reform

2 Posts

•

0 Followers

Armenia

‘The Police are Ours!’ — Armenia’s revolutionary police reform at a crossroads

by Anna Bianca Roach

•9 min read

Reform of the oft-maligned Armenian Police Force is in full swing following April’s ‘Velvet Revolution’, with reformers frequently citing neighbouring Georgia as a blueprint. While the reforms seem to have made a real dent in corruption, calls to take on the force’s reputation for brutality appear to be gaining less traction. ‘Ashot, your grandmother is in this crowd! Will you hit her, too?’ A protestor screams at a riot police officer at the height of Armenia’s April 2018 revolution.

banking

Opinion | Bank reforms touted by Georgia’s Prime Minister–to-be could spell the end of predatory lending

by Tato Khundadze

•7 min read

Just two months after announcing sweeping reforms of Georgia’s banks, 36-year-old Finance Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze looks set to become the new Prime Minister. While the country’s banks have become among the most profitable in the world, they have done so at the expense of ordinary Georgians. If Bakhtadze and his replacement at the finance ministry follow through on these reforms, they could be the first step in addressing some of Georgia’s most pressing economic woes. The remarkable ri