Page 5 - GEORptFeb19

2.0 Politics
2.1 ECHR orders Russia pay €10m for deporting
Georgians in 2006-2007
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Russia to pay Georgia €10mn ($11.5mn) over the mass deportation of Georgian citizens from Russia in 2006, Europe Libera reported.
The Georgian government pointed to more than 4,600 expulsion orders issued by Russia from September 2006 to January 2007 and said that more than 2,300 people were detained and forcibly expelled.
ECHR rulings are final and cannot be appealed. The court said that each deportee should receive €2,000 and that those who suffered unlawful detention and mistreatment should get between €10,000 and €15,000.
Russia and Georgia are still at odds over breakaway territories that sparked a brief war between the two nations in 2008.
2.2 Georgia’s economy 16th freest on Heritage’s Economic Freedom Index 2019
Georgia’s score on The Heritage Foundation’s 2019 Index of Economic Freedom is 75.9, making its economy the 16th freest of the 180 assessed, the US-based conservative think tank said on January 30.
The country’s overall score has decreased by 0.3 of a point compared to its performance on the 2018 index, with a sharp drop in judicial effectiveness and lower scores on government integrity and monetary freedom exceeding a big gain in financial freedom, Heritage saied. Georgia is ranked 8th among 44 countries in the Europe region, and its overall score is well above the regional and world averages.
Since the 2003 “Rose Revolution,” reforms by successive administrations have reduced petty corruption, cut regulation, simplified taxes, opened markets, and developed transport and energy infrastructure, the think tank said, adding: “The government hopes that further reductions in regulation, taxes, and corruption will attract foreign investment and stimulate growth. Its maintenance of monetary stability and overall sound fiscal health has fostered macroeconomic resilience. Nonetheless, deeper and more rapid institutional reforms to enhance judicial independence and effectiveness are still needed to ensure dynamic and lasting economic development.”
Georgia was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1921 and regained its independence in 1991. Russia invaded in 2008 and continues to occupy territory in Georgia’s South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions. Georgia’s economy has improved noticeably after years of economic downturn, Heritage said. Agriculture or related industries employ over half of the workforce. Georgia signed an Association Agreement with the European Union in 2014 and is an
5 GEORGIA Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com