Imedi TV owner says Georgia has “never” had such progress on its path to Europe, rejects claims that country is moving towards Russia

Irakli Rukhadze, the owner of Imedi TV company, on Thursday highlighted the country’s progress on the European integration path by saying that “Georgia has never made such progress on its path to Europe”.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Rukhadze noted that Georgia enjoyed the “longest” period of peace under the Georgian Dream Government.

“In the meantime, we managed to increase the [country's] economy incredibly. During the pandemic, when the entire world was suffering a high inflation, we managed to reduce it to 2.5 percent in a record time. The most important thing is that this economic growth is comprehensive, this money is distributed for many things. In many of my companies, salary growth in the last year alone has amounted to 25 percent, and this is not only happening [in my companies]”, Rukhadze said.

Rukhadze also stressed that Georgia had surpassed Azerbaijan in GDP per capita [PPP].

“Azerbaijan, which disposes of incredible natural resources. This is all thanks to the fact that we have the opportunity to work and do what we want, no one interferes in our work, no one takes away our business”, he continued.

He also reviewed the state of judicial affairs in the country by pointing out that “I will not say that Georgia has the kind of judiciary that I would like to have”, but further added that “when you look at surveys of what people are worried about and the judiciary is not in the top 10 [issues], that at least tells you that people and businesses are not worried about it”.

Rukhadze also emphasised the progress achieved by the Georgian Government in terms of European integration.

“We have made incredible progress in terms of integration with the West. We became an associate member of the European Union, signed a tariff-free trade agreement, which is very important for the economy of Georgia, and [also] received visa-free travel and [the EU membership] candidate status. Now [amid the protest rallies against the transparency bill], the rhetoric [of the opponents of the bill] is that Georgia has turned away from Europe and is moving towards Russia. Meanwhile, Georgia has never made such progress on its path to Europe”, he noted.

Rukhadze also highlighted the legal battles carried out by the Georgian Dream Government against Russia in international courts over the occupation and its consequences, with Georgia securing important legal victories.