Khazaradze talks about his new movement, PM Gakharia and Anaklia Project
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Tuesday, September 17
Mamuka Khazaradze, founder of the TBC Bank and leader of the public movement “Lelo” talked about the plans for his movement and establishment of a political party in his interview with “Kviris Palitra.”
According to him, as soon as the party is set up, “we will select its leading core through primaries, which will be the first time in the history of Georgia.” He said that in the spring, a "shadow cabinet" will also be created, which will be based on a program created by 12 leaders.
“To change the situation in the country radically, the people of Georgia should unite. The transparency of the party does not mean appearing on the television. A voter should decide who will be the leading core of the party… I hope that in the next 30 years, we will not have to vote against someone, because in this manner, we could not develop. We got confused, or made confused, in foreign orientation,” noted Khazaradze.
Talking about the “shadow cabinet”, he noted that its leaders are going to be 12 professionals representing different fields. “The society should know in advance who will be the Prime Minister of the country, they should also have information about the ministers and other officials,” stressed Khazaradze.
The leader of Lelo also talked about the newly appointed Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Gakharia. According to him, Gakharia was “a minister who opposed Anaklia's development plan, and he repeatedly talked about it with the foreign diplomats.”
According to Khazaradze, the government is doing everything to end the Anaklia project contract. Khazaradze also said that the Minister of Infrastructure, Maia Tskitishvili had “kicked the project investors out of the room.”
“On September 12, Maia Tskitishvili practically kicked out our investors, while the negotiations with them were almost over. Thankfully, Badri Japaridze and I were not attending the meeting, otherwise, we would be blamed for this. Tskitishvili said without any hesitation that we do not need investors like them. They were representatives from England and Hong Kong. I cannot speak about more details at this point,” noted Khazaradze.
According to PM Gakharia, Anaklia project needs serious investors, which “we do not have”. He said that this is a real problem. “I have always said about the Anaklia project: it needs responsible and serious investors to be successful. The state has and will fulfill all its obligations,” noted PM.
Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze calls Khazaradze’s comments about the Anaklia project “plain gossiping.” As Kaladze noted, the interest of both the country and every citizen of Georgia will always be protected and "the private investment won’t be able to use the Anaklia project as a shield".
As Kaladze noted, he is happy to see new faces in politics but the new parties “should stop gossiping and start working.”
As Kahzaradze announced a few days ago, along with the Public Movement “Lelo,” he will be establishing a political party to ensure the future development of Georgia.
Anaklia Port represents one of the most important infrastructural projects for the Georgian economy. Anaklia Development Consortium consists of specialized firms with diverse backgrounds, which together forms a global business leadership team that works with the Government to construct the port of Anaklia.
