammunition and other military equipment from the Georgian military unit in the village of Osiauri, near the South Ossetian conflict zone. News broke in the wake of pullout of the Georgian troops from breakaway South Ossetia on August 20 that in the boxes of hand-grenades and cartridges were put stones and sand.

August 27 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili left for an unofficial visit to Athens to attend the Olympic Games.

August 27 – The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement and categorically demanded to stop the “noisy and provocative non-stop rally” outside the Russian embassy in Tbilisi. The rally, organized by a small group of Georgian computer programmers and internet chatters demanded the withdrawal of the Russian peacekeepers stationed in Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7709

August 29 – Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Prime Minister of the unrecognized Abkhaz Republic Raul Khajimba, who was running for President of the breakaway republic during the October 3 elections. The meeting took place on August 29 in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi, near Abkhazia. The Sochi talks were perceived by Tbilisi as a clear message of Moscow’s support to Raul Khajimba in the upcoming presidential elections.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7721

August 29 – 50 Georgian soldiers and officers from the 16th Mountain Battalion departed to Germany for a two-week training courses to prepare for a 100-day deployment in Afghanistan.

August 30 – The Georgian and U.S. sides signed an agreement envisaging increase funding from the United States for biological weapons proliferation prevention and biological threat reduction from $15 million to $30 million.

August 31 – Erosi Kitsmarishvili, the President of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, filed resignation.

August 31 – Senior Russian MP Dmitri Rogozin, the leader of the parliamentary faction “Rodina” (Homeland), met with President of the self-styled South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoev in the capital of breakaway region Tskhinvali.

August 31 – One Russian and one Ossetian peacekeeper died in a mine explosion near the Georgian village of Kekhvi in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

September

September 1 - President of Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia Eduard Kokoev left for neighboring Russia’s North Ossetian Republic on September 1 after the gunmen stormed school building in the North Ossetian town of Beslan taking hundreds of hostages, mainly the pupil.

September 1 - The Georgian Foreign Ministry expressed today its “extreme concern” over the terrorist acts in Russia’s capital, Moscow on August 31 and hostage-taking in Russia’s North Ossetian Republic on September 1.  

September 1 - The riot police of Adjara Autonomous Republic stormed the market building in the center of Batumi, in a failed attempt to disperse traders, who were protesting against the decision of local authorities to remove market and replace it in the suburb of the Adjarian capital. The protesters were dispersed on September 2 only after sending to Adjara additional riot police unit from Tbilisi.

September 4 - President Saakashvili expressed concern over the detention of a correspondent of the Tbilisi-based Rustavi 2 television Nana Lezhava and cameraman Levan Tetvadze in North Ossetia’s city of Beslan and demanded journalists’ immediate release.
 
The North Ossetian police detained Nana Lezhava and Levan Tetvadze, since they had no Russian visa and special journalist accreditations, according to the Russian officials.

September 4 – Russia closed its border with Georgia following the Beslan hostage-taking crisis.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7762

September 5 - Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze left for Iraq to inspect 159-strong unit stationed there as a part of the coalition forces.

September 5 - Georgian government paid compensation of 155 thousand Euros to Tengiz Asanidze, who won a case in European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Georgia in April.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7751

September 6 - The Supreme Court of the Adjara Autonomous Republic ruled positively regarding the appeal of the Adjarian prosecutor’s office over confiscation of assets from former leader of Adjara Autonomous Republic Aslan Abashidze and his up to 30 relatives. The assets, including real estate, land, luxurious cars and bank accounts, were estimated at around 100 million Lari (approximately USD 58 million). Charges against Abashidze were brought on the basis of the anti-corruption law, passed by the Parliament in February. The law envisages confiscation of assets of those officials and ex-officials who fail to prove assets were acquired legally.

September 6 - Georgian internal displaced persons from Abkhazia vacated hotel Iveria in the center of Tbilisi after the investor, which bought the building, paid compensation of USD 7,000 to each family living in the hotel since 1993, when they were forced to flee from Abkhazia.

September 8 - Georgian journalist Nana Lezhava and cameraman Levan Tetvadze of Rustavi 2 television were released after spending four days under the arrest in the Russia’s North Ossetian capital of Vladikavkaz.

September 8 - Former Minister for Refugees and Accommodation Valeri Vashakidze was arrested on September 8 for alleged misuse of power.

September 8 - Maj.Gen. Murat Kulakhmetov, new commander of the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in the South Ossetian conflict zone, arrived in Georgia to replace Sviatoslav Nabzdorov.

September 9 - Georgia simplified visa rules, as well as reduced visa tariffs.

September 9 - President Mikheil Saakashvili dismissed Gia Chanturia, the President of the Georgian International Oil Corporation (GIOC).

September 10 - Railway connection was resumed between Moscow and Sokhumi, the capital of Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia, despite protest of the Georgian side.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7806

September 10-11 - Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili paid an official visit to Bulgaria.

September 12 - Goga Khaindrava, the Georgian State Minister in charge of the conflict resolution issues left for the Russian capital Moscow to hold talks over South Ossetia.

September 13 - U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles made a surprise statement that “there are still a few international terrorists in the vicinity of the Pankisi Gorge,” in northern mountainous part of Georgia near the Russian border. But later the statement was later denied by the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7823

September 13 - Russian President Vladimir Putin said, that Russia has a right to take pre-emptive strikes to "destroy criminals in their hideouts and, if necessary, abroad."

September 14 - According to the Energy Ministry unidentified persons exploded the power line Kartli-2, as a result of which power supplies were suspended in Tbilisi and several other regions for several hours.

September 15 - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoof Scheffer announced appointment of Robert F. Simmons Jr., as Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia.

September 15 – Russia banned seven Georgian bus companies to carry out passenger traffic between Georgia and Russia. However, in practice, the road traffic between Georgia and Russia was anyway stopped since early September, after the Russian side closed down its border with Georgia following the hostage tragedy in the North Ossetian town of Beslan.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7834

September 15 – At a joint news briefing Interior Minister Irakli Okruashvili and Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze announced that the Interior Ministry will pass its combat units – Internal Troops – under the command of the Ministry of Defense (MoD).
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7840

September 15 – The Parliament unanimously approved human rights activist and journalist Sozar Subeliani as Georgia’s new Public Defender (Ombudsman).

September 16 – During debates at the parliamentary session the opposition accused the Georgian authorities of conducting an “uncoordinated” and “unsuccessful” operation in breakaway South Ossetia in August, wherein clashes between the South Ossetian and Georgian forces erupted in the separatist region.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7859

September 16 – A heated exchange of words between the Georgian and Russian Presidents took place at a press-conference following a summit of the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the Kazakh capital of Astana and served as an open demonstration of tensions between Georgia and Russia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7852

September 17 – President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi arrived in the Georgian capital Tbilisi from Azerbaijan, as part of his tour to the South Caucasus countries.

September 17 – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Valeri Loshchinin said that “terrorists still remain on Georgian soil,” particularly in Pankisi gorge.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7867

September 19 – Georgian side reported that the South the Georgian village of Tamarasheni near the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali came under overnight fire. No casualties were reported.

September 20 – Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania left for the Azerbaijani capital Baku in order to participate in official ceremonies celebrating the 10th anniversary of the signing of the so called “Contract of the Century,” which envisaged the export of Azeri oil to the western markets via Georgia and Turkey.
 
September 20 – Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze left for the United States.

September 20 – Two explosions that rocked the Kavkasioni high-voltage power transmitting line resulted in the loss of power for most areas in Georgia.  The explosions took place in the Khashuri region of Georgia.

September 21 – Georgian Interior Ministry forces, in cooperation with the Security Ministry carried out, as officials put it, an “inspection” of the Pankisi gorge. The law enforcers went door-to-door checking the papers and documents of the Chechen refugees living in the gorge. The move followed allegations by certain Russian officials regarding the presence of Chechen fighters in Pankisi
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7885

September 21 – Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili met with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in New York on the side lines of the UN General Assembly Session.

September 21 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said while addressing the UN General Assembly Session in New York, that Tbilisi is proposing a new “stage by stage settlement plan” for the South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts.

He outlined three steps which he said are “designed to speed resolutions” of the South Ossetian and Abkhazian conflicts: confidence building; demilitarization of the conflict areas and internationalization of the peacekeeping operations; and offering the breakaway regions the “broadest form of autonomy.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7887

September 23 – A regular bus route was opened between the Russian town of Sochi and Sukhumi, capital of secessionist province of Abkhazia.

September 23 – Four Georgian servicemen were detained by the Ossetian militias near the Ossetian village of Prisi in the South Ossetian conflict zone. Servicemen were released on September 24.

September 24 – Chairpersons of the Parliaments of the GUUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova) met in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and signed a declaration concerning the setting up of a GUUAM Parliamentary Assembly. Representatives from Uzbekistan did not participate in the meeting.

September 28-29 – Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov paid an official visit to Georgia.

September 29 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili appointed three new governors. In particular, Deputy Interior Minister Gia Getsadze replaced Davit Mumladze at the post of governor of the Imereti region. Deputy Security Minister Gigi Ugulava was appointed governor of the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region. He replaced Leri Chitanava. A Goga Khachidze was appointed as the governor of Mtskheta-Tianeti region.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7941

September 30 – A meeting of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC), involving Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and North Ossetian representatives, started in Moscow.

September 30 – The Tbilisi-based Supreme Council of Abkhazia approved Irakli Alasania as the new chief of the Council of Ministers of Abkhazia. Irakli Alasania replaced Londer Tsaava at this position.

September 30 – Jemal Inaishvili, former chief of the port of Poti, was elected as the President of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

October

October 1 - Roin Metreveli, who has been the Rector of the Tbilisi State University (TSU) for the past 13 years, filed his resignation.

October 1 - Three Turkish airplanes dropped water bombs to help Georgian firefighters who have failed to control a blaze in the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, in western Georgia, that raged since September 26. Turkey provided fire-fighting airplanes after upon a request by the Georgian side.

October 1 - The Parliament approved the new national symbol.

October 1 - The Georgian Parliament passed the statement calling on Russian parliamentarians not to send observers to Abkhazia in order to monitor the presidential elections in the unrecognized republic.

October 2 - Georgian Interior Minister Irakli Okruashvili said that Georgia is ready to provide Russian authorities with a list of persons currently residing in Georgia’s Pankisi gorge in an attempt to defuse Russia’s fears over presence of alleged terrorist suspects in the gorge near the Russian border.

October 3 – Presidential elections held in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia. The polls were expected to bring new leader of the unrecognized republic, but because of the post-election dispute between the two main presidential rivals – the opposition leader Sergey Bagapsh and pro-governmental candidate Raul Khajimba, Abkhazia was hit by two months of political crisis, which brought the region on the verge of civil war.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7963

October 6 – The Abkhaz Central Election Commission (CEC) agreed to invalidate election results in all three precincts of Gali district. A re-vote was appointed for October 17. Thus, the CEC yielded to the opposition candidate Sergey Bagapsh, who, according to the Abkhaz CEC was leading in the polls. Bagapsh argued that there were no violations in Gali, but as a compromise offered to run a re-vote in the Gali District alone. The Gali district is the westernmost part of unrecognized Abkhaz republic, populated mainly by ethnic Georgians who spontaneously returned to Abkhazia following the conflict in 1992-93.

Outgoing Abkhaz de facto President Vladislav Ardzinba issued a statement on the same day criticizing the CEC’s decision to appoint a re-vote in the Gali district.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8000

October 6 – A group of 19 criminal suspects were arrested as a result of an operation in the western Georgian region of Samegrelo.

October 6 – Outgoing President of the unrecognized Abkhazian Republic Vladislav Ardzinba appointed Nodar Khashba as the breakaway region’s new Prime Minister. Before this appointment Khashba worked as the deputy chief of the investment department at the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations.

October 7-8 – Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson paid an official visit to Georgia.

October 7 - CanArgo Energy Corporation donated fuel worth 100,000 Lari (around USD 55,000) to the Georgian Ministry of Defense. CanArgo, which is an oil and gas exploration and production company that has oil and gas operations in Georgia and Central Asia, experience problems related to a blow-out at a well in Ninotsminda, Georgia. The company was able to cap the well on September 13, three days after the incident.

October 7 – During the debates at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) the Georgian delegation accused Russia of double standards when dealing with its internal (Chechnya) and external (Abkhazia, South Ossetia) problems. In response, the Russian delegation assumed that Tbilisi is "preparing public opinion" for a possible military resolution to the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflicts.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8013

October 7-8 – A conference, organized by the Washington-based American-Georgian Business Council, brought a group of Georgian and American businesspeople together in Tbilisi to explore new opportunities of investment in Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8022

October 8 – Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze left for Persian Gulf to participate in a meeting of the Defense Ministers from 16 countries which are the members of the U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition forces. The meeting took place on board the U.S. aircraft John F. Kennedy in the Persian Gulf.

October 8 – Vakhtang Tsaava, who served as the General Director of the state-run Tbilisi gas distribution company Tbilgazi from 2002-2003, was arrested for alleged misuse of power and misappropriation of state funds.

October 8 – Two Georgian peacekeepers were wounded in the Georgian village of Tamarasheni in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

October 9 – As a result of the exposition at the Kartli 2 transmission line power supplies were suspended to the capital Tbilisi for several hours.

October 9 – An unknown armed man wounded a Russian peacekeeper in the village of Artsevi in the breakaway South Ossetian conflict zone.

October 10 – Two towers of high-voltage power line were blown up in western Georgia, following similar explosions at the Kartli-2 power line near the central Georgian town of Gori on October 9. 

October 10 – The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Company (BTC Co.), led by BP, signed two new protocols with the Georgia government on October 10 that envisage new grant programs totaling more than USD 46 million.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8035

October 11 – Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania left for Kenya to address an anti-corruption conference organized by Transparency International.

October 11 – President Mikheil Saakashvili launched his tour to the Baltic States, which lasted until October 15. During the visits he met with his Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian counterparts.

October 11 – Police arrested judge of the Didube-Chugureti district court of Tbilisi for alleged bribe-taking.

October 11 – The Central Election Commission of the unrecognized Abkhaz Republic unexpectedly signed a protocol declaring opposition candidate Sergey Bagapsh the winner of the October 3 presidential elections. This decision added more confusion to the Abkhaz crisis, as the re-vote was scheduled in Gali district for October 17. Pro-governmental presidential candidate Raul Khajimba challenged the decision in the Supreme Court.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8039

October 11 – Outgoing president of Abkhazia Vladislav Ardzinba addressed the nation and called "absurd" the decision of the Abkhaz CEC to announce Sergey Bagapsh the president-elect and described the decision as “a crawling coup”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8055

October 12 – One Ossetian peacekeeper died and two others were wounded in the South Ossetian conflict area, after the truck transporting the unit of the Ossetian Battalion of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces was attacked by unknown armed men.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8066

October 12 – The Georgian Parliament unanimously adopted a decree, which will instructed the National Security Council to develop a national security doctrine for Georgia.

October 12 – The Georgian Parliament approved an amendment to the election code, which says that the participation of one-third of all eligible voters will not be necessary to declare by-elections valid. The amendment was approved in an attempt to ensure validity of upcoming by elections in four constituencies scheduled for October 24.

October 13 – Mikheil Kebadze, ex-commander of the Georgian peacekeeping battalion stationed in the breakaway South Ossetian conflict zone, was arrested. He was accused of illegal possession of arms.

October 13 – MPs Giga Bukia, Bidzina Gujabidze and Giorgi Tsanava announced that they quit the parliamentary majority, which is represented by the ruling National Movement-Democrats party.

October 13 – In his first comments regarding the crisis in Abkhazia, which broke out in the breakaway region after highly-disputed presidential elections took place on October 3, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili denounced the polls as illegitimate, but added that “the most anti-Georgian forces” failed to deliver their scenario of elections.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8065

October 13 – Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nika Tabatadze announced that he will quit his post and become the General Director of the private Rustavi 2 broadcasting company.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8122

October 16 – Two sections of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline were connected during an official ceremony which took place at the Georgian-Azerbaijani border. The ceremony was attended by the Azerbaijani and Georgian Presidents, Ilham Aliyev and Mikheil Saakashvili.

October 18 – Fourteen civil society leaders and representatives from the Georgian expert community openly addressed President Mikheil Saakashvili, blowing the whistle against perceived limitation of the freedom of expression and political opposition.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8227

October 19 – Nikoloz Vashakidze was appointed as the new President of the Georgian International Oil Corporation (GIOC).

October 20 – Ailing Nanuli Shevardnadze-Tsagareishvili, wife of Georgia’s ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze, died in Tbilisi at the age of 75. A heart attack was listed as the cause of death.

October 20 – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged the Georgian and Abkhaz sides to resume political contacts and to continue pursuing negotiations of a settlement to the conflict, warning that the peace process has come “perilously close” to a standstill.

October 20 – In the 2004 report, issued by the Transparency International Georgia is ranked 136th out of 146 countries listed. It is a minor progress for Georgia when compared to last year’s report, where Georgia was ranked 127th out of 133 countries listed.

October 21-22 – Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili will pay an official two-day visit to Germany.

October 20 – President Mikheil Saakashvili said that the Georgian special forces destroyed a group of South Ossetian saboteurs who were allegedly attacking the high-voltage power transmission lines.

October 21 - Police arrested a judge in the town of Rustavi for suspected bribe-taking.

October 22 - Armenian President Robert Kocharyan arrived in Georgia for a three-day official visit.

October 22 - Russia reopened its border with Georgia at the Larsi checkpoint, after an almost two-month closure following the Beslan hostage-taking tragedy in Russia’s North Ossetian Republic in early September.

October 22 - The Abkhaz opposition declined a Moscow-proposed deal in which Russia was ready to support opposition candidate Sergey Bagapsh, who has been declared president-elect, granting that he appoint Nodar Khashba as the Prime Minister of the unrecognized republic.

October 24 - Koba Narchemashvili, who served as the country’s Interior Minister in 2001-2003 was arrested. He was suspected of violating customs regulations and enforcing unlawful regulations for the import of cars.

October 25 - A group from the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE), which monitors the honoring of obligations and commitments by member states, visited on Sulkhan Molashvili, the former chairman of the State Audit Agency, in his pre-trial detention center at the request of the latter. Lawyers for Sulkhan Molashvili, as well as some human rights organizations, claim that Molashvili was subjected to torture in the pre-trial detention center.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7434

October 25 - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was hospitalized with a slight wrist injury.

October 25-27 - Ambassador Rolf Ekeus, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities will visited Georgia.

October 26 - The Georgian Parliament approved amendments to the Law on Compulsory Military Service, and thus reduced the 18-month term of military service to 12 months.

October 26 - Georgian Parliament unanimously approved 24 provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. Hence, Georgia has met one of its commitments undertaken when joining the Council of Europe (CoE) in 1999. 
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8174

October 26 - EU special representative to the South Caucasus countries Heikki Talvitie arrived in Georgia on a two-day visit.

October 26 - The Supreme Court of breakaway Abkhazia ruled to re-count votes cast during the disputed presidential elections on October 3.

October 27 - Mayor of Tbilisi Zurab Tchiaberashvili convened a press conference, which was attended by the heads of Tbilisi’s five districts. Tchiaberashvili announced at the press conference that Head of Isani-Samgori district Zurab Adamia gave him an expensive watch as a gift and he is dismissing him for this.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8184

October 27 - Ammunition has disappeared from the military depot in the south-western Georgian district of Akhaltsikhe. Ministry officials say that the ammunition, which was produced in the Czech Republic, was “outdated.”

October 27 - Georgia ranked 94th in an annual worldwide index of press freedom issued by the Paris-based lobby group for media rights Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders). The report indicates the state of press freedom in a total of 167 countries. In last year’s similar report, which included a total of 166 countries, Georgia was ranked 73rd.

October 28 - The Supreme Court of breakaway Abkhazia confirmed opposition candidate Sergey Bagapsh winner of the disputed October 3 presidential elections. Shortly after the decision supporters of pro-governmental candidate broke into the court’s building and later judge Giorgi Akaba revised his decision and ruled to hold repeat presidential polls. Later on October 29, Giorgi Akaba admitted the court was under pressure by Khajimba’s supporters and the ruling about repeat elections should not be considered valid.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8214

October 28 - Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Goga Khaindrava said that Georgia is ready to provide certain privileges to those firms operating in breakaway South Ossetia and Russia’s North Ossetian Republic in Georgian ports. But Khaindrava added that these economic projects can be launched only after a demilitarization of the conflict zone occurs.

October 29 - The North Atlantic Council, which is the decision-making body of the NATO, approved the Individual Partnership Action Plan of Georgia (IPAP).

October 29 - Foreign Ministers from the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC) gathered in the Georgian capital Tbilisi and discussed issues of the regional cooperation.

October 30 - Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze left for Moscow to hold talks with the Russian leadership.

October 31 - Commander of the Georgian peacekeeping battalion in the South Ossetian conflict zone Aleksander Kiknadze was injured in a car crash on October 31, which also led to death of one civilian, who was driving another car.

November

November 1 - British Mediterranean Airways, which is a franchise partner of British Airways, resumed London-Tbilisi flights.

November 1 - Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Goga Khaindrava visited Moscow in order to discuss the agenda of the upcoming high-level talks between Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoev.

November 1 - Russian Minister of Transport Igor Levitin visited Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8237

November 1 – Both, pro-governmental Abkhaz presidential candidate Raul Khajimba and opposition candidate Sergey Bagapsh left for Moscow. But the presidential rivals failed to reach a compromise in Moscow talks.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8256

November 2 – Resident of the Georgian village of Kurta, in the South Ossetian conflict zone, was severely wounded as a result of the explosion of an unknown explosive device.

November 3 – After visiting Moscow, Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze left for France to participate in a summit of South Caucasian Parliamentary Chairpersons.

November 3 – Former Energy Minister of Georgia Davit Mirtskhulava goes on trial over suspected corruption charges and misuse of power during his service as Energy Minister in 2000-2003.

November 3 – Vice-Premier of Chechnya Ramzan Kadirov has offered the Georgian authorities, as he put it, help in restoring order in the Pankisi gorge, which is in the north-eastern part of Georgia, near the Russian border. Ramzan Kadirov is son of Akhmad Kadirov, former chief of Chechnya’s Moscow-backed administration, who was assassinated in a bomb attack in May.

November 3 – Cabinet members approved a proposal to privatize the Tbilisi Aircraft Factory – TbilAviaMsheni (TAM) and hand it over to the factory’s current managing company without announcing an open competition for USD 67 million.

November 4 – Secretary General of the NATO Jaap de Hoop Scheffer arrived to Georgia for a one-day official visit.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8266

November 4 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili described U.S. President George W. Bush's re-election as “very important” for Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8265

November 4 – Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania met with leader of breakaway South Ossetia Eduard Kokoev in Russia’s Black Sea resort town of Sochi.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8278

November 4 – The Unites States welcomed Georgia's decision to increase its troops in Iraq from the current 159 to 850 and announced that Washington will launch new military assistance program for the Georgian troops.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8271

November 5 – The Council of Europe (CoE) Congress of Local and Regional Authorities welcomed the Georgian Parliament's ratification of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, but also expressed concern over the weakness of local authorities in Georgia.  A cameraman for the Tbilisi-based Rustavi 2 television Levan Dgebuadze was slightly injured as a result of a blast, which occurred near the village of Kurta in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

November 8 – 300 Georgian servicemen left for Iraq to replace the 159-strong unit, which has been serving as part of the coalition forces in Iraq since April, 2004. Georgia, which committed to send a total of 850 troops to Iraq to serve in the protection forces of the UN Mission, sent those servicemen who were trained by the U.S. military instructors in frames of Georgia Train-and-Equip Program.

November 8-13 – A group of military experts from the U.S. European Command visited Georgia to make assessments in order to figure out Georgian troops’ needs in respect to a newly planned military assistance program for Georgia

November 8 – Opposition MPs Koba Davitashvili and Zviad Dzidziguri announced the creation of the new Conservative Party of Georgia.

November 8 – News broke that 500 kg of gunpowder and 600 kg of solid rocket fuel is missing from a Defense Ministry’s military storehouse at the Kopitnari airport in the western Georgian town of Kutaisi.

November 8 – The U.S. Department of State has announced the selection of the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard M. Miles as the recipient of the 2004 Robert C. Frasure Award, which honors an individual who best exemplifies a commitment to conflict prevention and resolution. Richard Miles was awarded for his contribution in Georgia’s 2003 Rose Revolution.

November 9 – Local resident of the Georgian village of Eredvi in the South Ossetian conflict zone, was badly injured after a land mine went off.

November 9 – An official ceremony for the setting up of a training field for the reserve forces of the Georgian Defense Ministry was held in the village of Dzevera, in the Gori district in central Georgia, just 10 km away from the breakaway South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali. The move triggered South Ossetian side’s protest.

November 9 – Two children, 9 and 10 year old brothers, were injured after an unknown explosive went off in the Georgian village of Kemerti in the South Ossetian conflict zone.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8301

November 11 – Parliament approved amendments to the election code, setting up new rules for composing electoral commissions. A small group of opposition MPs walked out of a parliamentary session to demonstrate protest against the amendments, which according to the opposition gives the government full control over the election commissions.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8318

November 11 – Col. Petre Goguadze was appointed as the Commander of the Georgian peacekeeping battalion, which is part of the joint Russian-Georgian-Ossetian peacekeeping forces stationed in the South Ossetian conflict zone. Col. Goguadze, who formerly served as the Commander of the Rapid Reaction Forces Staff, replaced Aleksandre Kiknadze. Kiknadze was injured in a car crash on October 31 in the conflict zone, which also led to death of one civilian who was driving another car. Kiknadze was dismissed after this incident.

November 11 – Parliament approved amendments to the Law on the National Security Council (NSC), thus bringing the law in compliance with new constitutional norms. According to the law, the Prime Minister becomes a full-fledged member of the Security Council, while the Parliamentary Chairperson, who was a member prior to the law, will attend the Council sessions as an honorary member of the NSC.

November 11-12 – A Georgian governmental delegation, led by Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, participated in an "Invest in Georgia" conference held in London.

November 12 – Tensions escalated in breakaway Abkhazia after supporters of the opposition presidential candidate Sergey Bagapsh burst into major governmental buildings and captured Abkhazia’s Parliament, President’s Administration and the Governmental Office.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8325

November 15 – Georgian law-enforcers in Tbilisi arrested resident of breakaway South Ossetia Giorgi Tedeev, who is a former employee of the breakaway region’s special troops and ex-member of the South Ossetian Parliament. He was accused of alleged illegal arms trading.

November 15 – Russia imposed restrictions on border with Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia. The border was closed every night from 6 pm to 8:00 am Moscow times.

November 19 – A meeting of the quadripartite – Georgian, Russian, South Ossetian and North Ossetian - Joint Control Commission (JCC) regarding resolution of the South Ossetian conflict was held in Russia’s North Ossetian capital Vladikavkaz.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8384

November 19 – Two Georgian peacekeepers were injured as a result of a shootout near the village of Tsveriakho in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

November 20 – The Khadori hydro power plant was put into operation in the Pankisi gorge, in eastern Georgia. The Chinese Sichuan Electric Power Import & Export Corporation invested about USD 30 million in the project.

November 22 – The ruling National Movement-Democrats party held congress. The official merger of the two parties – President Saakashvili’s National Movement and Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania’s United Democrats was announced at the congress.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8400

November 23 – Georgia celebrated anniversary of 2003 Rose Revolution.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8395

November 23 – The Council of Elders of Abkhazia recognized the victory of opposition candidate Sergey Bagapsh in the October 3 presidential elections.

November 24 – Breakaway Abkhazia’s outgoing President Vladislav Ardzinba refused to step down, even if opposition candidate Sergey Bagapsh follows through with his plans to be inaugurated at the President of the unrecognized republic.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8414

November 25 – Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze refused to participate in a session of the Council of CIS Defense Ministers in Moscow.

November 25 – The Georgian Parliament unanimously adopted a statement, in which it condemns the ballot rigging in Ukrainian presidential elections.

November 26 – The Parliament of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia adopted a decree, which recognized the October 3 presidential elections valid and opposition leader Sergey Bagapsh as the President-elect.

November 27 – The United Distribution Company (UDC), which distributes electricity in the regions throughout Georgia, accused Gia Getsadze, the governor of the Imereti region in western Georgia, of insulting one of its employees of the Kutaisi office of the company.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8435

November 29 – Russia’s Counter-Terrorism Operations Center in the North Caucasus alleged that a group of around 250 Chechen rebels and foreign mercenaries are still based in Georgia’s north-eastern mountainous gorge of Pankisi.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8434

November 29 – A two-day business forum with participation of representatives from Georgian and Italian business circles opened in Tbilisi.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8436

November 29 – The Tbilisi Mayor’s Office launched collection of a humanitarian aid for the Ukrainian protesters supporting opposition presidential candidate Victor Yushchenko.

November 29 – President of the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR Natik Aliyev told reporters that construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline will cost around USD 4 billion, which is 350-400 million more than originally expected.

November 30 – Ad Melkert, the World Bank Executive Director, arrived in Georgia for an official two-day visit.

November 30 – A group of Russian Interior Ministry officials, led by First Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin, arrived in breakaway Abkhaz capital of Sokhumi in an attempt to solve the post-election crisis in the breakaway region. The Russian delegation was also accompanied by the Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Kolesnikov.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8450

November 30 – News broke that Commander of the 21st Brigade of the Georgian Defense Ministry Aleksandre Gabriadze shot his deputy Avtandil Dvalishvili and then committed suicide.

December

December 1 - Import of agricultural products from Abkhazia to Russia has been suspended. Exports of agricultural products, mainly tangerines and oranges, represent the foundation of the current Abkhaz economy and livelihood of most local inhabitants.

December 2 - Russia closed the railway communication with Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia. Both ban of import of agricultural products and closure of railway were imposed in an attempt to mount pressure on opposition presidential candidate Sergey Bagapsh, who planned to hold presidential inauguration on December 6. But Sergey Bagapsh announced he will not yield to Russia’s pressure.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8461

December 2 - A British citizen was found dead of a gunshot wound in his apartment in the capital Tbilisi. Police excluded robbery as a motive, as no money was missing.

December 3 - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili made a statement over the Abkhaz crisis and said that Tbilisi will hold peace talks over the Abkhaz conflict settlement with opposition leader Sergey Bagapsh, whom Saakashvili recognized as the President-elect of unrecognized republic.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8479

December 3 - Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Relations Kote Gabashvili slammed European Union’s Special Representative to the South Caucasus countries Heikki Talvitie for his, as Gabashvili put it, “passiveness” in the conflict resolution issues.

December 3 - The position of the President’s representative in the Kodori gorge, which is the only territory in breakaway Abkhazia controlled by the Georgian authorities, has been abolished.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8486

December 5 - The U.S. General Peter Pace, who is the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Tbilisi to discuss a new military assistance program for Georgian troops with the Georgian leadership.

December 5 - Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania left for the United States.

December 5 - Sergey Bagapsh announced that a presidential inauguration will not take place on December 6 after he agreed with his opponent Raul Khajimba to hold repeat elections in which Bagapsh will run as the presidential candidate and Khajimba as for Vice-President.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8497

December 6 - Opposition leader Sergey Bagapsh and his former presidential rival Raul Khajimba signed powersharing agreement.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8504

December 6 - Four separate explosions hit the breakaway Abkhaz capital Sokhumi overnight but no casualties were reported.

December 6 - Police in the southern Georgian town of Akhalkalaki detained two Russian soldiers who serve in the Russian military bases located in Akhalkalaki. The Russian servicemen were suspected of robbing a local shop.

December 6 - Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed, as he put it, the “Abkhaz politicians” for their efforts to peacefully tackle the post-election crisis in the breakaway region.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8505

December 6 - The Georgian Federation of Businessmen, which is slated to become a strong business lobby group, was established, replacing the previous Taxpayers Union. Influential media and financial tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili was elected as the President of the Georgian Federation of Businessmen.

December 6 – News broke that the Georgian Defense Ministry classified the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), which defines Georgia's cooperation with NATO.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8510

December 7 – U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in his remarks to the Ministerial Council of OSCE in Sofia that the OSCE Border Monitoring Operation (BMO) in Georgia “should be extended.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8515

December 7 – Premier of the capital city Tbilisi Bidzina Bregadze announced his resignation, after disagreements with Tbilisi Mayor Zurab Tchiaberashvili.

December 8 – The Georgian Ministry for Refugees and Accommodation, with the support of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), started registration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in order to find out the exact number of those persons who were forced to flee breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

December 8 – Visiting President of breakaway South Ossetia Eduard Kokoev met with the members of the Russian Duma Council, the lower house of the Parliament, in Moscow and warned that a renewal of an armed confrontation in the conflict zone is anticipated.

December 8 – Georgian border guards detained two citizens of the Russian Federation, ethnic Chechens, at the Russian-Georgian border.

December 9 – Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili participated in a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in Brussels.

December 9 – According to the new tax code, which was approved by the Parliament in its second hearing, the print media will be exempted from all taxes, except the income and social tax.

December 10 – Temur Kurkhuli was elected as the Premier of Tbilisi by the Tbilisi City Council. Kurkhuli previously worked as Vice-Premier of Tbilisi.

December 10 – Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov offered to set up a joint Russian-Georgian counterterrorism center in Batumi and Akhalkalaki, where the current the Russian military bases in Georgia exist.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8547

December 10 – President Mikheil Saakashvili sacked Zurab Mazmishvili, Governor of Kvemo Kartli – a region which is predominately populated by ethnic Azerbaijani minorities, and replaced him with Zurab Melikishvili, who previously served as the State Minister in charge of regional policy and relations with local government and self-government bodies.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8550

December 12 – The Banca Intensa, an Italian bank that was a part of a syndicate of 15 banks providing loans to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline project, announced this week that it has sold part of its interests in financing BTC.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8555

December 13 – Police arrested Iase Chavleishvili and Rezo Shamilishvili, the ex-finance Minister and ex-Chairman of Adjara’s Government, respectively, in ex-Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze’s government, for alleged misappropriation of state funds.

December 13 – Azerbaijani Ombudsperson Elmira Suleymanova and a group of Azeri parliamentarians arrived in Georgia, following recent concerns expressed by Azeri non-governmental organizations over human rights violations of ethnic Azerbaijani minority groups in Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8542

December 13 – The Great Council of the Tbilisi State University (TSU), which is the university’s main governing body elected Rusudan Lortkipanidze as the new Rector of the TSU.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8567

December 13 – Two-day, UN-sponsored talks on the Georgian-Abkhazian peace process were launched in Geneva with the participation of UN Secretary General’s Group of Friends for Georgia, including France, Germany, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States; however neither Georgian nor the Abkhaz delegations are participating in the talks.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8601

December 14 – Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili left for Poland for an official visit.

December 14 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania announced plans to restructure the government and reshuffle the cabinet in an attempt, as they put it, “to boost reforms.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8579

December 14 – The Holy Synod, the main governing body of the Georgian Orthodox Church, which held a session called on the media and politicians to refrain from meddling in the Church’s internal affairs, following a series of corruption and mismanagement accusations made by some non-governmental organizations, as well as by a group of liberal priests.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8582

December 16 – Routine quadripartite talks between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides, which include the participation of representative of the Russian peacekeeping force deployed in the conflict zone and UN observers, were resumed in the village of Chuburkhinji, in Abkhazia’s Gali district.

December 16 – Georgian insurance companies held a round table discussion and claimed that the amendments to the law on insurance, proposed by the Georgian Finance Ministry, will undermine their businesses by granting privileges to foreign insurance companies.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8592

December 17 – Influential media and financial tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili was elected as the President of the Georgian Olympic Committee.

December 17 – Chief of the Georgian state-run Railway Company Davit Onoprishvili announced, that Georgia and Russia agreed to launch a ferry service between the Georgian port of Poti and Russian port of Kavkaz in order to transport cargo trains.

December 17 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili instructed the government to prepare a peace plan for the Abkhazia and South Ossetian conflicts resolution. Addressing the Georgian National Security Council Mikheil Saakashvili said that the plan should envisage a “federal arrangement” of the country with “the widest form of status” for these breakaway regions in the “common state” of Georgia.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8609

December 17 – Outgoing President of breakaway Abkhazia Vladislav Ardzinba dismissed General Prosecutor of the unrecognized republic Rauf Korua.

December 17 – Georgia reached a preliminary agreement with the Greenoak Group, which is one of the major investor in Adjara Autonomous Republic, to sell 100% shares of the Georgian Ocean Shipping Co. Ltd for USD 107 million.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8617

December 18 – Police arrested Vakhtang Alania, the Mayor of Poti, a town and port on the Georgian Black Sea coast for alleged misuse of power and state funds.

December 20 – Giorgi Andriadze, who resigned from his post of the Georgian Orthodox Church’s parliamentary secretary, announced plans to set up a public movement National Lobby. The movement aims, as Andriadze put it, at protection of the “Orthodox Church and Georgian national values.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8614

December 20-21 – Mohsen Aminzade, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, paid an official visit to Georgia.

December 20 – 40 Georgian soldiers graduated from an eight-week training program conducted by the U.S. Marine Mobile Training Team at the Krtsanisi training center, outside of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8619

December 20 – Over 60 servicemen of the Georgian Internal Troops deserted the military unit in Mukhrovani on December 20 and gathered outside the Public Defender’s Office in Tbilisi to express protest regarding the social problems in the army.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8623

December 21 – Military Ombudsman of Georgia Irakli Sesiashvili announced his resignation, following the protest of 60 servicemen from the Georgian Internal Troops, who were demanding better social conditions in the army. Irakli Sesiashvili accused the authorities and the Ombudsman’s Office of “inadequately” assessing the incident.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8640

December 21 – The Georgian Parliament approved a law on higher education. The draft law is based on five key principles that include the autonomy of higher educational institutions and the establishment of democratic principles of self-governance. 

December 21 – The Parliament approved Mikheil Ukleba as Georgia’s Ambassador to China. Mikheil Ukleba, who previously served as Deputy Foreign Minister, is Georgia’s first-ever Ambassador to China.

December 21 – The Georgian Parliament approved the new tax code.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8637

December 22 – A meeting of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC), which oversees South Ossetian conflict resolution issues, was held in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

December 22 – Three armed men robbed one of the offices of the Fire Department in the center of the capital Tbilisi. Robbers could escape with as much as 131 thousand Lari (USD 72.700) – money which was supposed for the firemen's salaries.

December 23 – An unknown explosive device went off near a chemical factory in Sokhumi, the capital of breakaway Abkhazia.

December 23 – Sporadic shootouts were reported near the Georgian village of Eredvi in the South Ossetian conflict zone. 

December 23 – Georgian Ombudsman Sozar Subeliani and incoming Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili signed a memorandum envisaging the setting up of special monitoring groups to observe human rights in the penitentiary system.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article_ngo.php?id=8650

December 23 – A new opposition public movement - Go Forward Georgia (Tsin Sakartvelo) - was set up. The movement unites several political figures who were allies of ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze, including former MP Irakli Batiashvili and Temur Shashiashvili. The latter was the Governor of Imereti during Shevardnadze’s presidency.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8658

December 23 – Russian President Vladimir Putin made a statement at the press-conference in Moscow and compared the situation in Georgia's secessionist provinces to the situation in Kosovo.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/detail.php?id=8682

December 24 – The Georgian government and a New York-based the Basel Group signed an agreement over the privatization of the Governmental Residence located in the Krtsanisi district of Tbilisi. The Krtsanisi Residence, which includes 10 apartments, conference halls and a total of 44 hectares of land, was sold at USD 15 million.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8660

December 24 – The Georgian Parliament approved a draft law on tax and financial amnesty, envisaging amnesty for those persons who evaded paying taxes before January 1, 2004, as well as legalization of undeclared property and finances. But the amnesty does not apply to a broad-range of state officials.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8662

December 26 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili congratulated Victor Yushchenko late on his victory in the Ukrainian presidential elections, shortly after early official results were announced.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8671

December 26 – The Central Election Commission (CEC) of breakaway Abkhazia registered Sergey Bagapsh and Iakub Lakoba as the two candidates for repeat presidential elections in the Region, scheduled for January 12.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8672

December 27 – Private Zaur Gadadze, 18, was found dead from a gun shot wound to the head in the Vaziani military base, which is located near Tbilisi.

December 27 – Georgia extended deadline for applying to purchase the Georgian Ocean Shipping Company from December 27 until January 10.

December 27 – The Parliament endorsed the new cabinet and its plan of action with a 133 to 7 vote.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8678

December 27 – The Parliament of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia approved a law defining the powers of the Vice-President of Abkhazia. According to the law, the Vice-President will be in charge of the defense and security structures of the unrecognized republic, as well as foreign policy.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8680

December 27 – A group of parliamentarians from the ruling National Movement party expressed protest regarding a Foreign Ministry’s order, which instructs Georgian embassies abroad to inform the Ministry before providing any information to the Parliament or to any other state structure.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8681

December 28 – The Georgian Parliament approved the state budget for 2005 with a 141 to 12 vote. According to the budget, the expenditures for next year are set at 2.2 billion Lari (approximately USD 1.2 billion) and revenues at 1.9 billion Lari (approximately USD 1 billion).
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8686

December 28 – The Parliament approved Revaz Gachechiladze as Georgia’s Ambassador to Armenia

December 29 – President Saakashvili visited Akhalkalaki, a town in the southern Georgian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti predominately populated by ethnic Armenians. During this meeting with the local population in the center of the town President Saakashvili spoke about the necessity of integration of the ethnic Armenian population within the state.

December 29 – President Mikheil Saakashvili convened a press conference to evaluate 2004, saying that this was “the most successful year in independent Georgia’s history.” But when asked about the failures in 2004, the President replied that he “would not like to focus on that.”
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8696

December 29 – The Azerbaijani, Georgian and Turkish sides signed a joint protocol over implementation of the project envisaging construction of a railway link between the eastern Turkish city of Karsi and southern Georgian town of Akhalkalaki.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8693

December 30 – At the session of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna Russia vetoed to prolong OSCE border monitoring mission on the Georgian-Russian border.
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=8703

December 30 – Ex-Premier of the capital city Tbilisi Bidzina Bregadze was appointed as the Deputy Interior Minister.

December 30 – The Georgian Embassy to the People’s Republic of China was officially opened.

December 31 – Georgia’s former Interior Minister Koba Narchemashvili was released from custody after paying 300.000 Lari (approximately USD 166.000) to the state budget.

December 31 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili left for Ukraine on New Year’s eve to personally congratulate Victor Yushchenko on his victory in December 26 presidential elections.