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entire licensed area) to the State, which gives the State right to terminate the contract,” the press release issued by GOGC said.
The company also said that the tribunal upheld an appeal against the claims of Frontera and terminated the arbitration proceedings on the issues raised.
The decision of tribunal is final, GOGC stated.
The decision to initiate the dispute was made after numerous attempts by the state agency and corporation to resolve it failed. Frontera repeatedly rejected the proposal to end the dispute through mediation, the press release from GOGC added.
Frontera’s activities in Georgia have for years been dogged by controversy, including accusations that it was not paying workers, OC media said ina comment pieceon the case.
9.1.2 Transport sector news
Transit via Georgian ports and railways up in Jan-May
Azerbaijan imports cars worth $95m from Georgia in first five months
The total volume of cargo transported yvia Georgian maritime ports amounted to 15.5mn tonnes in January-May, up 3.3% y/y.
Also in the first five months of 2020, cargo turnover at the largest port in Georgia, Poti Port, amounted to 3.4mn tonnes, marking no change year on year.
As for Georgia’s rail network, the total amount of cargo transported was 4.6mn tonnes, up 9.5% from 2019.
Despite the increase in rail cargo turnover, Georgian Railways was in the first quarter hit by a significant loss.
According to the company's first-quarter financial statements, the group' s consolidated revenues in January-March increased by 23.7% to GEL122mn ($40mn), but the costs increased significantly, leaving the company with a loss of GEL163.5mn ($54mn) in the first quarter.
During the period, the company incurred a loss of GEL188.9mn due to exchange rate variations. This could not be offset by operating profit.
A total of 8,820 cars were exported from Georgia to Azerbaijan in the first five months of this year, the National Statistics Office of Georgia announced on June 24.
Azerbaijan imports cars via Georgia as Georgian trade routes interconnect with European routes via the Black Sea, making the country a big hub for the distribution of vehicles across the South Caucasus region.
The statistics office said the value of the exported cars was $94.6mn. Compared to the first five months of 2019, the number of cars imported by Azerbaijan from its neighbour increased by 2,016 units or by 1.29 times.
Also across January to May this year, Georgia sent 425 lorries and low-loaders worth $2.9mn to the Azerbaijani market. The number of HGVs decreased by 114 year on year.
9.1.3 Aviation sector news
Georgia has no plans for general resumption of flights until end of August but exceptions made for Paris, Riga and Munich
Georgia will generally permit the resumption of regular international flights from August 31, with exceptions allowing the routes to Paris, Riga and Munich to be restarted earlier in the month, the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency has announced.
Georgia’s Economy Minister Natia Turnava, meanwhile, noted that Georgian Airways would continue with charter flights as the country continued with its containment of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, widely regarded as one of the more successful efforts around the world. Around 16 flights would be
47 GEORGIA Country Report August 2020 www.intellinews.com
