Translated material
Second Ukrainian
Tbilisi is reconnecting with Kyiv and asking for grain
Tbilisi is beginning to build new relations with Kyiv, which have cooled down after the change of the political elite in Ukraine. According to Vremya Novostey, a series of important visits will take place at the end of the year, and in 2011 Georgia will try to get Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to visit.Last winter, during the Ukrainian presidential elections, Georgia was disgraced when hundreds of its observers were not accredited by the Ukrainian Central Election Commission. Ukrainians then expressed suspicion that these were “militants” sent to disrupt the elections. The Georgian authorities did not hide their sympathy for the former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. But she lost the election. It became clear that due to the imprudent actions of Tbilisi, the family relations of the two countries (in the literal sense, too, since former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is the godfather of Nikoloz, the youngest son of Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili) were damaged.
Georgia took a diplomatic pause. However, after the change of power in Poland (where the new president Bronislaw Komorowski made it clear that he did not intend to be as warm friends with Mikheil Saakashvili as the deceased former Polish leader Lech Kaczynski was), Georgians became concerned about the possible loss of their usual European allies. A symptom that things will not be the same in Polish-Georgian relations is the mass deportation from this country of Georgians who sought refuge there. Georgian Ambassador to Poland Konstantin Kavtaradze, noting that in general relations between Warsaw and Tbilisi should not suffer, said that we are talking about the expulsion of approximately 3 thousand more Georgian citizens located in camps for emigrants. So far, Warsaw has already deported over 500 Georgians.
Good relations with Kyiv are vital for Tbilisi. Mikheil Saakashvili made the first and unexpected attempt to establish them on July 9. Then he flew to Kyiv without an invitation to congratulate Viktor Yanukovych on his 60th birthday. Deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration Anna German said in those days that Kyiv “almost by accident” learned about Saakashvili’s arrival. He did not stay long in Ukraine, since the anniversary was celebrated on July 10 with an informal CIS summit, and Georgia left the Commonwealth after the armed conflict in the Caucasus in 2008 and the severance of diplomatic relations with Russia.
After this, Georgia relied on economic and humanitarian issues to “warm up” political ties. A few weeks ago, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Sergei Tigipko visited Georgia and was interested in Georgian reforms, in particular in the tax sphere. There are serious prospects for cooperation between the two countries in agriculture and the processing industry. And on September 23 in Kyiv, Ukraine and Georgia will hold a representative forum to attract investment in both countries. “Sergei Tigipko will speak at this meeting, where large European investment funds will also be, and this will be very positive,” Georgian Ambassador to Ukraine Grigol Katamadze told Vremya Novostey. According to him, despite the fact that Ukrainians harvested less wheat this year than usual, they made a “political decision” to help Georgia, which is experiencing a grain shortage due to the Russian embargo on their export. Georgia will receive 150 thousand tons from Ukraine, but what the price will be will soon be determined in negotiations. Georgia consumes only 800 thousand tons per year, of which 15% was satisfied at its own expense, and the rest was imported. Imports from Russia accounted for 95%. A ton of Russian grain cost $260. In recent days, bread in Georgia has already risen in price by an average of 5 cents in local currency.
After this, Georgia hopes for a breakthrough in politics. As Grigol Katamadze said, by the end of the year the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of the Security Council of Ukraine will visit Tbilisi. “We are working on organizing a visit in 2011 by Viktor Yanukovych,” the 49-year-old diplomat, who has served as ambassador in Kyiv for almost ten years, told Vremya Novostei. When asked about restoring military-technical cooperation, he only stated: “Ukraine is ready to cooperate with Georgia in all areas.” During the era of Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine actively armed Georgia. But after the 2008 war in the Caucasus and scandals in the Verkhovna Rada, which did not like arms supplies to Georgia, such cooperation was curtailed.
“We understand that Ukraine needs to build good relations with Russia,” said Grigol Katamadze. - But this does not mean that such good relations between Moscow and Kyiv will negatively affect contacts between Georgia and Ukraine. Maybe, on the contrary, they will have a positive impact.”