5-party meeting to discuss ways to avoid tension on Georgia border

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SUKHUM, July 28 (Itar-Tass) - The second five-party meeting on
preventing and investigating incidents on the border between Abkhazia and
Georgia will be held on Tuesday in the Abkhazian city of Gal on the
territory of the former U.N. mission.
Abkhazian Deputy Foreign Minister Maxim Gvindzhiya told Tass that the
meeting will discuss measures to avoid the escalation of tension on the
border between Abkhazia and Georgia.
The meeting will be held under the chairmanship of U.N. secretary
general's special envoy Johan Verbeke. The Abkhazian delegation will be
led by president's envoy to the Gali region Ruslan Kishmariya, while the
Georgian delegation will be led by the head of the Foreign Ministry's
information and analytical department Shota Utiashvili.
Representatives from the European Union monitoring the situation with
security in Georgia, as well as representatives from the Russian Embassy
to Abkhazia and the Border Department of the Russian Federal Security
Service in Abkhazia will also take part.
The first five-side meeting was held in Gal on July 14. It discussed
purely technical issues: where and how often such meetings will be held.
An agreement was reached to hold them every two weeks.

.Georgians banned from Chisinau are not observers - spokesman.

CHISINAU, July 28 (Itar-Tass) - The Georgian nationals who were banned
from entering the capital of Moldova on Monday were not observers, a
spokesman for the Moldovan Central Election Commission told Tass on
Tuesday, commenting on media reports about Georgian observers detained at
the airport of Chisinau.
"They were not accredited by the Central Election Commission as
observers," the spokesman said. "The Georgian consul in Chisinau was
informed about the incident, he visited the airport and met with them," he
said.
According to Moldovan law enforcement agencies, the incident is
connected with the fact that people who used to take active part in
organizing the so-called "colour revolutions" in some CIS states are
heading for Chisinau these days.
After the victory of Communists in the Moldovan parliamentary
election, the opposition staged riots. Although international observers
and the initiated by the authorities recount of the votes revealed no
violations, the opposition triggered the dissolution of the parliament to
take revenge for the defeat in April.

.Bourgas-Alexandroupolis projects of key importance for Greece: min.

ATHENS, July 28 (Itar-Tass) - The Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline
project has a key importance not only for Greece but for the whole region
as well, Greek Minister of Development Kostis Khatzidhakis said on Monday.
An agreement on the construction of the pipeline was signed by the
governments of Russia, Bulgaria and Greece. The minister said that in
order to speed up the construction procedure, a bill of the Ministry of
Development on the pipeline project would be submitted to the Greek
parliament within the next few days. On Tuesday the minister will inform
the special-purpose committee on document provisions.
According to the minister, owing to that bill "Greece meets its
commitments on the implementation of the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis project,
which has a key significance not only for Greece but for the whole region
as well".
The construction of the pipeline is among projects of major national
importance, the ministry stressed in the converting note to the bill. The
document envisages restrictions on construction in the zones along the
future pipeline in order to ensure its safe operation and the safety of
citizens. Owners will get compensations for their land plots that will be
used in the project. The consortium that will be engaged in the
construction of the pipeline will be able to use for the needs of
construction state and public infrastructure, including the port of
Alexandroupolis.

.Latvia, Russia entrepreneurs to discuss business cooperation.

RIGA, July 28 (Itar-Tass) - A regular session of the Russian-Latvian
Business Council will be held in Riga on Tuesday. The abolishment of
double taxation, protection of investments, possibilities to expand
cooperation in the sphere of transport, logistics, telecommunications and
healthcare will be in the focus of attention, the Council reported.
President of Alfa-Bank Petr Aven, who is the Russian co-chairman of
the Council, and the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and
Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin will address the session.
Latvia will be represented by Vice-President of Employers'
Confederation of Latvia Vasily Melnik, who is the Latvian co-chairman of
the Council, and the president of the Confederation, Vitaly Gavrilov.
It is also expected that Russian Minister of Transport and
Communications Igor Levitin and Latvian Economics Minister Artis Kampars
will take part.
According to the Latvian Ministry of Economics, foreign trade turnover
between Latvia and Russia declined by 33.8 percent in the first five
months of this year as compared with the same period last year. Latvia was
more hit than Russia. Its exports in Russia dropped almost by half - by
47.4 percent, while Russian exports in Latvia declined by 25.6 percent.
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