45003407 Shevardnadze suggested that release from prison of Israeli businessmen
Ex-Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze commented on the case of two Israeli businessmen, recently convicted by a court in Tbilisi on charges of attempting to bribe a senior official. He advised the current president, Mikheil Saakashvili, to let entrepreneurs, said "Georgia Online". Shevardnadze expressed his opinion that the evidence demonstrating against the Israelis, is not enough and that the case has damaged the image of Georgia. "I would place Saakashvili apologized to the Israeli businessmen and would free them, "- said the former president. Citizens of Israel, Roni Fuchs and Ze'ev Frankel had been detained in Batumi, in October 2010. They were accused of trying to bribe the Deputy Minister of Finance of Georgia Avtandil Haraidze. According to investigators, it was a major" roll back "for compensation, payments which entrepreneurs sought from the Georgian government. The case of bribery connected with the longtime conflict between the company Tramex (which were co-owners Ronnie Fuchs and Greek businessman Ioannis Kardasopulos) and the Georgian leadership. In early 1990 Tramex has established a joint venture with the Georgian Oil Company and made contract, which, inter alia, gave the right to control the Georgian pipeline. Later in Tbilisi decided to refuse to participate in the joint project and terminated the contract (as it was announced that a deal by which the treaty was concluded, was corrupt). Tramex required to compensate her investments and appealed to international arbitration. She was able to achieve a solution, which obliges the Georgian authorities to pay compensation amounting to approximately $ 100 million. In Tbilisi, the decision challenged. In this connection, as follows from the case of bribery, Ronnie Fuchs and his business partner Zeev Frenkel decided to bribe a government representative, that he took care of compensation. businessmen themselves have declared their innocence. Detention Israeli businessman has angered Tel Aviv. The Georgian Foreign Ministry, in particular, asked the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. He called accusations against fellow countrymen, far-fetched, and said that this story could become a serious impediment to the relations between the two countries. Later it became known that his visit to Israel a few representatives of the Georgian leadership (the Speaker of Parliament and minister of economy) are laid on the initiative of the Israeli side. 7 April portal IzRus reported that the Israeli headquarters in the fight against terror has returned to Georgia in the list of countries to travel to which the Israelis to refrain (it is a list of countries in which, according to Tel Aviv, the Israelis could be stolen by terrorists of Hezbollah or Hamas, from the former USSR in the list, there are also Armenia, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan). Not so long ago (late February), Georgia has been excluded from this list. Foreign Ministry then said it welcomed the decision. "Georgia Online" believes that the current decision of Tel Aviv was a reaction to the verdict Fuchs and Frenkel.
