National Bank is apolitical, must make decisions regardless of political situation - Acting NBG President
Turnava also noted that the recent developments around Partskhaladze were a “realm of politics” and said she would refrain from evaluating political decisions. Photo via NBG
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The National Bank of Georgia is apolitical and must make decisions regardless of the political situation, Natia Turnava, the Acting President of the NBG, told the Public Broadcaster on Saturday.
Turnava commented on President Salome Zourabichvili’s decision not to terminate Georgia’s former Prosecutor General, Otar Partskhaladze's Georgian citizenship, after he was sanctioned by the United States Department of State for his alleged ties with Russian intelligence.
The NBG Acting President, as a representative of an apolitical body, said she could not “allow herself” to criticise Zourabichvili, adding “not because I have no opinion on the developments of these days, but since I respect the institution of the President”.
Turnava also noted that the recent developments around Partskhaladze were a “realm of politics” and said she would refrain from evaluating political decisions.
She, once again stressing her respect for the institution of the President, “asked” for the same respect for NBG too.
The Public Service Development Agency of the Justice Ministry last week stated it deemed it appropriate to terminate the Georgian citizenship of the United States-sanctioned former Prosecutor General.
Before this, Turnava signed a decree exempting Georgian citizens from being sanctioned without domestic court judgments, after which Zourabichvili “urged” her to resign, accusing her of “creating threats” to the Bank and the country’s image.
The Bank’s Acting President claimed the new amendments to the regulations on her body’s compliance with the international financial sanctions were "not aimed at protection of specific names", and added the move had been “guided by the Constitution of Georgia and the presumption of innocence”, and with the goal to “fully realise the rights and freedoms” of the country’s nationals.