Authorities praise PM’s end-of-year report as “very impressive”

Georgian authorities on Tuesday said the end-of-year report presented on Monday by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili showcased the “progress” the country had achieved during the past 11 years. 

Levan Davitashvili, the Vice Prime Minister and Economy Minister, said the report demonstrated the difference in the country’s development between 11 years ago and today. He said this concerned not only “economic advancement and progress”, but “actually all aspects of the country's life”, including security, education, healthcare, civil order and judiciary.

[It also showed] how governance in the country has changed, how democracy has improved in the country […] The PM summarised all these [achievements by naming] international ratings that recognise Georgia's unequivocal leadership in the region”, Davitashvili said.

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He added Georgia was a “leader” according to various indicators, including in governance, perception of corruption, and progress of the economy in general. 

Of course, in the economic part, despite this result, we still have a lot to do to overcome poverty and make the country successful”, the official noted.

The Minister added  a forecast of the International Monetary Fund had said Georgia would be a “leading country in the following years” not only in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, but also in relation to “many EU member countries and all EU candidate countries”.

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Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party and Mayor of the capital city of Tbilisi, said the country had a Government that would respond to “all challenges and difficulties in a dignified manner”.

He hailed the PM’s report as “very important”. 

In general, it is very good for the society to know what used to be happening in the country, what the situation had been and how it changed after 2012. There is progress, development in all components, in all directions. Obviously, there are still challenges, there are problems that need decent answers”, Kaladze said.

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Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, said the report presented by Garibashvili “clearly showed” achievements of the Government. 

We are an advanced country not only in the region, but also compared to many EU member states, not to mention candidate countries. Whether in democratic institutions, transparency, combating corruption or economic development, we are the first, also among EU countries”, Papuashvili claimed.

He added the country had exceeded the threshold for per capita gross domestic product indicators observed in states that join the EU for the first time last year.

We will close this year with $8,100 GDP per capita. We are ahead of four candidate countries with this indicator. This also shows how deservedly Georgia received the candidate status. If we are talking about final justice, of course, a decision could have been made regarding the opening of [accession] negotiations with Georgia today”, Papuashvili said.

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Minister of Justice Rati Bregadze called the PM’s report a “dialogue of a dignified, qualified and humane leader with the public”. 

Irakli Garibashvili expressed many thanks to the public servants in the service of the country, with whose unity and professionalism Georgia has achieved tangible results since 2012. I will take this opportunity and, on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, thank the head of the Government for his strong support, constant motivation and worthy leadership”, he said in a social media post.

Juansher Burchuladze, the Defence Minister, said the PM’s report was “very impressive”.

You heard specific numbers. There can't be any margin of error here because we heard the absolute arithmetic and the comparison with the past period was very effective. Everyone, our society has seen what a change our Government has brought in [these 11] years”, Burchuladze said.

Garibashvili on Monday presented his end-of-year summary of the Government's work by contrasting the growth in indicators across sectors over the past 11 years.