Tbilisi, Georgia

Overview:

Situated at the strategically important crossroads where Europe meets Asia, Georgia has a unique and ancient cultural heritage, and is famed for its traditions of hospitality and cuisine. Over the centuries, Georgia was the object of rivalry between Persia, Turkey and Russia, before being eventually annexed by Russia in the 19th century.  Since emerging from the collapsing Soviet Union as an independent state in 1991, Georgia has again become the arena of conflicting interests.  Increasing US economic and political influence in the country has long been a source of concern for neighboring Russia, as have Georgia's aspirations to join NATO and the EU.  Tense relations with Russia have been further exacerbated by Moscow's support for the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, leading to a brief war in August 2008.  Salome Zourabichvili assumed the Presidency in December 2018 and first came to prominence in 2004, when President Mikheil Saakashvili appointed her foreign minister. She had previously served as ambassador to France, where she was born the daughter of Georgian emigres and worked in the French diplomatic service, before obtaining Georgian citizenship.   But she turned against the president, accusing him of being a "dictator", although she remained independent of the Georgian Dream party that defeated Mr. Saakashvili in the 2012 elections.  Georgian Dream has since reduced the presidency to a ceremonial post, and all future presidents are expected to be chosen by an electoral college, not the public.  Ms. Zourabichvili stood for the post as an independent in 2018, with the backing of Georgian Dream, beating pro-Saakashvili opposition challenger Grigol Vashadze in the run-off. She is due to serve a six-year term.  Defense Minister Irakli Garibashvili formed a government in February 2021, following the resignation of Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia over plans to arrest opposition leader Nika Melia.  The opposition has refused to recognize the results of the October parliamentary elections, and Mr. Gakharia feared an arrest would escalate tensions.  

Source:  BBC Country Profile

American Embassy Tbilisi:

The inspection took place in Tbilisi, Georgia, between May 19 and June 7, 2014.  Robert Ruehle, was the Management Officer who I ended up inspecting in 2021 when he was the Executive Director of the East Asia Pacific bureau.  He also served as Acting DCM for a period.   The FMO was an old timer, Theresa Manly, and the Financial Management Specialist Maria Eliashvili, who compiled the input for the mission resource chart and is still working at the embassy.  The HRO was Conrad Hamilton who is now in Warsaw.

Findings:

The most critical resource requirement was the need to increase the management support platform. The embassy had experienced a 52% increase in   authorized American positions since 2007.  The new embassy compound completed in 2005 and includes a chancery, support annex, warehouse, and Marine security guard quarters on 19 acres of land. The unit's 91 staff members are also responsible for maintaining the chief of mission residence, the DCM residence, and 20 government-owned and 84 leased properties. The addition of 11 new homes to the housing inventory to accommodate the growth in personnel has put a strain on the unit's staff. The ICASS committee had approved three additional LE positions to assist with the workload

The OIG recommended that the embassy identify and collect overpayment of post allowances from Tbilisi employees who were overpaid.  Also, implement Global e-Travel for in-country travel and submit claims for processing to the Post Support Unit and require supervisors to approve overtime in advance unless in an emergency.

I suspected that the operations of the Tbilisi Employee Association (TEA) had some issues with accounting and delayed my taking inventory.  I recommended that the Bureau of Administration, require the TEA to institute the appropriate internal fiscal controls to facilitate proper oversight and management. We found out after returning home that the manager of the TEA and another employee had embezzled $150,000 over a five-year period by deleting sales receipts thus falsifying the financial accounting system. During this period neither the annual audit of the financial statements or two reviews by A/OPR uncovered any fraud. 

On top of that, the GSO motor pool section was found to have illegally siphoned off fuel intended for embassy vehicles, which was another source of embarrassment for OIG for not catching it.    

Highlights:

Georgia is one of the most democratic and Western-Leaning of the former Soviet Union.  The country has a fascinating, gregarious and ancient culture and the birthplace of wine making dating back 7000 years.  The capital Tbilisi has a wonderful old city with ancient architecture and quaint walking streets filled with cafes, restaurants and shops.  

Freedom Square with Monument to St. George

Georgian Parliament Former Headquarters of the Communist Party

1st Gymnasium with Statue to Georgian Writers

Metekhi Church, Monument to King Vakhtang Gorgasali

Old Tbilisi with ruins of Narikala Fortress above

The Leaning Clock Tower

Royal Sulfur Baths which I experienced 

Statue of Josef Stalin and the museum in Gori, Georgia where he was born.

Photo from Yalta Conference

Photo from Potsdam Conference

Carpet with depiction of Lenin and Stalin

In front of Stalin's Birthplace

Train from 1940's

Young dancers at restaurant

Khachapuri - Cheese Bread

Chicken in garlic and cheese sauce

Svet-Tskhoveli Cathedral (1010-1029) in Mtskheta

The cathedral contains the grave a St. Sidonia, who according to legend had died when she was given a robe from Jesus' crucifixion on Golgotha by a jew who converted to Christianity and brought it back to Georgia.

Grounds of the cathedral with walls and Jvari monastery on the hill in the distance.

The bride and groom on the way to church for a wedding

Jvari Monastery 

From the cliff above where the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers meet.

With Ronda at Georgian Wine Festival

Above Sighnaghi

Georgia is the home of an amazing red grape called Saperavi very dark skinned and makes an intensely deep colored, high acid and strong flavored wine. It is one of the few grape varieties which actually have red anthocyanin (color pigment) in the pulp as well as the skin.  The variety is extremely hardy, able to withstand the severe cold of its native region.

All wines are fermented and aged in qvevri, clay vessels lined
with organic beeswax and buried in the earth



Houses with balconies in Sighnaghi

Mother Georgia Above Old Tbilisi

Baku, Azerbaijan

Overview:

Oil-rich Azerbaijan has redefined itself over the past two decades from a struggling newly independent state to a major regional energy player. Deals with international energy producers have allowed the country to use its energy revenues to create a government-run fund involved in international projects. It has also used its resources to rebuild its army, which is seen as a government priority as the country grapples with the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.  Despite its wealth and increased influence in the wider region, poverty and corruption continue to overshadow the country's development.  A government crackdown on human rights advocates and journalists has raised concern that Azerbaijan's embryonic democracy is under threat.  Ilham Aliyev took over as president from his father Heydar in 2003 and secured his latest term in 2018 in an election which Western observers said fell short of democratic standards.

Source:  BBC Country Profile

OIG Team:

The inspection took place in between April 29 and May 16, 2014. Ambassador Carol van Voorst (team leader) former Ambassador to Iceland was previously deputy chief of mission in Vienna as well as Helsinki.  In Washington, she directed several regional offices in the Bureau of European Affairs and was special assistant in the offices of the Deputy Secretary and the Under Secretary for Political Affairs.  She received a Ph.D. and M.A. in history from Princeton University, and an M.A. in international security studies from the National War College.  Laurent Charbonnet was the deputy team leader and had mainly POL/ECON assignments in East Asia. Paul Smith was originally slated to be the DTL but he had a family emergency.  Ronda Capeles (MGMT) lead and a new MGMT inspector, Alexandra Vega, who was shadowing Ronda and me.   Other inspectors were Robert Eckert (DS), Robyn Hinson-Jones (POL) took Laurent’s place, Michael Hurley (PD), Dolores Hylander (IT), Barry Langevin (DS), and Colwell Whitney (CON).

American Embassy Baku: 

Baku was the first stop on a three-embassy trip, including Tbilisi and Yerevan that had the team out for over eight weeks.  One of the perks for being out so long, since all three were hardship posts, was that after day 42 we were entitled to 20% post differential.  Getting visas was challenging especially for Azerbaijan with having to fill out the forms by hand.  Thank goodness for our Administrative Assistant Helen for making arrangements and the travel office.  We could even copy the itinerary from Barry’s travel order so we each didn’t have to generate our travel orders from scratch. Speaking of travel, we were not allowed business class so we had to leave a day early on Sunday from Dulles to Baku and arrived Monday evening and took Tuesday as rest day. We stayed at the Marriott and the management inspectors walked to the embassy annex building about twenty minutes. 

Map of the Caucasus:   Baku, Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea; Tbilisi, Georgia in the Caucasus with Black Sea coast; and, Land-locked Armenia with Capital Yerevan and disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh.

Among the embassy staff was the Deputy Chief of Mission Dereck Hogan a young very impressive black man that went on to become Ambassador to Moldova and is now the PDAS in the EUR bureau.  The Management Officer was Michael Dickerson who just happens to be back in Baku as DCM.  I am not surprised since he ran a good shop.  The FMO/HRO, Miriam “Elise” de Silva Tokamasu, was on her first tour and way over her head being expected to handle both portfolios.  In fact, we recommended that EUR bureau authorize separate HRO and FMO be assigned particularly given the workload previous incidents of fraud.  Since 2011 the embassy terminated five LE staff members for procurement and insurance fraud. OIG/INV received a Hotline Complaint to INV from an employee alleging harassment and misusing USG equipment and one of their experienced procurement agents was terminated for medical fraud.

After almost one year to the date, we received an email from Elise thanking us for all the advice and support we had provided.   She bragged about implementing PAY.GOV; having salaries paid through the banking system (not cash) and EFT payments to vendors.  She was even using the Post Support Unit, 34% of our vouchers.  Elise is now the Management Officer in Suva and doing well. Receiving such feedback really makes our work worthwhile. 

 

Findings:

The embassy's 100-year-old physical structure is in deplorable condition, despite the best efforts of a hard-working management section. The Government of Azerbaijan has repeatedly blocked embassy efforts to acquire a site for a new embassy compound. The embassy continues to pursue options vigorously. Given the high-fraud, cash-based local economy, the combined financial management and human resources officer position provides inadequate oversight of the embassy's financial operations. Therefore, we recommended that positions should be authorized. 

Among the other recommendations Embassy Baku should:

• Establish a mission temporary duty policy in accordance with Department of State guidelines.
• Establish a telework policy and telework agreements for employees, as required.
• Institute a post orientation program for newly hired locally employed staff.
• Submit an updated hotel and restaurant report.
• Update Equal Employment Opportunity postings
• Maintain an accounts receivable for bills of collection.
• Counseled embassy supervisors to approve any overtime in advance.

 Highlights

Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, is a booming oil town on the shores of the Caspian Sea.  Lots of tall new skyscrapers with a 3,000-year-old city.  Surrounding countryside has pools of black oil, mud volcanoes, fire temples and gas flaming out of hillsides.

Baku Skyline with House of Soviets, a Stalinist-inspired office building now housing Azerbaijani government offices.

The Boulevard pedestrian walkway along the edge of the Caspian Sea.  Flame towers are in the distance.

Entrance to Baku's medieval old town.

Maiden's Tower with eight stories, the bottom three from the 6th century BC.

Ancient catapult with city wall.

Local restaurants line old city walls. 

From the top of the Maiden Tower

Caravansaray where traders use to house their camels after journeys from the east.

Narrow streets of the old city.

Shirvanshah's Palace built in the 15th century .

Tour de Azerbaijan bike race

Cyclists in the old city

Finish line of the Tour de Azerbaijan

Celebrating the Doctor's 60th birthday in the Mehellesi Hamman in the
old city following a scrub massage and lunch.

The temple of fire worshippers.  The temple called Atasgah by Azeris was originally by followers of Zoraster from India.

Ancient bath house in the Shah Palace.

The burning mountain at Yanar Dag.  Natural gas flames appear like a fire place at the base of the hill.

Mud Volcanoes.

Gobustan caves and rock carvings depicting hunting scenes, people, animals and even 2,000 year-old graffiti left by Roman legionnaires.  

Gobustan also includes a museum featuring models of prehistoric dwellings and cave paintings.