Georgian PM says “readiness for discussion” was confirmed at meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Tuesday said he had “once again confirmed” his Government's readiness to James O’Brien, the United States Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, to engage in discussions over the newly adopted law on transparency of foreign influence.

At the press briefing, Kobakhidze told media that he had explained “all the details” regarding the transparency law to O’Brien and stressed that “a lot has become clear on everything that is happening around Georgia and in the bilateral relations [with the US] during the past three years”.

I shared all the concerns with O’Brien about the processes that have developed in the country [...] our conversation especially touched on the role of non-transparency in these negative processes. I expressed hope that this will change qualitatively in the future, and everything essentially depends on our partners, less on us. [...] The main thing is that we [need to] receive a decent and fair attitude from our partners”, the Head of the Government noted.

“We are ready to take care of deepening bilateral relations [with the US], which I personally confirmed to O'Brien," Kobakhidze stressed and highlighted “a frank meeting” with the US official.

The PM said despite the long dialogue with O’Brien, which had lasted for more than two and a half hours, the issue of imposing sanctions against Georgian officials was “not mentioned at all”.

He also pointed out the conversation had touched on the “de facto sanctions” against Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder and Honorary Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party and former PM of the country, who had refused to meet the visiting US official.

Bidzina Ivanishvili has a full right to have an appropriate perception regarding the de-facto sanctions. There are many details behind this [...] which I can’t and won’t say [as they are] security matters and could damage the reputation of a number of entities, including partners. This [de-facto sanction] was imposed as a counterweight to the fact that Ivanishvili did not take a specific, harmful step for the country at the time”, the PM explained.

Ivanishvili’s bank account was “practically frozen” after he refused to have “any communication” with former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who “rigged 2008 Presidential elections”, Kobakhidze claimed.

He further noted that “quite a lot” had been spent from the American budget on Georgia’s economy from 2009 to 2011, which “saved Saakashvili’s regime”, but alleged “a large part” of recent fundings from the US, during Georgian Dream ruling, was “unfortunately” being used for processes “negatively impacting” Georgia’s economy. “There were revolutionary processes and opaque money played a serious role in these processes”, he added.

The PM stressed if not for “these revolutionary processes” in the country in the last three years, “many resources” would not be “wasted” from Georgia’s state budget, which could potentially be $35 billion, instead of the existing $30 billion - “the state budget alone would receive an additional billion every year”.