Georgia signs second military air defence contract with France

Georgia has signed another contract with France aimed at strengthening Georgia’s defensive abilities.

The document Georgia’s Defence Minister Tinatin Khidasheli signed with a French company yesterday will see additional features added to the military air defence system the Georgian side purchased from another French company in mid-June.

"This system can be equipped with many additional features that can strengthen its defence ability in accordance with what a country can afford,” Khidasheli said, adding the Georgian Government had decided to make the new purchase as powerful as possible "even at this first stage of negotiations”.

The contract with the French side was regarded as confidential but Khidasheli planned to discuss the issue of making part of the agreement public with the President of Georgia and the Trust Group created within the Georgian Parliament.

"There is a very high interest about this issue and we will try to give people as much information as possible but first we need to discuss what can be revealed and what cannot,” Khidasheli said.

The agreement came into force immediately after it was signed and its implementation will start on January 1, 2016.

Khidasheli said the agreement with the French side could not have happened without political will.

"The French side demonstrated outstanding partnership, endeavor and trust. Such decisions are not taken without the political will,” she said.

"After the signature of the agreement we can freely say that there is no embargo imposed on Georgia. We have achieved several goals. We could make diversification of the topic and create a fundamental base to negotiate with our partners about any issue. I am happy with the content as well as with the political importance of the both treaties [signed yesterday and in mid-June].”

She thanked the French government and the two French companies involved for their trust and support of Georgia. 

"I would like to thank France and these companies as the process was implemented with high level of trust in partnership and desire for our success. This is demonstrated on each page and article of the document”.