“The first of May is International Labour Day, and we mark it with miners locked behind bars for fighting for their rights, and with a pricing commission’s report telling us that the market and prices are, apparently, perfectly competitive,” MP Shalva Kereselidze, Chairman of the parliamentary faction of the Gakharia for Georgia party, has stated.

In his assessment, the distribution of wealth in the country is profoundly unjust, wages are dismally low, and ordinary people cannot make ends meet in the face of relentlessly rising prices.

“A few months ago, Georgian Dream itself admitted that prices in Georgia are higher than in Europe, and Irakli Kobakhidze made the hollow promise that prices would fall by April. Today is the first of May, and Irakli Kobakhidze is a prime minister who does not keep his word, as even Imedi TV has acknowledged. Prices have not fallen. They have risen.

Georgian Dream concluded its work on the pricing commission with one finding alone: that their magic wand only fattens their own pockets, but cannot bring prices down. We agree with Georgian Dream on that point. They are genuinely incapable of making anything cheaper, because the high cost of living is a direct consequence of the Georgian Dream’s corruption and insatiable greed. That is precisely why Georgian Dream rejects the European path: because European order serves not the appetites of twenty or twenty-five families, but the fair distribution of prosperity and a dignified life for every citizen.

Instead of this sham pricing commission, we put the following concrete proposals to Georgian Dream: firstly, an end to corruption, monopolies, and cartel arrangements; secondly, the introduction of a minimum wage of 1,050 lari, aGeorgian citizen should not be cheap labour in their own country; thirdly, a GEL 200 increase in pensions; fourthly, unemployment insurance, so that no one need fear being plunged into poverty the moment they lose their job; and fifthly, the active promotion and support of local and national production.

Georgian Dream rejected every single one of these proposals. It is abundantly clear that Georgian Dream has nothing left to offer the Georgian people but lies, oppression, injustice, rising prices, and a worsening quality of life. People need prosperity in their own homes, not painted on the cards of the Imedi TV propaganda outlet,” Kereselidze declared.

The temporary parliamentary commission examining the pricing structures of food products, medicines, and fuel published its conclusions today, stating that effective policy should be directed not towards the administrative control of prices, but towards the structural improvement of markets, greater transparency, and enhanced supply chain efficiency.

According to the document, the retail market is characterised by competitive dynamics and a low level of concentration. Profitability indicators within the sector align with international benchmarks and show no evidence of excessive margins.