Former Parliament building in Kutaisi to be turned into IT hub
A new information technology hub will be created in the former Parliament building in western Georgian city of Kutaisi. Photo: Berdo Maghularia
Tweet 
Share
A new information technology hub will be created in the former Parliament building in western Georgian city of Kutaisi, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced at the Government meeting on Monday.
The PM told the meeting the “non-functional” venue would be used to promote development of the IT sector “as much as possible”, and revealed the Government was working with an Israeli company for the purpose.
[The hub] will attract and employ young people working in the field of IT. Our Georgian students, young people will be supported in their development", Garibashvili said, adding “tens of millions of dollars" would be invested in the project.
The Parliament venue opened in Kutaisi in May 2012, five months before Georgian Dream defeated the United National Movement Government in elections. Under the Georgian Dream governance, Parliament sessions have returned to the original building in downtown Tbilisi, leaving the Kutaisi venue without purpose.
More than ₾340 million ($127.83mln) was spent on the construction of the legislative body building in Kutaisi.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has confirmed today they will receive control of the Kutaisi parliament building when parliament approves the full transition of legislative activities from Kutaisi to Tbilisi. Parliament is likely to discuss the bill today.
Georgia’s Prime Minister says the ruling team does not plan to move Parliament from western Kutaisi to capital Tbilisi if the Georgian Dream party wins the constitutional majority in the new Parliament.
Parliament will resume working in its previous building in Tbilisi once renovation work is completed.
Georgian lawmakers have returned to the historic Parliament building in central Tbilisi to continue their duties after being banned from the site for two years.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday said his Government expected an investment of $400-500 million in two of the country’s three major airports, located in capital Tbilisi and the western city of Batumi.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday said while Central Asian countries agreed on the need to diversify and develop new routes, a “special attention” was paid to the transport corridor involving Georgia, in his highlighting of the importance of port, railway and other infrastructure for realising the country’s role of a regional hub.
Georgia’s western city of Kutaisi today is celebrating the city day, an annual festival - Gviriloba, which comes from the Georgian word for camomile.