Georgia in 2005

Georgia in 2005

Area: 70,152 sq km (27,086 sq mi), of which 8,640 sq km (5,336 sq mi) in the breakaway Republic of Abkhazia and 3,900 sq km (1,506 sq mi) in the breakaway Republic of South Ossetia
Population (2004 est.): 4,694,000, of which in Abkhazia 176,000 and in South Ossetia 48,000
Capital: Tbilisi
Head of state and government: President Mikheil Saakashvili, assisted by Prime Ministers Zurab Zhvania and, from February 17, Zurab Nogaideli

Georgia’s Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was found dead at a friend’s apartment early on Feb. 3, 2005; his family rejected the official verdict, endorsed by the Georgian Federal Bureau of Investigation, of accidental asphyxiation from a malfunctioning gas heater. On February 17 Pres. Mikheil Saakashvili appointed Finance Minister Zurab Nogaideli as Zhvania’s successor. Accusations in August that parliament deputy Koba Beqauri tried to bribe a journalist not to publicize his dubious business activities reflected badly on Saakashvili’s administration, as did opposition allegations that the authorities spent millions of laris to ensure the victory of candidates from Saakashvili’s National Movement in five by-elections on October 1 in each of which four opposition parties aligned to field a single candidate. On October 19 Nogaideli acceded to the parliament’s demand that he dismiss Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili, and she was replaced by National Security Council Secretary Gela Bezhuashvili on the following day.

On January 12 Sergey Bagapsh was elected president of the breakaway unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia and pledged closer ties with Russia. The abduction in early June of four Georgian residents of the unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia revived latent tensions with the Georgian government. A September 20 mortar attack on the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, injured 10 people. The Ossetians accused Georgia, which in turn sought to incriminate Russia. The Georgian parliament adopted a resolution on October 11 proposing that the Russian peacekeepers deployed in the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflict zones be replaced in mid-2006 by an international force if they continued to act in contravention of their mandate .

Visiting Tbilisi on May 9–10 to demonstrate support for Saakashvili, U.S. Pres. George W. Bush escaped injury when a hand grenade was thrown at him during a public address. Georgian police apprehended the perpetrator after a shoot-out on July 20. On September 12 an agreement was signed allocating Georgia $295 million from the Millennium Challenge Account.

Following fruitless talks in February and mid-May, the Georgian and Russian governments reached agreement on May 30 on the closure by 2008 of the two remaining Russian military bases in Georgia. Military hardware from those bases was withdrawn on schedule during the summer.

Georgia’s GDP grew by 7.5% during the first six months of the year. In September the World Bank approved a new Country Partnership Strategy with Georgia for 2006–09.

Elizabeth Fuller