NBG Acting President Holds Briefing on NBG’s U-Turn
Acting President of the National Bank of Georgia Natia Turnava held a press conference on September 20 on the NBG’s announcement to reverse the decision to freeze the assets and restrict the financial transactions of Otar Partskhaladze, who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. According to the NBG, under the new amendments, a Georgian citizen “can not be subjected to international sanctions, in the absence of the conviction by the Georgian court.”
“This amendment applies only to the citizens of Georgia, it does not apply to any specific person, as interpretations have implied. The name and surname of the sanctioned Georgian citizen is not important to us, so the fact that this decision protects a certain person and avoids sanctions is an attempt to politicize this decision,” – stated Turnava. Furthermore, Turnava underlined that “a similar practice exists in developed countries” too.
According to the acting president of the NBG, the bank is a sovereign national institution and its main task is to act in accordance with the Georgian Constitution. She noted that the bank “respects” and “implements” all “international responsibilities” and from February 2022 it automatically complied with the sanctions imposed on individuals by the US, EU or UK. Initially, NBG in automatic manner responded to Partskhaladze’s sanctions as well, but Turnava notes that later the bank questioned the decision on: “How does it protect the presumption of innocence and how legal is it?”
Natia Turnava also spoke about TBC Bank’s and Bank of Georgia’s expressed commitment to adhere to the international sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. She stated: “The commercial sector, of course, has no right to disobey the regulator, because the commercial sector is the commercial sector of Georgia and is subject to our legislation…”.
Also Read:
- 20/09/2023 – Two NBG Vice Governors Submit Resignations
- 18/09/2023 – Kobakhidze Slams NBG, President, for Partskaladze Comments
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
