Agriculture Minister Denied Entry to Adjara

Georgian Minister for Agriculture Davit Shervashidze had to turn away from the administrative border between Adjarian Autonomy and rest of Georgia on April 27, as he was barred from entering Adjara.

Agriculture Minister was accompanying several lorries loaded with fertilizers, due to be delivered to the Adjarian villages, as envisaged by the President Saakashvili’s mid-April order.

The local authorities quoted the state of emergency imposed in Adjara as a reason for turning away the convoy.

“Because of the state of emergency the movement of cargo through Adjara is restricted. Hence we offered the Minister [of Agriculture] to distribute agricultural fertilizers in Adjara after the situation becomes more stable,” Rostom Japaridze, Prime Minister of Adjara Autonomous Republic told reporters.