“Port failed, now attacking own country” - Georgian Parliament Speaker slams Khazaradze and Japaridze following Anaklia Port arbitration ruling
Shalva Papuashvili
Photo: Parliament of Georgia
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday responded to the Justice Ministry’s statement that the leaders of the opposition Lelo party Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze - key figures behind the Anaklia Port project - had lost their arbitration case over the Anaklia Port project at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington D.C.
In a social media message, Papuashvili accused the pair of attempting to “dismantle their own country” after failing to build the port.
He highlighted that while they sought $1.5 billion from Georgian citizens, they are now obligated to return $7.1 million to the state budget.
“They failed to build the port and turned against their own country. They demanded $1.5 billion from citizens, yet ended up having to return $7.1 million to the [state] budget - not to mention the millions they wasted on what turned out to be low-qualified lawyers. This will be the end for every swindler's case”, the Speaker said.
“It’s important to see whether, after being discredited by one national and two international courts, ALDE [Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party] will keep these fraudsters as members - or whether the public suspicion will be confirmed that Khazaradze and Japaridze simply bought their way in”, he continued.
Papuashvili further recalled a previous criminal conviction involving a $17 million fraud scheme connected to the pair’s banking activities, for which both were sentenced to seven years in prison, and the bank accepted a $3 million fine.
“Three years ago, ALDE accepted these fraudsters as members. That alone speaks volumes about the alliance’s moral compass”, he noted.
“We must remember that any foreign politician or diplomat who shakes hands with them from this day forward becomes a protector of this fraud - a fraud committed against the Georgian people”, the Speaker concluded.
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