Acting National Bank President, EU Ambassador discuss controversial sanctions compliance amendments

Natia Turnava, the Acting President of the National Bank of Georgia, on Friday met Paweł Herczyński, the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, to explain the recent controversial amendments to the regulation on the body’s compliance with the international financial sanctions against Russia that exempted citizens of the country from domestic sanctions without court rulings.

• Georgian central bank amends int’l sanctions compliance to exempt citizens without court judgement

Turnava told Herczyński that the purpose of the amendments was to ensure “full  enforcement” of the sanctions and compliance with the local legislation. She emphasised that the NBG was in “constant communication” with commercial banks and international organisations over the matter.

The conversation also touched on the need to renew the temporarily suspended programme with the International Monetary Fund.

• Acting National Bank President meets IMF Representative to explain controversial sanctions compliance amendments

After the meeting, Turnava said the Georgian financial system and the National Bank remained committed to the implementation of international sanctions and noted she had discussed the importance of the macroeconomic stability of the country with the EU Ambassador.

We maintain constant communication with the National Bank. We reviewed the recent processes taking place in the Bank. I emphasised the significance of NBG as being a strong and independent professional state institution”, Herczyński said.

He expressed hope that the IMF would renew its programme, which would help the EU to provide direct support to the country and continue smooth cooperation.