The Legal Affairs Committee in the Georgian Parliament will on Wednesday discuss the amended version of the deoligarchisation bill, proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party as part of the work to meet the conditions outlined by the European Union last year for granting its membership candidate status to the country.
Anri Okhanashvili, the Chair of the Committee, on Wednesday said his party had “fully considered” recommendations of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe for the bill and also used the European Commission’s assessments of a similar Ukrainian law.
He stressed the amended bill would also offer individuals recognised as “oligarchs” by the bill to appeal against the status in domestic courts.
The European Commission approved the [deoligarchisation] law adopted by Ukraine and called for its implementation. This was an indicator for us that if we also adopted a law based on the same principles, we should be treated similarly and the [particular condition for the EU status] would be considered fulfilled”, Okhanashvili said.
The Committee Chair also noted an alternative version of the bill, proposed by the United National Movement opposition party, had “failed to reflect relevant recommendations” and would mean the EU recommendation being left unfulfilled if adopted.