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US embassy in Georgia ‘terminating cooperation with local companies using Chinese telecoms equipment or services’
The US Embassy in Georgia is terminating or reducing cooperation with Georgian companies that use telecommunications equipment or services provided by Chinese companies Huawei, ZTE, Hikvision, Dahua and Hytera or their affiliates, Radio Liberty has reported.
The embassy lately sent out a questionnaire to Georgian companies it works with to determine whether their partner companies use video surveillance equipment or other equipment of Chinese companies on the list. The move indicates that the embassy will terminate or reduce cooperation with companies that use such technologies.
Business Media Group has reported that Silknet, the largest telecommunications company in Georgia and the entire Caucasus region, is a corporate partner of the embassy and is implementing a number of projects with China’s Huawei—which the US views as a security threat, claiming suspect connections with the Chinese military—including the introduction of high-speed internet.
Communicom, the Motorola reseller in Georgia, has said that its customers are already asking about replacing Chinese equipment. Communicom’s head Giorgi Shvangiradze said that both private and state agencies have made in inquiries.
"The companies we work with have informed us and asked if it is possible to replace these products with, for example, Motorola products. As far as I am aware, these products should be replaced by 2022," said Shvangiradze.
9.2.3 ​Metal and mining corporate news
Canadian investor to take over 50% in Georgian gold and copper mining project
Canadian company Candelaria has reached an agreement to acquire GMC Investment, which owns a 50% stake in Georgian Copper & Gold, a company with a gold mining licence for the Bolnisi district of Georgia, Candelaria said in a ​statement​.
The share purchase agreement was signed with former owner of Georgian Copper & Gold, Empire Metals. Canadian dollar (CAD) 7mn (€4.5mn) is to be paid in equity in four stages with the final stage linked to the completion of a positive feasibility study and a final investment decision on the gold oxides at Kvemo Bolnisi East.
The Bolnisi project is situated within a highly underexplored part of the prolific Tethyan Belt, a well-known geological belt and host to many high-grade gold, copper and polymetallic deposits and producing mines, the company said in a press release.
Empire Metals executives Mike Struthers and Neil O’Brien are to join Candelaria as CEO and chairperson, respectively, while remaining non-executive directors of the London-listed company.
According to the statement, Georgian Copper & Gold holds a mining licence in the Bolnisi district, where gold and copper mining is not yet in an active phase. In addition, it is clear from the statement that the licence area of Georgian Copper & Gold includes a section of Damblud, where significant reserves of gold and copper are traced.
56​ GEORGIA Country Report ​December 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com