Georgian experts: aggravation of economic situation is the main outcome of 2015

In 2015, the main problem for residents of Georgia was the deterioration of the country's economy against 2014; while the main political achievement of the authorities was that the fulfilment of the EU's conditions for visa liberalization, – this was stated by the experts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

Nika Chitadze, a political scientist and a Professor at the Black Sea University, said that in 2015, the Georgian authorities managed to successfully complete the implementation of important infrastructure projects, namely: the launch in February of the Darial HPP, and in July – of the Thermal Power Plant (TPP) in Gardabani; and the opening of the bypass route from Ruisi to Surami, which has cut the travel time from Eastern to Western Georgia.

In the opinion of Ramaz Sakvarelidze, a political analyst and a Professor at Tbilisi State University, the start of receiving transit trains from China is also one of the greatest achievements.

According to Nika Chitadze, a sharp drop of GEL (lari – the national currency) versus the US dollar has worsened the status of the country's population, since many of residents had taken loans in US dollars.

On the negative side, he has noted the worsening situation with the restriction of the freedom of expression and the lack of an independent judiciary, citing the developments around the oppositional TV Channel "Rustavi 2". Besides, according to the analyst, there remains the unsolved problem of the advance of democracy; it was the same in the days of Mikhail Saakashvili.

Lasha Chkhartishvili, an ecologist and the head of the Institute for Democracy, said that there is no positive dynamics in the sphere of human rights against the impunity of policemen and employees of the penitentiary system.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.