🪂 In Gudauri, during a tandem flight with a tourist, a paraglider pilot died.
It is known that he is a citizen of Ukraine and has been involved in this sport for a long time. Locals say that the incident was caused by bad weather and the paraglider crashed into a rock, the pilot suffered head injuries. As for the tourist, he was taken to the clinic.
❗️For my three years of living in Georgia, this is the first death that I know about. Flights are 99.9% safe.

🇬🇪🛫🇦🇲 Flyone Armenia Airlines started to operate flights Yerevan - Tbilisi - Yerevan on May 1
Flights will be operated 4 times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The number of flights is expected to increase in the summer.
ℹ️ Price for May / June round trip from 130 euros (official website data)
🚌 For general information: Yerevan can be reached from Tbilisi by minibus, costs about $30 one way, 5 hours ride.

🇬🇪🦠🚫 Covid is leaving from Georgia.
Over the past day, only 51 new cases of infection were registered in the country. The Ministry of Health will now publish incidence statistics once a week, on Tuesdays, and I have closed this traditional section in the channel for a month now. In any case, take care of yourself and your loved ones, health and peace to everyone!
❗️ Friends, let me remind you that from today wearing a mask is mandatory only in public transport and medical institutions.

📈 In April 2022, compared to March, the inflation rate in Georgia was 1.8%, and the annual rate is 12.8%.
Which prices went up:
📍Food and non-alcoholic drinks 11%
📍Vegetables 9%
📍Oil and fat 7.4%
📍Bread and bakery products 4.7%
📍Coffee and tea 4.1%
📍Transport services (4.6%) and personal vehicles (3.9%)

🇬🇪👮🏻‍♂🇺🇸 According to the US Embassy in Georgia, Mohammad Yassin and Hassan Abdul Rahman, wanted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), were extradited from Georgia to the United States yesterday.
It is known that Yassin, detained in Tbilisi, is the head of a money laundering organization based in Lebanon, whose services are used by drug traffickers around the world.

⚡️The company "Borjomi" may be nationalized in the near future.
According to a number of experts and from my sources, one of the most famous Georgian brands can legally return to the country. At the moment, the government is considering the issue of nationalizing the company and appointing an interim manager. On April 30, Prime Minister Gharibashvlili stated that "I have good news about Borjomi".
❗️Let me remind you that two Borjomi bottling plants were closed a few days ago, as the Russian company that owns them and the oligarch Mikhail Fridman fell under international sanctions, which led to the freezing of accounts.

🇬🇪⚽️ The football match in the Georgian capital between the teams Dinamo from Tbilisi and Batumi ended with a score of 0-0, as well as the fans entering the field.
The game was quite interesting, despite the fact that there were no goals scored. The team from Adjara retained the first line in the standings and a good chance of repeating the championship.
Throughout the game, fans of both teams ran out onto the field, and at the end of the match it became quite massive. But unlike the recent game in Kutaisi, there were no fights.

📉🇬🇪 Georgia's press freedom rating has plummeted over the past year.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has released the 2022 Press Freedom Index, which measures the state of journalism in 180 countries around the world.
According to the study, Georgia dropped from 60th to 89th place and is in the problem category. Reporters Without Borders evaluate the state of press freedom in the world on five dimensions: political, legal, economic, social and security contexts. Georgia received the highest score of 80.79 in the legal area and the lowest score of 41.34 in the security context.
ℹ️ In many ways, this is due to the events of July 2021, when an action of the LGBT community was planned on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi. Despite the fact that it was canceled, radical groups gathered on the avenue and attacked media representatives - reporters, cameramen and photographers, then 53 journalists were injured.

🇬🇪🇺🇦 Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze called adviser to the President of Ukraine and one of the negotiators with Russia Mikhail Podolyak "a shameful creature."
He made this statement while commenting on Podolyak's interview with Voice of America. In it, the Ukrainian politician stated that “Georgia looks at the war in Ukraine somewhat strangely” and stated that the Georgian authorities are directly or indirectly connected with Bidzina Ivanishvili, a Russian oligarch who has influence on the government.
“Podolyak’s statement is shameful. We heard a lot of shameful statements. I would ask you to figure out who Podolyak is,” the mayor said. At the same time, he urged to study the life and work of the Ukrainian politician: “I have very close ties with Ukraine. I lived and played there, and such creatures as Podolyak are shameful. I would ask to know who he was, what kind of life he lived and what he was like, ”added Kaladze.
ℹ️ On May 4, the Voice of America published an interview with Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine. In it, the politician stated that the position of the Georgian government contradicts the position of the democratic international community.
“We see that Georgia has a somewhat strange view of the war in Ukraine. It does not take the same clear and unambiguous position as that of the EU countries and the United States,” he said.

🇬🇪04.05. The main news about Georgia for the day.
Today there were few materials in the channel, because in the morning I went to the house of Ukrainian refugees and shot a video about them and Tbilisi volunteers (it will be released on Friday), then I gave a lecture in the office and much more.
Therefore, a summary of what happened during the day:
📍 Georgian and Ukrainian authorities continued to quarrel and mutual reproaches
📍 Tbilisi City Hall will sell rehabilitated objects on Gudiashvili Square, the total cost of 4 objects is about $6 million
📍 the city health and social services transferred 600 lari ($200) to veterans of the Second World War and 300 lari ($100) to the spouses of those killed in the war
📍 The Ministry of Health refused to update daily covid statistics, now information will be submitted every Tuesday for a week
📍 Georgia dropped from 60th to 89th place in the Press Freedom Index
📍 The Georgian Tourism Administration reported that the largest number of foreigners who came to the country were from Turkey (35959), Russia - (33556) and Armenia - (32228)
📍 Saakashvili's family and his supporters held a rally "For life!" Demanding his transfer to a medical institution near the residence of the President of Georgia
📍 Russia raises from 01.06. export duty on sunflower oil from $372 to $525 per ton, this will affect Georgia, since 87% of sunflower oil supplies are exported from the Russian Federation
📍 Employees of the closed Borjomi company protest and demand a meeting with the CEO and the Prime Minister

🇬🇪❤️ An unexpected innoscription "Anano" appeared on the mountain in Mtatsminda Park.
On one of the most famous sights of Tbilisi, the Ferris wheel next to the TV tower, which, by the way, every five minutes is illuminated in the yellow-blue flag of Ukraine, an unexpected confession and a heart appeared late in the evening. It was not for long, but eyewitnesses managed to film it. After a short time, the running line "Mtatsminda Park" returned.

🇬🇪📊National Tourism Administration of Georgia publishes statistics of visits to the country for April.
Over the past month, 244,293 foreigners visited the country, which is 184% more than in 2021, but only 52% of the pre-pandemic 2019.
Top countries by number of visits to Georgia in April:
🇹🇷Turkey - 35959
🇬🇧Russia – 33556
🇦🇲Armenia – 32228
🇮🇱Israel - 15709
🇺🇦Ukraine - 13018
🇦🇿Azerbaijan - 11360
⚪️🔴⚪️Belarus – 7507
🇰🇿Kazakhstan - 6032
🇮🇷Iran - 5994
ℹ️ For the summer season, a decrease in arrivals from Ukraine (it is difficult to calculate the issue of refugees now), Russia and Belarus, which are consistently in the top ten visits, is predicted, and an increase is expected from the Persian Gulf countries and Israel. European, American and Canadian tourists are still wary of Georgia and almost all of their bookings for the first half of the year are cancelled.

😃 A citizen found 20,000 GEL (about $ 6,500) and handed it over to the police.
Then the money was returned to the owner.

🇬🇪❤️ May 6 - Giorgoba (გიორგობა) - the day of St. George the Victorious, patron and most revered saint of Georgia.
Giorgoba is celebrated in the country twice: on May 6 - in memory of the saint's death and on November 23 - in memory of his sainthood. Today is a working day, but in November it is declared a day off.
ℹ️ Giorgi is the most popular name in Georgia (about 200,000 people), the most common female name is Nino (135,000).

🇬🇪🇺🇦 Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili made one of the government's most serious statements during the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at an international donor conference in Poland, he stated:
“We condemn the full-scale military aggression of Russia against Ukraine, which clearly and grossly violates the fundamental principles and norms of international law. The war has triggered a serious humanitarian crisis that requires immediate action. My government expresses unconditional solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Georgia has already allocated $7 million, 500 tons of humanitarian cargo has been sent, we continue to provide assistance to 28,000 Ukrainians who are on our territory. The unity of the world community regarding active assistance to Ukraine is an urgent and necessary issue. I wish peace and prosperity to the Ukrainian people.”

🇬🇪🛫 Georgia air traffic news (mainly related to Batumi).
📍 Belavia cancels some flights to Batumi for the summer. This happened in connection with the refusal of the aviation authorities from the Georgian side for a previously agreed number of flights. For those who have already bought tickets, a transfer to other flights or replacement tickets to Kutaisi will be provided.
📍 On May 7, AirBaltic will make the first flight from Riga to Batumi (from 99 euros), the airline has not previously flown there, currently it plans to make 2 flights a week
📍 from May 21, Uzbekistan Airways launches direct flights on the route Tashkent-Batumi-Tashkent, flights will be operated twice a week

🍫🚫 The National Food Agency has sealed suspicious Kinder packages brought to Georgia.
As early as April 7, the agency received a notification from European colleagues about the possible presence of salmonella in chocolate products. Hundreds of cases of salmonella have been reported in Europe, especially among children under the age of 10, most likely due to contamination of various Ferrero-brand Kinder chocolates. At the moment, 472 kg of products have already been seized in Georgia.

💉In Georgia, 34% of the population has been vaccinated.
Deputy Minister of Health Tamar Gabunia spoke about this:
"The number of cases in Georgia is significantly decreasing, a stabilization trend is obvious. The number of infections per day is from 100 to 150 cases. Summary statistics will be published once a week. Today we have 34% of the population vaccinated, which is not enough to protect if there is a risk of a certain mutation again. "
ℹ️ Only two covid restrictions remain in the country:
- mandatory wearing of a mask in public transport and medical institutions
- vaccine or test for foreign citizens arriving in the country.