Georgia: Export Control Developments

1/13/2003: GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT CONFIRMS GEORGIAN SCIENTISTS' PRESENCE IN IRAN
On 13 January 2003 Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze confirmed that a number of Georgian scientists, including nuclear physicists and aircraft engineers, are working in Iran. The president emphasized that these specialists were working in Iran on private contracts that had not been authorized by the Georgian government, and that the Georgian authorities' capability to monitor individual Georgian citizens is limited. Shevardnadze also noted that Iran was hosting a group of nuclear physicists from the Sukhumi Institute of Physics and Technology (SIPT), which reportedly once housed up to 2kg of weapons-grade uranium, but since the 1993 de facto independence of the Abkhazian region, the HEU has been unaccounted for.[1] Of particular concern to US nuclear nonproliferation experts is that equipment and know-how from SIPT might provide crucial assistance to any nation aspiring to a nuclear weapons program.[2] According to Georgian Minister of State Security Valeriy Khaburdzania, Georgian intelligence services are verifying reports about the presence of SIPT researchers in Iran. Khaburdzania admitted that in conducting these investigations, it was difficult to establish the purpose of Georgian citizens' visits to Iran.[3] However, Iranian Minister of Defense Ali Shamkhani categorically denied that Georgian nuclear experts were in Iran, although he confirmed the presence of Georgian aircraft engineers in the country.[4]
Sources:
[1] "Georgian scientists working in Iran," Associated Press; in International Herald Tribune online addition, 14 January 2003, http://www.iht.com/.
[2] "Eduard Shevardnadze: Georgian nuclear scientists working in Iran," Caspian Information Agency, 17 February 2003.
[3] Prime-news, 15 January 2003; in "Georgian official denies his country helping Iran to build nuclear bomb," FBIS Document CEP20030115000282.
[4] "Iran Denies Presence of Georgian Nuclear Experts," Civil Georgia, http://www.civil.ge/cgi-bin/newspro/fullnews.cgi?newsid1042751070,60367, 17 January 2003. {Entered 3/25/2003 AD}

7/2002: US CONTINUES ASSISTANCE TO GEORGIAN CUSTOMS
According to Aleksander Aslanikashvili, chairman of the Georgian Customs Department, the US Customs Service has agreed to appropriate $1.6 million for the overhaul of a customs checkpoint on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border and procurement of customs control equipment for Tbilisi International Airport. According to Aslanikashvili, the United States also helped to introduce electronic customs declarations software that will soon be in operation at all checkpoints.[1]

Technical and training assistance has been underway for several years within the framework of the  "Georgia Border Security and Related Law Enforcement Assistance Program." This project is a congressionally mandated multi-agency partnership, with the US Customs Service acting as the executive agent, and involving assistance and expertise from the Department of State, Coast Guard, Border Patrol, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Federal Bureau of Investigations, and Department of Commerce. The program includes the following elements:

- Assisting Georgia in gaining control of its seacoast, particularly the Poti Port;

- Establishing a transparent land border regime, focusing on the Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Turkish borders;

- Enhancing the Georgian Border Guard and Customs export control capabilities to prevent, deter, and detect potential weapons of mass destruction smuggling, focusing on the border with Russia.

The activities implemented under this program include the provision of material (uniforms, helicopters, vehicles, radiation pagers, etc.), construction of facilities (barracks at checkpoints, a radar tower at Supsa), and training in the areas of narcotics and firearms interdiction, port security, and export control.[2,3]

During his visit to Tbilisi in November 2002 to supervise the implementation of the above program, US Customs Service Deputy Commissioner Douglas Browning noted that the program has brought tangible results:  customs procedures have been streamlined and Georgia's tariff policy has been improved, which is especially important for Georgia as a transit country. Browning mentioned that the US Administration and Congress are prepared to increase aid to Georgia to help reform the country's customs system and develop its infrastructure.[1]
Sources:
[1] "SSHA pomogayut Gruzii v reformirovanii tamozhennoy sistemy," Interfax, 7 November 2002.
[2] "US Customs Assists Georgia Counterparts," US Customs Service Press Release, 8 July 1999; US Customs Service Web Site, http://www.customs.gov/hot-new/pressrel/1999/0708-02.htm.
[3]"The Republic of Georgia," US Customs Service Web Site, http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/import/
commercial_enforcement/international_programs/
assistance_programs/republic_of_georgia.xml. {Entered 3/04/2003 AD} 


9/2000:  SALE OF URANIUM AND PLUTONIUM IN TBILISI PREVENTED
Four men were arrested in Georgia while trying to sell 3.2g of uranium and approximately 50g of plutonium.  According to Georgian Security Ministry officials, the men tried to sell the uranium for $100,000 and the plutonium for $750,000.  For more information, see the 16 September 2000 entry in the NIS Nuclear Trafficking Database.
[Tengiz Pachkoria, "Attempt to sell radioactive materials thwarted in Georgia," ITAR-TASS News Agency, September 16, 2000; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://www.lexis-nexis.com.]{Entered 3/6/01 KB}
 
4/2000:  GEORGIAN POLICE DETAIN FOUR URANIUM SMUGGLERS
In April 2000, Georgian police arrested four Georgian nationals from whom they confiscated about 1kg of uranium.  A 29 April 2000 report in the Moscow daily Segodnya cited physicists from the Georgian Institute of Physics as saying that the material seized was 920g of 30% enriched uranium of a type used at nuclear power plants.  For more information, please see the 19 April 2000 entry in the NIS Nuclear Trafficking Database. 
[Mikhail Vignanskiy, "Iran otritsayet svoyu prichastnost k zaderzhannomu v Adzharii uranu ," Segodnya, 29 April 2000, http://www. eastview.com.]{Entered 3/6/01 KB}
 
12/99:  GEORGIAN DUAL-USE LIST NEARLY FINISHED
Georgian Deputy Minister of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations Vilen Alavidze announced that the country had drawn up an official list of dual-use goods and was bringing it in line with international standards.  He added that during the next 15 months, his ministry, in coordination with the Georgian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice, will complete the development of the country's export control system.  He added that Georgia does not produce nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, nor does it deploy such weapons on its territory.  However, the country's industrial and medical sectors use components that could also be used in WMD systems.  Thus, according to Alavidze, it is important that the movement and sale of these components be placed under strict control to prevent them from falling into the hands of those who might use them for terrorism.
[NTV, 8 December 1999; in "Sistema eksportnogo kontrolya za obychnym vooruzheniyem, a takzhe za produktsiyey i tekhnologiyami dvoynogo naznacheniya formiruyetsya v Gruzii," Unian News Service, No. 049 (084), 6-12 December 1999.]{Entered 3/6/01 KB}
 
9/21/99:  GEORGIAN CUSTOMS FOIL ATTEMPT TO EXPORT URANIUM
Four men attempting to sell 1kg of uranium were arrested in Batumi on 21 September 1999. The Georgian special services reported that the material came from a northern country and was in transit through Georgia to a southern country.  The material was sent to the Institute of Physics near Tbilisi for analysis and storage.  Please see the 21 September 1999 entry in the NIS Trafficking Database for more details.
[Mikhail Vignanskiy, "Georgians Detain Uranium Traders," Segodnya, 23 September 1999, p. 7; in "Georgia:  Seized Uranium May Have Been Iran-Bound," FBIS Document FTS19990923000335.]{Entered 3/6/01 KB}

6/21/99: RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS FOUND IN TBILISI
A lead container holding an unidentified radioactive substance was discovered buried near the Botanical Garden in Tbilisi, Kavkasia-Press reported on 21 June 1999. The source was discovered by employees of the department of emergency situations and civil defense of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs.  For more information, see the 21 June 1999 entry in the NIS Trafficking Database.
[Kavkasia-Press, 21 June 1999; in "Source of Radiation Found in Georgian Capital Tbilisi," FBIS Document FTS19990621001684]{Entered 5/9/2001 KB} 
 
5/99: US STRENGTHENS GEORGIAN CUSTOMS AND BORDER CONTROLS
According to Lieutenant General Valeriy Chkheidze, the head of the Georgian Department of Border Forces, the United States allocated more than $12 million in FY 1999 to help upgrade Georgia's border control facilities.  The program focuses on improving monitoring and control of Georgia's Black Sea border, particularly near Supsa. US assistance has also been targeted on the Poti Border Division, increasing its operations facilities, buying new patrol vehicles, and establishing a border forces and customs personnel training center.  The United States has also opened a tender for private companies to install and operate an electronic border and customs control system.  Funding continues to be a problem on the Georgian side, however, causing difficulties in resolving technical problems and staffing new border facilities.[1]  In another sign of difficulties, the United States expelled four Georgian customs officers who were attending a training course in the United States in March 1999.  Revaz Adamia, chairman of the Georgian parliament's Committee for Defense and Security, demanded that the officers be terminated  if the United States confirms that they were expelled for undisciplined behavior.  The officers, however, claim they merely missed training sessions because they were ill.[2]
Sources:
[1] Vladimir Mokhov, "Stateside Millions: Having Renounced the Services of Russia's Bprder Guards, Georgia Intends To Guard its Borders With the Help of the West," Krasnaya zvezda, 13 May 1999, p. 3; in "Georgia Looks to US for Border Protection," FBIS Document FTS19990515000695.
[2] Prime-News, 3 April 1999; in "Georgian Customs Officers Expelled From US," FBIS Document FTS19990404000153. {Entered 9/3/99 TR}
 
5/99: UNITED KINGDOM COMPANY HELPS MANAGE GEORGIAN CUSTOMS SERVICE
According to Georgian Minister of Finance Davit Onoprishvili, the Georgian government has awarded the British firm ITS Group a contract to manage the Georgian Customs Service, effective 1 June 1999.[1]  ITS Group prevailed over six other companies that participated in the international competition, including Societe Generale Surveillance (SGS) of Switzerland.  As part of the three-year contract, scheduled for signature in the beginning of May 1999, ITS Group is responsible for controlling purchase transaction conditions for products imported into Georgia, confirming the accurate completion of customs declarations, and forecasting import volumes.  ITS Group, which specializes in import control, plans to enlist the help of the UK customs service to fulfill the contract and must increase customs collections by 50 percent the first year and 20 percent over each of the next two years.  According to Izvestiya, the contract could result in the resolution of operational problems by training Georgian customs officials how to operate at international standards, decrease the amount of corruption, and increase revenue.  The Georgian government can unilaterally cancel the contract at any time.[1]  ITS Group plans to bring 25 experts into Georgia to fulfill the contract.[2] Shortly after the Georgian government announced the winner of the tender, Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Ajaria Aslan Abashidze declared that he will not allow IGS Group access to the customs checkpoint in Sarpi on the border with Turkey.[2] According to Abashidze's press secretary, Giorgi Targamadze, Ajarian authorities disagree with the transfer of "state facilities and bodies of strategic importance" to foreigners.[3] Head of the Ajarian Representative Office in Tbilisi Vakhtang Razmadze added that since the Sarpi customs checkpoint "meets its objectives" on a regular basis, there is no need to interfere with its activities.[2]
Sources:
[1] Semen Novoprudskiy, "British 'Trick Riding': Georgian Customs To Be Turned Over to British Management Effective 1 June," Izvestiya, 27 April 1999, p. 5; in "British Firm to Manage Customs Work," FBIS Document FTS1999042900283.
[2] Khatuna Bitsadze, "The Customs look like an inflated balloon ready to burst," Rezonansi, 23 April 1999, p. 9; in FBIS Document FTS19990501000483.
[3] Prime-News, 17 April 1999; in FBIS Document FTS19990418000231.{entered 1/28/00 SDP}
 
4/99: GEORGIAN CUSTOMS SERVICE VOTED THIRD MOST CORRUPTIBLE AGENCY
According to an opinion poll, the Georgian Customs Service ranks third among those agencies voted most corruptible, following the Georgian Tax Inspectorate and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.  The World Bank Institute for Economic Development and the World Bank's European and Central Asian regional sector conducted the survey of 110 civil servants, 13.1 percent of whom singled out the Customs Service.
[Kavkasia-Press, 10 April 1999; in BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union-Political, 11 April 1999; in "Opinion Poll Reveals Most Unscrupulous Civil Services in Georgia," Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/.] {Entered 9/3/99 TR}
 
3/99: GEORGIANS OPEN INTERNATIONAL TENDER FOR MANAGEMENT OF CUSTOMS SERVICE
In order to improve the resources and equipment of the Georgian Customs Service, train customs specialists, and establish an effective system for preventing smuggling, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze issued a decree calling for an international competition to choose a company to assume management of the service. After several changes in the management of the Customs Service, Georgian Minister of Finance Davit Onoprishvili, as chairman of the commission responsible for running the competition, invited 11 companies to participate in spring 1999.  Four to five companies accepted the offer, including Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), a Swiss company that has extensive experience inspecting imported items and providing customs services for international organizations and individual governments.  SGS already has an office in Tbilisi, works with Uzbekistan, and hopes to secure a contract in Armenia as well. Revenue growth is a primary provision of the competition, and the winner will have from 1999 to 2001 to increase revenue and achieve European customs standards.  According to the deputy vice president of SGS, V. Zemlika, the customs system in Georgia is more developed and has better equipment than many other post-Soviet states.  At the same time, the extent of smuggling constitutes a major shortcoming. Zemlika and Head of the Georgian Customs Service Tamaz Maghlakelidze appear to have similar approaches to reforming the Georgian customs system.
[Sakartvelos Respublika, 3 March 1999, p. 2; in Experts to Improve Georgian Customs, FBIS Document FTS19990408001621.]{entered 1/28/00 SDP}
 
7/97:  GEORGIAN PHYSICISTS WORKING IN IRAN
A March 1996 article in the journal Science reported that university representatives from Iran and Libya were successfully recruiting Georgian scientists and physicists.  Physicists were reportedly offered $1,000 a month for one or two year contracts.  Georgian scientists usually earn between $10 and $150 a month.[1]  According to Temuri Yakobashvili, Americas desk officer at the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at least 30 Georgian scientists were working in the Iranian nuclear industry as of July 1997.  This was confirmed by Giorgi Kharadze, director of the Andronikashvili Institute of Physics.[2]
[1] "Libya and Iran Seek Ex-Soviet Scientists," Science, Vol. 271, 15 March 1996.
[2] Bill Samii, "Iran's Kharrazi Visits Georgia," RFE/RL Iran Report, Vol. 2, No. 24, 14 June 1999.{Entered 5/9/2001 KB}