Georgian PM: We Can Invest USD 10 Billion in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region After Unification
On December 27, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said he would raise $10 billion for investment in [the separatist] Abkhazia and South Ossetia/Tskhinvali Region in the event of Georgia's unification.
"The budget of Abkhazia is only $200 million; their budget is fully subsidized. I want to tell our Abkhaz and Ossetian brothers and sisters about missed opportunities. Our policy is peaceful, and we want to heal the wounds. And I say that in the case of the unification of our country, we can invest about 10 billion in Abkhazia, as well as in Samachablo [the de-facto Republic of South Ossetia] in the first three years. Abkhazia can become a second Monaco, and this is not an exaggeration. And Sokhumi is the second Monte Carlo," the Georgian prime minister promised.
According to him, the authorities' main priority is continuing a peaceful policy towards the occupied regions and implementing reconciliation programs.
"Our goal is to improve the socio-economic conditions of the population affected by the conflict and reconcile artificially divided societies by developing cooperation and building trust based on common interests," Garibashvili added. According to him, 230 students from the occupied territories were enrolled in Georgian universities last year, and more than 1,300 people received medical assistance. "These benefits will continue in the future. Our policy will not be reviewed. We just want to peacefully resolve the conflict, overcome that terrible tragedy, so that we all live together in a united, strong, European Georgia," Garibashvili said.