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Wedding service providers stage series of protests in Georgia

Georgian wedding service providers, wedding dress rentals, event photographers, camera operators, and musicians organised several rallies today in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, and Batumi, demanding the Georgian government allow open-air weddings.

Giorgi Chokheli, a photographer and one of the organisers of the rally in front of the Government Chancellery in Tbilisi, said that the authorities had not answered their petition submitted ten days earlier.

‘Why ban events while restaurants are full nationwide?’, Chokheli asked. 

Musicians, photographers and camera operators rallying in Kutaisi complained that they had purchased equipment with deferred payment plans and were now unable to work. 

The government has not commented on when restrictions on wedding would be further eased after recently allowing weddings with up to 10 people in attendance. 

Stavropol Krai may introduce ‘strict measures’ in COVID-19 hotspots

In Stavropol Krai 137 cases of infection were recorded over the past 24 hours — primarily in the Kislovodsk and the Predgorny districts. Authorities say they may have to introduce harsher anti-coronavirus measures. 

‘If there is no change for the better in the coming days, decisions will be made to introduce strict measures’, Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said today.

Adygea to allow mosques to reopen

The Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Adygea and Krasnodar Krai have announced that mosques would reopen for the public tomorrow, though public Friday prayers would remain disallowed. 

The Directorate urged the elderly to abstain from visiting mosques. From the rest of those planning to attend prayers starting Saturday, they requested that they wear face masks, protective gloves, bring their own prayer mats and observe social distancing. 

Mosques in Adygea gradually limited functioning since late March, until closing completely on 17 April.

Red Cross delivers aid to South Ossetia

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has donated $73,600 of protective gear to South Ossetia's healthcare facilities.

According to ICRC, the aid includes protective glasses, overalls, respirators, gloves, disinfectant, and face masks, all delivered ‘in coordination with the local authorities’. 

The ICRC has been the only international group during the pandemic to be active in South Ossetia, previously delivering aid to prison inmates and to those living in isolated areas. 

 For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

Large protest rally expected tomorrow in Tbilisi

Tbilisi City Hall has promised the Shame Movement, a Georgian anti-government group, that per their request, traffic on Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue on 20 June will be blocked.

The Shame Movement is holding a Together Against [Russian] Occupation rally on Saturday, has claimed that they will need time and space to ensure there are social distancing markers for rally participants, 'in line with recommendations from the Georgian Health Ministry and the WHO'.

Azerbaijan toughens quarantine regime and prolongs border closure

Azerbaijani authorities have announced that from 21 June to 5 July the quarantine regime will again be toughened in major cities. 

Residents in the cities of Baku, Sumgayit, and Ganja, as well as the residents of Absheron, Lenkoran, Masalli, and Jalilabad districts, will have to notify authorities before leaving their homes. 

Malls, public eateries, museums, theatres, beauty salons will be closed, providing commercial services at home will also be forbidden. 

Workers in state and commercial institutions, which will be allowed to operate during this period, will have to work in staggered shifts. 

Unlike the strict quarantine regime that lasted from 5 April to 4 May, people older than 65 will be allowed to leave their homes. Boulevards and parks will also remain open and the metro will continue to operate. 

The border closure will be extended until 1 August.

Summary

Welcome to OC Media’s coronavirus live updates for Friday, 19 June. We will be bringing you the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic from around the Caucasus.

The biggest developments from yesterday:

On Wednesday, Abkhazia's Finance Minister and Vice Prime Minister Vladimir Delba said that salaries for public employees may be delayed due to budgetary losses that turned especially acute, according to him, by the end of May.

‘Budget expenditures like salaries, social benefits, and benefits for certain categories of citizens are under risk’, the Abkhazian Finance Minister admitted.

Delba's statements on the financial effects of COVID-19 came a week after Abkhazian PM Aleksandr Ankvab expressed concern about the government failing to pay salaries to state employees for the months of June and July. 

Over 80 Azerbaijanis were sentenced to 10 days in detention following clashes with police and border guards near the Russia–Azerbaijan border on 15 June. Azerbaijani authorities kept borders closed since 5 April, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have allowed only a limited number of their citizens to return home. 

The growing discontent among Azerbaijani nationals stuck in Russia escalated on Monday night as a number of them attempted to block the federal Kavkaz railway in protest.

The Governor of the Krasnodar Krai, Veniamin Kondratyev, has announced the lifting of quarantine. ‘We are returning to high alert. We are moving towards a normal lifestyle in all spheres and sectors of the economy’, he said.

From 21 June, ‘non-compulsory education’ for adults will resume. Additionally, non-food stores up to 800 square meters in size will reopen as well as shopping centres without food courts and entertainment zones. Wearing a mask in enclosed spaces will remain obligatory. 

For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

Read the latest stories:

• Stranded Azerbaijanis clash with Daghestani police at border
• Colony 13: Coronavirus in an Azerbaijani prison
• Azerbaijan’s total lockdown weekend marked by police violence 
• Pashinyan fires top security officials after wedding party
• Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and family test positive for COVID-19
• Armenian COVID-19 ‘fake news’ site was funded by US
• ‘A lost year’ — How the global pandemic has hit Azerbaijan’s economy
• Armenia continues to reopen despite steady growth in new cases of COVID-19
• Chechens ‘beaten and detained’ by security forces for leaving home on Eid al-Fitr
• WHO recommendations ‘widely disregarded’ in South Ossetia’s Akhalgori
• Man disappears in Grozny after returning to be with family during pandemic
• Georgian Health Ministry cancels contract for ‘Dutch-made’ tests that were made in China
• Georgia plans corona-safe ‘tourist zones’
• Critical shortages‘ of protective equipment reported in Daghestan’s hospitals
• Voice | The women on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic