BASIC FACTS

  1. Georgia is located on the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains with a Black Sea coastline. It borders Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. It has a population of 5.4 million, and a complex ethnic composition—71 per cent Georgian (including subgroups of Svanetians, Mingrelians and Ajars), 7.7 per cent Armenian, 6.5 per cent Russian, 6 per cent Azeri, 3 per cent Ossete, and 1.8 per cent Abkhaz.

INTERNAL POLITICS

  2. The radical nationalist Zviad Gamsakhurdia was elected President with 86.5 per cent of the vote after Georgians voted overwhelmingly (89.3 per cent) for independence in March 1991. But he was deposed in 1992 and Eduard Shevardnadze, the former head of the Georgian Communist Party (1972-85) and ex-Soviet Foreign Minister (1985-89), was invited to head a new State Council. On 4 November 1992 the new Georgian Parliament was elected, and Shevardnadze elected Head of State, in what international observers confirmed were free and fair elections. In broadly satisfactory elections on 5 November 1995 Shevardnadze was re-elected and his party, the Citizens' Union of Georgia, won a majority in Parliament.

  3. Political violence has blighted Georgia since independence, with murders of both opposition figures and Shevardnadze aides. On 29 August 1995 Shevardnadze himself survived a car-bomb assassination attempt with minor cuts and bruises and in February 1998 he escaped injury when his motorcade was attacked by armed men using rocket launchers.

HUMAN RIGHTS

  4. Georgia has made steady progress in the field of human rights since 1994. Opposition political activists and media operate freely and the NGO sector is particularly active. Current concerns relate to poor prison conditions and the treatment of detainees by the police. Georgia's relatively good human rights record has led to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly recommending it for full Council of Europe membership, although Georgia is required to meet a number of commitments in the human rights field.

ABKHAZIA

  5. Since independence in 1991, Georgia has been bedevilled by political and inter-ethnic conflicts. Of all the problems faced by the government, Abkhazia has been most serious. As a result of enforced 19th century migration and 20th century Georgian colonisation, the Abkhaz—a people ethnically distinct from the Georgians—became a minority in their own republic (44 per cent Georgians, 18 per cent Abkhazians, 16 per cent Russians).

  6. In 1992 the Abkhaz parliament, with a built-in Abkhaz majority, reinstated the Abkhaz constitution of 1925 which gave Abkhazia equal status with Georgia. Georgian troops invaded. Volunteers, particularly from the (Russian) North Caucasus, arrived to help the Abkhaz. After prolonged fighting, the Georgian government lost control of Abkhazia in September 1993, and a de facto "border" between Georgia and Abkhazia was established. The region was plunged into chaos with more than 200,000 refugees. A cease-fire was signed in May 1994, monitored by CIS (Russian) peace-keepers and a small (102-strong) UN Observer Mission (UNOMIG) to which the UK contributes seven personnel.

  7. The UN, supported by the Friends of the Secretary-General, (FOSG, consisting of Russia, US, UK, France, Germany), continues to work for a comprehensive political settlement, and has chaired four meetings in its "Geneva process" since July 1997, in Geneva and Athens. But there has been little progress. The Georgians maintain Abkhazia should have autonomy within Georgia whereas the Abkhaz want equal status with Georgia. Recently the Abkaz leadership has allowed some displaced Georgians back into the enclave, but their return has been hindered by Georgian guerillas and by concerns about their security.

SOUTH OSSETIA

  8. In September 1990 the South Ossetians proclaimed their independence from Georgia and sought to unite with North Ossetia (in Russia). Clashes followed but a cease-fire was signed in 1992 and a Joint Peace-Keeping Force created. The OSCE has placed a mission in South Ossetia to monitor this and to contribute to discussions on a political settlement. Progress on South Ossetia's political status has been slow but economic links are being re-established and there has been some return of refugees.

ECONOMY

  9. Internal conflict and the break-up of the Soviet Union badly affected the Georgian economy. Real GDP in 1996 was only 8 per cent of that in 1989. The government has made progress on stabilisation with an IMF-backed stabilisation programme starting in 1995: macro-economic results until 1998 were good, with inflation falling from over 15,600 per cent in 1994 to 7.1 per cent in 1997. GDP per capita in 1997 was US$669. The private sector accounts for around 60 per cent of GDP and GDP was growing at over 10 per cent a year, but in 1998 growth was badly hit by the Russian financial crisis. Revenue collection is a major problem due to corruption and the Government's inability to control its entire territory: Government spending in 1996 was only 7.6 per cent of GDP, on a par with countries like Somalia.

BILATERAL RELATIONS

  10. The British Embassy opened in 1995, as did the Georgian Embassy in London. Under the Caspian enhancement programme UK-based staff will increase from three to five by 2000. A Defence Attache should arrive in 1999. President Shevardnadze visited the UK in February 1995, Menagharishvili, the Foreign Minister, visited in November 1997. (Then) FCO Minister Doug Henderson visited in May 1998.

  11. Over the last six years, the UK has provided nearly £7 million to Georgia in humanitarian aid, largely to support refugees/internally displaced persons from the disputes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The KHF programme, currently £800,000 per annum, is set to rise significantly over the next three years. It will focus on agriculture, health, public revenue, oil/gas pipeline legislation, good governance (local administration) and civil society/democracy. The British Council has an information centre in Tbilisi. The MoD signed a MOU in 1997 with the Georgians and has provided English language training, advisory visits, places on UK seminars and some equipment, notably two Dorey craft for the border guards.

  12. UK exports to Georgia 1998 were £21 million, up 73.48 per cent on 1997. Imports were £3.2 million, up 156 per cent. There is commercial interest in the redevelopment of the Black Sea port facilities at Poti and Batumi. Georgia will benefit from the "western route" oil pipeline from Baku to transport "early oil" from the Caspian to an offshore terminal at Supsa on Georgia's Black Sea coast. This will be inaugurated on 17 April 1999. Between Autumn 1997 and Autumn 1999 there will have been three DTI-sponsored trade missions to Georgia.