EXBS: GEORGIA MONTHLY REPORT MAY 2009

UNCLAS TBILISI 001080 SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/ECC - ACHURCH, KHARTSHORN AND LSPRINGER DEPT FOR EUR/ACE - DFROMAN CBP/INA FOR ESEYMOUR-REDD AND RORME USDOE/NNSA FOR TPERRY, EDESCHLER, AND RTALLEY COAST GUARD FOR SATAMAN, SHABTEMICHAEL, AND JCAIRL NRC FOR JRAMSEY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC MNUC PARM PREL KSTC KNNP GG SUBJECT: EXBS: GEORGIA MONTHLY REPORT MAY 2009 ¶I. BROAD ITEMS OF INTEREST TO ADVISORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS: The Georgian Coast Guard (GCG) anniversary ceremony will be held at the GCG base in Poti on July 16. A U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) delegation has been invited to attend. II. COMPLETED ACTIONS FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD. ¶A. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS DURING REPORTING PERIOD May 11-15: The newly assigned Maritime Advisor (MA),USCG LT Dan Owen, arrived in Georgia for initial program familiarization. During the short time he was in Tbilisi, he met with post management and the heads of the Border Police (BP) and the GCG, and was briefed on several USG initiatives relating to the EXBS mission and Georgian maritime issues. USCG LT Mike Fisher traveled from Baku to impart his perspective of the GCG, which he gained by serving as our post Russian conflict, on-call, maritime subject matter expert. LT Owen will report to Tbilisi for a two year assignment on or about July ¶1. May 11-12: EXBS arranged the second of four implementing phases of the Tracker licensing system in Georgia. The main goals of this session were to review and revise the Tracker equipment request; collect all the local documents that Tracker needs to generate (licenses, permits, certificates, etc.); review Georgian reporting requirements; and to discuss any other issues associated with electronic licensing. The EXBS Advisor (EA),the new MA, and the EXBS Coordinator (EC) attended the first day of the planning session. Final deployment of Tracker is projected for September. May 12: The EA, MA and EC met with General Gogava, Head of the BP, and Captain Shengelia the Head of the GCG. General Gogava reported that a Turkish company has been contracted to remove the hulks that were sunk by the Russians at the Poti Coast Guard base, down to the level of the sea bed. However, the portion of the ships that have settled under the sand will remain. Due to accumulations of sand and the portions of the hulls that remain under the sea bed, the water depth at these piers will be insufficient for practical use by GCG cutters. Thedepth of water is critical as the water intakes for the jet drives powering 
the two new cutters are located at the bottom of the vessels. General Gogava requested EXBS assistance in making these piers once again suitable for use. The General mentioned that the GCG will begin dry-docking cutters for repair as recommended by USCG MKC Hillman in March. The EA restated the EXBS intention to fund the dry-docking and repairs of the two 82 foot cutters donated by the U.S. The EA informed the General and the Captain that EXBS will cover travel expenses only for two GCG officers to attend the U.S. Navy Seapower Symposium that will be held in October in Newport, RI. This will be the second year that EXBS has supported GCG travel to the event. The General accepted a request to make a presentation at the EXBS advisor conference to be held in June. May 13: The MA and the EC met with GCG Head of Policy Captain Ramaz Papidze. Captain Papidze welcomed the new MA and stressed the importance of an in-country assignment of a USCG officer to Georgia. Qimportance of an in-country assignment of a USCG officer to Georgia. He said it would be very beneficial to future cooperation between EXBS and the GCG. Captain Papidze provided a comprehensive review of the current condition and challenges faced by the GCG as well as plans for future development. He mentioned that the merging of the Navy into the GCG resulted in expanding the scope of GCG functions by adding maritime defense to the existing responsibility for law enforcement. In case of war, the GCG will report to the Ministry of Defense (MOD),and they are currently working on an action plan to handle such an event if it occurs again. He also mentioned that coordination with foreign partners has increased significantly with active participation in NATO and Partnership for Peace maritime training operations. GCG is working to harmonize internal regulations and OpPlans with NATO standards May 20: The EC attended the Preventing Nuclear Smuggling (PNSP) workshop conducted by the U.S. Department of State. The purpose of the workshop was to have GOG representatives from a wide range of agencies participate in table top exercises involving nuclear incidents. The EA and EC attended the PNSP reception at the DCM's residence. TRAINING CONDUCTED DURING REPORTING PERIOD: ¶1. May 18 - 22: USCG Port State Control Nine GCG officers and (15) officers from the Port Administration attended. Training was conducted in the Port Administration facility in Batumi. ¶2. May 27 - 28: Tracker Best Practices Seminar Representatives from the Revenue Service (RS) and the Ministry of Economic Development (MED) attended the seminar, which was held in Warsaw, Poland. ¶B. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD: (1) RIID GR135 - NRSS $7,000 (1) TSA PRM460B - NRSS $2,700 ¶D. IMMINENT TRAINING OR EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE: --UPCOMING TRAINING: 1) June 1 - July 17: Commanding Officer/Executive Officer Training Two GCG officers will attend a minimum of eight weeks of intensive USCG command officer training in the U.S. The training will consist of both classroom and practical instruction. Participants will include a GCG boat commander and a mechanical engineer who will be promoted to Executive Officer after training. 2) June 22: International Nonproliferation Export Control Program (INECP) representatives are planning to meet in Tbilisi with representatives from all GOG agencies involved with export control. The purpose of the meeting is to gain support for and to plan strategic trade control enterprise outreach activities for the fall of 2009 and ¶2010. EXBS will coordinate plans with other members of the international export control working group. 3) June 25 - 27: The Tenth International Export Control Conference will be held in Istanbul, Turkey. The GOG will be represented by participants from MOD, MED, and the RS. 4) July 31: USCG Incident Command Systems 300 This training will be delivered as an advanced follow-on to the previously delivered Incident Command Systems 200. The same participants will attend. --EQUIPMENT STATUS: --PENDING PROCUREMENT OR DISTRIBUTION: (3) CT30 kits - Customs, BP $54,000 (6) RIIDs - NRSS, MOIA $42,000 (7) TSA PRM470B - Customs and PP $18,900 (5) Radiation pagers - PP, GCG $ 6,000 (8) Source Transport Containers TBD Distribution of a comprehensive package of scientific equipmen, hazardous material protective gear, and three response vehicles to NRSS is pending formal GOG notification of the opening of an NRSS field office in West Georgia. The vehicles have now been clearly marked as NRSS Emergency Response vehicles. ¶E. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NON-PROLIFERATION OR RELATED BORDER SECURITY: III. RED FLAG ISSUES: Political unrest in Georgia is stabilizing. Opposition reopened several of the main roads where cells had been placed for several weeks blocking transit through downtown Tbilisi. POC for this report is Charles Hiscock, EXBS Program Advisor. Telephone +995 32 277312. TEFFT