Tinatin Khidasheli, former Minister of Defense and now a head of the “Civil Idea” organization, publishes a report on the ongoing political changes in the ruling party. According to the report, if Irakli Gharibashvili is appointed as Prime Minister; the issue of state security may become problematic.

“It is known that after quitting the post of Prime Minister in 2015, Mr. Gharibashvili was a high-paid employee of a Chinese state company CEFC for a long time. The company was notorious for corruption, various types of machinations, bribery of high-ranking officials and other criminal offenses. A large number of high-ranking officials of the company are still under investigation.

Nowadays, Georgia is in an extremely difficult situation and the important line for the security of a country runs through the Sino-Russian interests in Georgia. CEFC still owns 75% of Poti Free Industrial Zone. Although the Chinese company itself is bankrupt, the Georgian government has not started the process of returning the property yet.

The problem is getting worse every day, as strategic objects of Poti may become the property of the State Bank of Russia due to the fact that CEFC owes a huge debt to the Russian bank.

We appeal to the candidate for Prime Minister to explain what decision he intends to make on this issue. We also appeal to the Parliament of Georgia to pay a special attention to this issue in the decision-making process.

This case has already been problematic during Mr. Gharibashvili’s tenure as a Minister of Defense. The expected personnel changes will aggravate the situation in terms of state security.”- The report says.

Source: Batumelebi Netgazeti