PM Kobakhidze: Government team consists of professionals; team is stable

“Today I can say with confidence that the team is stable and, accordingly, there are no grounds whatsoever for a reshuffle in the government team,” Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated in an interview with Georgian Public Broadcaster.

According to Irakli Kobakhidze’s assessment, every member of the government team is distinguished by professionalism and conscientiousness.

“I am very satisfied with the composition that has been formed as today’s government team, and by this I mean everything. I mean professionalism as well. Our government team today comprises professionals across all sectors: the security sector, the economic sector, and the social sphere. Everyone is highly skilled and dedicated. What is very important, and what I often emphasise, is that they are conscientious people, which is even more important than professionalism, because a professional can make many things even worse if they are unprincipled. But if you are conscientious, you gradually develop professionalism as well. Therefore, both qualities are important, but we place even greater emphasis on conscientiousness. This team is distinguished precisely by that trait. These individuals adhere to specific principles, and that is what I had in mind. The government reshuffle has given us the opportunity to build an effective team. Today, we have a very stable team, and as a result, we do not anticipate any changes, a statement I would not have made previously. Now, I can confidently affirm that the team is stable, and there are no grounds whatsoever for a reshuffle within the government team,” stated Irakli Kobakhidze.

Georgia’s Prime Minister stated that the government now has everything in place, allowing it to focus entirely on addressing and eliminating all deficiencies, thereby enabling an effective fight against corruption. As the Head of Government emphasised, simply arresting individuals does not constitute a genuine effort to combat corruption; rather, fighting corruption is fundamentally about ensuring transparency.

“There were slippages regarding corruption; this was one of the reasons why Mr Bidzina Ivanishvili decided to return to politics in December 2023. He made a significant emphasis on this in his programme statement; there was direct discussion of risks regarding corruption, problems, and possible slippages. From that point onwards, we took specific measures.

Let me remind you that simply arresting individuals is not the essence of fighting corruption. The real battle against corruption primarily involves opening up procedures, for instance, ensuring that all government actions are transparent. The most important step in this fight is that, as of February 8, 2024, and for nearly two years now, all government acts have been made transparent and publicly accessible. This is the main fight against corruption. Everything is open; let someone bring forward a single government decision where they see signs of corruption. No one can bring one. The only thing they raised was why we transferred 500 square metres of land for building a church to the Patriarchate; they’ve descended to this level, and they presented this as supposed kompromat. What godless people they are, I don’t know. In reality, they haven’t raised any suspicions from a single government decision. Take, for example, the direct sale of property, which was once a common practice; we have entirely eliminated such procedures. Not a single asset is privatised through direct sale; everything now goes to auction, ensuring the state does not lose a single tetri [Georgian currency] of revenue,” stated Irakli Kobakhidze.

Irakli Kobakhidze also highlighted the law enforcement team, saying it is far more effective than it was before. PM stressed the results in drug crime, organised crime, corruption-related crime, and politically motivated crime.

“This ultimately impacts everything, theft, robbery, mugging, and so on. We are seeing positive trends across the board, with statistics showing declines. In these crimes as well, the reductions are a result of our more effective efforts to combat organised crime and drug-related offences. Over the past few months, there have been noticeable decreases in theft, robbery, mugging, and similar offences everywhere. We’re talking about several months, a three-month period, and already declines have been recorded. We’re fighting drug crime more effectively. Over 200 major drug dealers have been arrested, not to mention minor dealers. There was a fundamental problem with organised crime; this fundamental problem has been solved, and the fight continues in all directions. You’ve also seen specific investigations into corruption-related crimes, which are proceeding successfully. In every direction, today’s law enforcement team is far more effective than it was before,” Irakli Kobakhidze stated.