Agriculture Minister: Georgia in solidarity with Ukraine but avoiding harm to own citizens “necessary”

Shamugia was commenting on the decision of the Government not to join economic sanctions on Russia since its military attack on Ukraine last month, and noted “at this stage” Georgia continued its trade relations with the country. Photo: Agriculture Ministry

Agenda.ge, 21 Mar 2022 - 14:31, Tbilisi,Georgia

The Georgian Government is in solidarity with Ukraine amid the Russian invasion, but first it must think about its own citizens and avoid causing them damage as much as possible, Georgian Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia said on Monday.

Shamugia was commenting on the decision of the Government not to join economic sanctions on Russia since its military attack on Ukraine last month, and noted “at this stage” Georgia continued its trade relations with the country.

We fully support Ukraine [and] we are in solidarity, but first we must think about our people and avoid causing them [damage] as much as possible. In today's reality we have trade relations with Russia; certain products come in and are exported,” Shamugia said.

The Minister also pointed to the survey by the Georgian Opinion Research Business International (GORBI) that showed a majority of Georgian citizens agreed with the Government’s decision not to join the sanctions against Russia.

The polling agency asked its respondents the question: “The Georgian Dream Government did not join the economic sanctions against Russia. Do you think this step of the Government is right or wrong?”, with 64.5 percent answering Yes, 30.4 percent calling the decision wrong and 5.2 percent responding by saying they were not sure, or declined to answer.