Community Development in Samtskhe-Javakheti

Jolanda Profos

To a traveler visiting Samtskhe-Javakheti for the first time – like me - the region or Southern Georgia seems a fairy tale: velvety hills full of flowers, waterfalls and sparkling springs, fertile soils, flowering potato fields and mais plants as tall as a man, fluttering in the wind, and now and then a small grey donkey carrying a barrow full of green grass from the field to the village.

Non-Governmental Foundations of Georgia
Requirements, Capabilities and Problems

Marina Kuchukhidze, the Horizonti Foundation

The legislation of Georgia defines a foundation as a non-entrepreneurial, not-for-profit legal entity, established with an endowment provided by one or more founders, for the benefit of the society. A foundation is an independent body, which has no members and does not work directly on the solution to a problem; rather it seeks funds from diverse sources, to be distributed to the executing organizations.

New Tax Code in Elaboration

A draft of a new Tax Code of Georgia, aimed at radically reforming the existing tax system, is being developed by a group of independent experts led by the Georgian Institute for Economic Development (www.gedi.ge). The members of the group were chosen on the basis of their expertise and experience.

CONCEPT OF THE NEW TAXATION SYSTEM OF GEORGIA

New concept of the taxation system implies for a fundamental reform of the current system mainly aimed at:

1. Legalization of the taxation base through simplification of the current system (reducing quantity of payments and bringing maximum transparency into the rules of calculation and payment of taxes);

Additional Commercial Activity – One of the Means of NGO Self-Financing

Maya Bitsadze The Horizonti Foundation

The idea of NGOs taking up additional commercial activity, originated in the non–profit sector of the United States in the late 70s, in a period of economic recession and increasing inflation. These activities developed very rapidly in 1981, during the Reagan administration. It was a period when the gap, between the charitable mission of NGOs and profit gaining, was gradually reducing. The NGOs that carried out commercial activities and ran enterprises, like: museum shops, university publishing houses, magazines and workshops, soon emerged. At that time, such activities were the exception rather than the rule.

Bioenergy NGO Builds Biogas Digesters in Samegrelo

Bioenergy NGO is introducing alternative energy sources to the country, through the use of renewable energy (namely biomass, sun, wind and water). The organization is currently building twelve biogas digesters in the Samegrelo Region. The project is being implemented with the financial support of the World Bank.

Villages, Districts, “Virtual Villages” and Civil Society in Georgia

George Nizharadze, Psychologist

In the first case the community mainly values laws, in the second – tradition. Of course, the above-mentioned scheme is extremely simplified, though sufficient in this respect.

Civil Georgia: New Word in Georgian Information Freedom

Civil Georgia (www.civil.ge) is one of the most popular online magazines about Georgia. The magazine obtains information through its correspondents and places it on its web site, while referring back to the primary source. The magazine is published in English, Georgian and Russian. The Russian version is the first electronic publication about Georgia introduced by a Georgian organization to the Russian information market.