Tbilisi Notes Progress in Economic Talks with Moscow
Georgian PM Lado Gurgenidze said on February 19 that he hoped to have “tangible results” regarding the lifting of the Russian economic embargo on Georgia in the next few weeks.
He said he would be in a position to give concrete details in a few days.
Meanwhile, Vakhtang Lezhava, Georgia’s deputy economy minister, who is in Moscow for talks with Russian officials, said on February 19 that there had been “progress” on the resumption of direct air traffic between the two countries.
“There is progress and I hope we will be able to resolve all the technical issues, with an agreement only needing to be politically signed off. That will, apparently, happen at a top-level meeting between the [Georgian and Russian] presidents [in Moscow on February 21],” Lezhava told a group of Georgian journalists in Moscow.
Lezhava insisted, however, that Russia still had an outstanding debt to Georgia. Talks, he said, were aimed at agreeing on an actual figure, “restructuring the debt and laying out a repayment schedule.” The Russian side, however, maintains that Georgia owes it 3.5 million rubles (about USD 142,000) for navigation services provided to Georgian planes in Russia.
