FM: Gov’t has approved “extensive” deoligarchisation action plan

Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Monday said the Government had approved the deoligarchisation action plan, aimed to meet one of the conditions outlined by the European Commission last year for granting Georgia the European Union candidate status.

In his remarks over the matter, Darchiashvili noted the action plan was “extensive” and proscribed reforms for the purpose.

“The document is extensive and in-depth [and] determines the sequence of the series of reforms to be implemented in the deoligarchisation terms”, he said.

We know that complex processes are behind this legislation and reform. This concerns the justice system, further improvement of the legislative space of Georgia in the anti-corruption direction, and specific steps that should be taken for competition”, he continued.  

The top Georgian diplomat stressed the document would also be “another mechanism by which we maintain active dynamics in terms of European integration”.

The Government in September announced it would develop the action plan to address the task of deoligarchisation of the domestic political scene “in accordance with the Venice Commission opinion and the requirements of the European Union”, ahead of the bloc’s decision whether to grant Georgia its membership candidate status later this year. 

Deoligarchisation is one of the 12 conditions outlined by the Commission last year for granting Georgia the status, with the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe recommending the country in June to ensure a “systemic” instead of “individual” approach to the issue in comments on a draft legislation prepared by domestic lawmakers.