The Daily Beat: 18 July
Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze is participating in the European Political Community Summit held in the Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, United Kingdom. According to the government administration, he will participate in a panel discussion mainly focusing on energy and connectivity. Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili is accompanying the Prime Minister in the UK, where he has met with his British colleague David Lammy.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze follows Bidzina Ivanishvili’s suit and hopes that the war in Ukraine ends in one year. “We hope that the war in Ukraine will end in a year, and the situation in the region will calm down, and all this will have a positive impact on the political situation in the region and also on the attitude towards Georgia,” Kobakhidze told reporters.
On July 17, the United States Department of State published its 2024 Investment Climate Statement on Georgia. While giving a positive assessment of the business climate in general, the report expresses concern for the independence of Georgia’s judiciary, particularly for “the judicial sector’s ability to adjudicate commercial cases independently or in a timely, competent manner.”
On July 18, the Georgian Parliament elected the new Prosecutor General of Georgia, Giorgi Gabitashvili, in an extraordinary parliamentary session with 80 votes in favor and zero against. He succeeds Irakli Shotadze, who unexpectedly announced his resignation on May 23 due to “deteriorating health.”
Deputy Economy Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili told reporters that one of the largest Chinese air carriers, Air China, is interested in operating flights three times a week, starting in September, between China and Georgia. According to Kvrivishvili, introducing a visa-free regime between the countries boosted cooperation in the civic aviation field, as China became a priority direction for Georgia’s tourism sector.
