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nationals,” the court’s press office said.
Georgia asked for €70mn in compensation, based on an​ ​ECHR finding in 2015 that 4,634 Georgians were illegally deported from Russia and 2,380 were subject to unlawful arrest and incarceration and were denied legal defence. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe discussed through September 23-25 the issue of the fulfilment of the verdict made by the Strasbourg Court in the case of the mass deportation of Georgian citizens from the Russian Federation’s territory and took the decision, calling on the Russian authorities to comply with the obligations imposed by the ECHR and immediately pay compensation in favour of Georgian citizens illegally deported in 2006, the Ministry of Justice of Georgia confirmed.
In its decision, the committee noted that the deadline for payment expired on 30 April 2019 and that no payment had yet been made; underlined that there is an unconditional obligation under Article 46 § 1 of the Convention to pay the just satisfaction awarded by the court and therefore called upon the Russian authorities to pay without delay the sums awarded together with the default interest accrued.
2.3​ ​EBRD ‘stands ready to get involved in Georgia’s Anaklia deep-water port strategic project if commercially viable’
"We declare that we are ready to get involved in the Anaklia project if we come up with a commercially viable solution," European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) first vice president Jurgen Rijterink said in an exclusive interview with analysts to be broadcast by TV Pirveli and​ ​quoted​ ​in advance by Business Media on September 25.
The statement comes at a critical moment for the future of Georgia’s strategic flagship project to construct a deep sea port at Anaklia: the private consortium, Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC), developing the project under a partnership with the government is attempting to replace key consortium member, US entity Conti Group, with another experienced investor, while also having to raise from banks and IFIs some $600mn by the end of the year in order to meet contract deadlines with the state.
Rigterink was paying his first official visit to Georgia in his EBRD capacity.
The first vice president has already met with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. They discussed, among other things, the importance of the Anaklia project on the Black Sea coast to the region.
"I had meetings in Armenia yesterday, with the government and the business community there, and they assured us that this project is valuable not only for Georgia but for the whole region," he said.
Asked what kind of involvement the EBRD was considering in the project and what a “commercially viable solution means”, he answered that he could not elaborate at this moment.
"We first need to know what the government decides, what the sponsors of this project decide," Rijterink said.
8​ GEORGIA Country Report​ October 2019 ​ ​www.intellinews.com