Seasonal trains between Yerevan (Armenia) and Batumi (Georgia) will resume service on June 14, according to the South Caucasus Railway.
The train will run until October 2, departing every other day: from Yerevan on even-numbered days and from Batumi on odd-numbered days. The journey will take about 16 hours.
The train will consist of three classes of carriages: open, compartment, and sleeping. Tickets can be purchased both at station ticket offices and online.
It is also reported that the Yerevan-Tbilisi train will be suspended for the duration of this route.
In addition, South Caucasus Railway and Georgian Railway are discussing the launch of a tourist train that will run for three days in Armenia and six days in Georgia. It will be aimed at European tourists, and the Czech company Gepard Express plans to attract them.
Certification of bus stations is made within the framework of intercity transportation reforms.
Sputnik / Stringer
From June 1, Georgian bus stations are obliged to receive certificates for continuing their work, according to which electronic boards and special platforms for boarding will be installed at the bus stations, as well as a system for purchasing electronic tickets will be introduced.
Certification of bus stations is done within the framework of intercity transportation reform, which is in an active phase in the country.
“The Georgian reality was alien to the electronic ticket purchase system, only individual carriers have it. According to our information, the Land Transportation Agency is creating a unified platform for electronic ticketing, with which we are fully cooperating. There will also be electronic boards, like in airports, which will show the arrival, departure and delay of transportation. All innovations will be adapted to the safety and comfort of passengers,” said Paata Kvavadze, representative of the largest bus station network Okriba.
On March 1, 2025, the regulation came into force, according to which drivers must obtain a permit for road passenger transportation.
During the same period, the regulation according to which drivers engaged in passenger transportation are obliged to undergo periodic medical examination and drug testing came into force.
Once the certificates come into effect, bus stations will be divided into three classes:
First class bus stations will carry international and/or intercity and district passenger transportation;
Second class bus stations carry domestic transportation, while international transportation is possible only if there is no first class station;
The third class of station allows intra-district transportation, while intercity and international transportation is possible only if there are no first and second class stations; and The third class of station allows intra-district transportation, while intercity and international transportation is possible only if there are no first and second class stations.
All intercity transportation in the country will run only from bus station to bus station, and regular passenger transportation within the boundaries of municipalities will follow strictly defined routes.
The U.S. Embassy has issued a warning about bombs planted in three shopping centers in Tbilisi.
georgiaembassyusa.org
On the night of May 6, the U.S. Embassy in Georgia put out a warning about a potential bomb threat in three Tbilisi shopping centers, telling its staff to avoid those places until further notice.
According to the embassy, the threat involves East Point, Galleria Tbilisi, and Tbilisi Mall.
Not long after, Georgia’s State Security Service (SSS) responded, saying its teams were already dealing with “another false alarm.” They added that all necessary steps were being taken within their authority.
The SSS also called on foreign embassies in Georgia to respect the work of local security services, act responsibly, and avoid making public statements that haven’t been cleared with the proper agencies.
The non-profit organization “Kazakhstan-Georgian Economic Association” made such a statement. According to their information, guests from Kazakhstan in Georgia face inadequate and insulting behavior on the part of local residents, Orda.kz reports.
According to the Kazakhstan-Georgian Economic Association, especially such attitude is manifested in the service sector.
“Kazakhs face inadequate and insulting behavior in various situations, especially in places where they have daily contact with locals – in private catering establishments, financial institutions, cabs and public transport. At the same time, at the border checkpoints has sharply increased the number of cases when Kazakhstanis can not enter the country for unknown or inadequate reasons”
Organization claim that the reason for such statements were frequent requests for help from employees of the organization, numerous applications from individuals and a number of posts in social networks, reflecting the negative experiences of Kazakh citizens.
It is noted that the current situation damages Georgian-Kazakh relations and negatively affects the image of Georgia outside the country. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan is not just a friendly nation, but a strategic economic and trade partner of Georgia.
“Economic ties between our countries are strengthening and deepening year after year. The tourist flow of Kazakhstanis to Georgia is growing. Tourism makes up a significant part of Georgia’s domestic product – about 7-8%. In 2006-2025 the amount of direct foreign investments from Kazakhstan to Georgia exceeded 350 million US dollars and accounts for a significant share in the economy. In 2024, the share of exports in Kazakhstan amounted to 860 million dollars, i.e. 13 %. Each of the above economic parameters is directly related to the free movement of people, entry into the country and hospitality. Therefore, we urge citizens, private service providers and businesses to be polite and kind, and employees of border checkpoints and specialized government agencies to act within the law and in the interests of Georgia, not to damage the reputation of our country”
Kazakhstan-Georgia Economic Association is a non-profit and non-governmental organization whose members are companies operating with Kazakh capital in Georgia – Halik Bank Georgia, Rompetrol Georgia, Capitol Management and others.
In January-September 2024, the number of trips of Kazakhstanis to Georgia reached almost 147 thousand, which is 13% more than in the same period last year. This figure surpassed previous records and became the highest since at least 2011.
The National Agency for the Protection of Cultural Heritage has confirmed the repeated water intrusion into the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta since the beginning of spring.
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, UNESCO World Heritage Site
It is an 11th century temple that is considered one of the main shrines in Georgia and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Moisture inside the temple can be critical, threatening the preservation of the unique frescoes.
It was first reported on March 22 that water was getting inside the temple.
The Agency for Protection of Cultural Heritage explains that the cracks need to be sealed with a special solution, which requires several days of dry weather. Due to deteriorating meteorological conditions, it is not possible to complete the work yet.
Specialists assure that the problem will be completely eliminated as soon as the rains end. They assure that the Svetitskhoveli frescoes are not damaged.
Another historic Orthodox complex in Georgia, Gelati, has been struggling with excess moisture in the main temple for years. “Greenhouse effect” due to improper restoration in different years led to the destruction of some of the unique frescoes and mosaics. There the matter came to a scandal, after which the restoration of the complex was taken out of the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture and transferred to the Patriarchate.
Swiss airline Edelweiss Air, a member of the Lufthansa Group, has started operating regular flights Zurich-Tbilisi-Zurich.
The flights will be operated twice a week, on Tuesdays and Sundays.
The first flight has already carried 151 passengers.
The Georgian Ministry of Economy said it expects an increase in tourists from Switzerland thanks to direct flights.
According to the Tourism Administration, only 6,895 Swiss citizens visited Georgia in the whole of last year. The record was pre-pandemic 2019 with 9,879 visits.
The Russian airlines iFly and Nordstar, which are under EU sanctions, have received permission to perform flights to Sukhumi from Moscow and Krasnoyarsk. This follows from the documents of Rosaviatsia.
iFly was allowed to perform between Moscow and Sukhumi 14 flights a week, Nordstar – 7 times a week. Between Krasnoyarsk and Sukhumi Nordstar has agreed flights with a frequency of three times a week.
Sukhumi airport has not functioned since the 90s, flights stopped after the outbreak of war in Abkhazia. The facility was repaired with Russian participation, and a test flight was performed on February 7.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) does not recognize the Sukhumi airport as an international airport – it considers Abkhazia an integral part of Georgia. In 2006 ICAO canceled its code and excluded it from its documents.
The Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia stated that any foreign airline that decided to fly to Sukhumi would violate international norms.
Works on restoration of passenger railway communication between Baku and Tbilisi continue, but the exact date of resumption of flights has not been determined yet. This was reported to BPN agency by the Georgian Railway.
“The parties are working intensively and a specific date for the restoration of traffic will be announced later,” the representative of Georgian Railway said.
Direct railroad communication between Georgia and Azerbaijan has been interrupted for more than five years. Since the beginning of the pandemic it was possible to get from one country to another only by air. Azerbaijan has repeatedly extended the quarantine regime, the last time – until June 1, 2025.
In February, before the next extension of quarantine restrictions, the Ministry of Economy of Georgia confirmed that trains between Baku and Tbilisi would resume service from May 1. However, the timing is now once again uncertain.
This week Azerbaijani media published photos of an Azerbaijani Railways high-speed train at the Tbilisi train station. This raised expectations of the soon launch of passenger flights, but in Azerbaijani Railways clarified: the train is not intended for passenger transportation and is used exclusively for technical diagnostics of railway tracks – in order to ensure traffic safety.
Georgia has reduced the period of stay in the country for Ukrainian citizens from three years to one year. Corresponding amendments were made to a government decree on April 2.
krymr.com / Vano Shalamov (AFP)
Before the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainians could stay in Georgia for one year, but on February 24, 2023, the government increased the period of visa-free stay to two years, and on April 23, 2024 – to three years.
The new decision of the Georgian government states that Ukrainian citizens who entered and stayed in Georgia until February 24, 2025, will have their right to stay extended until February 24, 2026.
After elections in October 2024, the Georgian Dream party won the majority of seats in the Georgian parliament, and in December, the members of the panel with a majority of Georgian Dream deputies elected a single candidate, Mikhail Kavelashvili, as the country’s president. He represents the Power of the People party, allied to the Georgian Dream, which advocates populist anti-Western positions.
The founder of Georgian Dream is the pro-Russian politician Bidzina Ivanishvili. The United States, Ukraine and the Baltic states have imposed sanctions against him.
An earthquake with magnitude 3.6 has occurred in Georgia.
Blaire Fox / Flickr
As Oxu.Az reports, this was reported by the National Seismic Monitoring Center of the country. According to its data, the epicenter was located 12 km south-west of the capital Tbilisi. The source lay at a depth of 24 km. There was no information about casualties or destruction.
