Ruling party leader: some gov’t opponents trying to drag country into processes that will lead to economic collapse

Some political opponents of the Georgian Government are trying to drag the country into processes that will lead to economic collapse, Gia Volski, the First Deputy Chairman of the Georgian Parliament, said on Monday.

The Georgian Public Broadcaster reported Volski in his response to local controversy stemming from Russian authorities’ approval of the importation of Georgian dairy products last week, amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“Some of our opponents are trying to drag us into processes that will cause an irreversible process of economic collapse,” Volski alleged, adding the consequences could also “lead to military aggression against Georgia”.

The Georgian Dream party member accused the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party of working to “worsen an already difficult socio-economic situation” in the country through its responses on the backdrop of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Ukraine has some complaints against Georgia, but its assessment of NATO member states is harsher [...] in no country opposition parties come out and campaign against their governments, the Deputy Parliament Chairman said.

This also indicates what kind of political situation we are dealing with,” Volski said in his criticism of the UNM, which he said was “working with its satellites” to cause a worsening socio-economic situation “and somehow get a political dividend [from it].”

Criticism of the Georgian Government from parts of the local political opposition has related to Georgia’s refusal to join international sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Volski responded by pointing out the Government had no “mechanism” to enact such sanctions.

We said that we could not join the sanctions because we did not have an elementary mechanism. Russia made [its] statement on dairy products, which means that this statement is politically profitable for Russia, but our companies are unable to meet their own market, the Georgian politician highlighted.

On March 5, the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported the country’s Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision agency Rosselkhoznadzor had permitted 15 Georgian companies to supply milk and dairy products to Russia.

The Russian authorities’ approval of importation of Georgian dairy relates to an application by Georgian private companies dating back to 2020, Levan Davitashvili, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, said on Monday.