According to Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, the Georgian economy will collapse and its national interests will suffer should the country impose economic sanctions on Russia. He stated this during his speech at Qatar Economic Forum when asked how much the non-imposition of sanctions would hurt Georgia, which expressed the ambition to join the European Union.
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“Imposing such two-way sanctions on Russia will destroy the Georgian economy and hurt our own people. As you know, we had a war in 2008. Can you recall anyone who sanctioned Russia during our war? No. No one had the right reaction. So, my question is, where is the logic? Our war doesn’t matter and Ukraine’s does?’’ asked Garibashvili.
As the Georgian Prime Minister pointed out, he was very disappointed that following the war of 2008, it was business as usual with Russia.
“So, my objection to our European and American friends is: my dear friends, you maintained normal business relations with Russia and imposed no sanctions. The EU had paid Russia 2.3 trillion dollars up to 2022, no one cut business ties, nothing happened.
Georgia’s trade turnover with Russia is less than one billion dollars. For comparison, the EU trades our yearly amount in just four days. It’s laughable, right? Our share in Russian trade is 0.3% and severing it doesn’t make sense. It would only damage and destroy the national interests of our country,” stated the Prime Minister.
Garibashvili commented on the restoration of direct air travel between Georgia and Russia. The host of the plenary session reminded him of the statement by the US state department, which said that now is not the time for any country to deepen relations with Russia. “Are your friends bothered by your stance regarding these flights?” asked the plenary presenter.
“First and foremost, the US is a very important strategic partner of Georgia, and we are thankful for everything they have done for us. We are also thankful to Europe.
Georgia has a sovereign right to define its own national interests. As I explained, we have trade relations with Russia, million ethnic Georgians live in Russia as immigrants, and I think direct flights make sense and don’t mean that we are holding any political consultations with Russia.
As I mentioned, this is a constituent of our economic and trade relations, just like the EU and the US have with Russia. There are normal trade relations with Russia,” responded Garibashvili.
Garibashvili emphasized that his main interest is to maximize efforts toward Georgia’s NATO and EU integration.
