President Zurabishvili Says Acting NBG President Must Resign
During a press briefing today, President Salome Zurabishvili criticized the National Bank of Georgia’s (NBG) recent decision to alter its regulations, apparently to shield the U.S.-sanctioned former Prosecutor-General, Otar Partskhaladze.
The President also decried the ruling party chairman, Irakli Kobakhidze’s “overt threat” toward the acting President of NBG, Natia Turnava. She asserted that the acting President had “yielded to pressure”, undermining the Bank’s and called such behavior “unacceptable” and “base.”
She also pointed out that Turnava had apparently made the decision to alter the regulations arbitrarily, without consulting other senior bank officials, as evidenced by a series of resignations that occurred today.
President Zurabishvili apologized to the public for nominating Natia Turnava to the NBG Board and called on her to step down. Additionally, Zurabishvili called on the Board of the National Bank to revoke Turnava’s arbitrary decision.
She believes these measures are crucial to prevent damage to Georgia’s reputation and safeguard its economic and financial stability.
“At the same time, I would like to welcome the very clear position of the banking sector, which is really what this country needs today,” Zurabishvili concluded, referring to the Georgian commercial banks’ pledge to comply with international sanctions.
- 20/09/2023 – NBG Acting President Holds Briefing on NBG’s U-Turn
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)