PM says “de-oligarchisation” “not really” a challenge in Georgia, vows to consult EU bodies over matter

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said “de-oligarchisation” was “not really” a challenge in the country but vowed to have consultations with European Union bodies over the matter to “get more specifics and explanations”.

Garibashvili was responding to a question by local media about the commitment to “de-oligarchisation” as one of the conditions outlined by the European Commission for granting Georgia the European Union membership candidate status.

We will consult with Brussels to get more specifics and clarifications and how to implement this law. We were told that Ukraine had adopted a similar law, however it was also mentioned that it was not perfect and so on. We will, of course, delve into this topic”, Garibashvili told a press briefing. 

He noted the particular condition had been outlined by the European Commission for all three countries of the Associated Trio while noting the issue was “not really” a challenge “in our country”.

The head of the Government stressed the former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili was not an oligarch as claimed by the domestic opposition forces, but a philanthropist and “only then” the founder of a political party.

He is a philanthropist, and [only] then the founder of a political party. Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili has no role, no status in [Georgian] politics today. He also made a public explanation [about this] and left politics. All other speculations, certain accusations, slanders are baseless”, he concluded in his comments.