Georgian PM highlights Gov’t’s “ambitious goal” of seeing Georgia among “least corrupt” European countries

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Friday said seeing the country among the “top three least corrupt” European states was “one of the main tasks and ambitious goals” of his Government.

Kobakhidze said combating corruption would “persist” and all state agencies, including the State Security Service, would “work towards achieving this goal”.

The PM made the remarks while commenting on the arrest of three former employees of the Emergency Response Coordination and Urgent Assistance Centre for their involvement in alleged bribery on Friday.

• State Security Service arrests 3 former employees of Emergency Response Coordination, Urgent Assistance Centre for bribery

The Government head said it was “wrong” to raise the question of the Health Minister’s responsibility in the case.

The State Security Service has opened an investigation into a specific alleged crime where there was suspicion of wrongdoing. Legal procedures have been initiated against the relevant parties. The rest of the discussion is based on speculation”, he said.

The PM added there was “unfortunately no country where cases of corruption are not found”, including countries “known for their lack of corruption”, while citing the Nordic states.