“Whether against organised crime, drug-related crime, politically motivated crime, or indeed corruption, the government is absolutely principled,” Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told journalists in Dusheti.

According to the Head of Government, the authorities declare something simple: no one should succumb to the temptation of corrupt crime.

“The opposition views our fight against corruption tragically. They constantly make statements as if this were a sham battle. Meanwhile, the fact is that every act of the government is absolutely transparent. Once again, I call upon everyone regarding all the acts that have been issued over the past year and a half, examine each one, and if you have any questions anywhere, we are ready to answer them. There are no questions at all, because the government works transparently and cleanly.

The practice of direct privatisation has been completely halted; any purchases are absolutely transparent. Consequently, over the past year and a half, we have proven that we are ready to work not only transparently but also completely immaculately.

Regarding criminal cases, whether against organised crime, drug-related crime, politically motivated crime, or indeed corruption, the government is absolutely principled. These are all facts. We are declaring something simple: no one should succumb to the temptation of corrupt crime. If someone is convicted of corruption, they will have to submit declarations for decades and, accordingly, will not be able to benefit from stolen funds.

This is yet another confirmation that we fight corruption in all its forms on principle. We declared our goal to rank amongst Europe’s top three for low corruption, and every single step serves precisely this purpose,” the Prime Minister declared.

Irakli Kobakhidze went on to say that the government’s aim is not “merely to uncover past corruption crimes.”

“Our main goal is to prevent similar incidents now and in the future. Every structure is mobilised for this purpose, including law enforcement agencies, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Financial Police, Prosecutor’s Office, and so forth,” the PM told journalists.

According to Kobakhidze, the government is acting preventively in this direction.

“Last February, I took the position of Prime Minister, and last year was quite difficult, including being an election year. We faced countless challenges, problems artificially created from outside, certain shortcomings in personnel matters, and we have sorted all this out. We got through last year successfully. Difficultly, but successfully. This allowed us to reorganise a great deal this year.

Among other things, I remind you that several personnel changes were implemented, including in the security structures, and these personnel changes also gave us the opportunity to uncover numerous corruption cases. Likewise, all this enables us to act preventively.

Our goal is not only to uncover past corruption crimes; our main aim is not to allow such incidents now, not to permit similar facts in the present and future. Every structure is mobilised for this purpose, including law enforcement agencies, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Financial Police, Prosecutor’s Office, etc. We have also strengthened the efficiency and audit departments in the government administration. We work actively in all directions so that we not only pursue possible past crimes, but primarily eliminate any corrupt activity for the future.

Whatever happened in the past must be revealed; we must not allow corruption cases in the future; we will take maximum care of this,” declared Irakli Kobakhidze.