Georgian Dream’s Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, is accusing the media of conducting a coordinated campaign against economic projects.
A journalist from the pro-government TV channel Imedi asked Kobakhidze to comment on the “Imedi Week” exclusive report concerning the alleged scheme of foreign financing of the media.
The “Imedi Week” segment, without any evidence or substantiation, claimed that online media outlets receive large sums of money from abroad and conduct a “coordinated campaign” against investment projects, including the Eagle Hills project. The investment agreement signed with Eagle Hills under which major development projects are planned in Tbilisi and Adjara, creating new residential and tourist infrastructure has been granted commercial confidentiality status, and efforts by the media to seek answers to relevant questions are being labeled by the Georgian Dream government as “sabotage” against the project.
“This coordinated scheme is plain as day, though it is good that the journalistic investigation revealed specific facts and details. Everyone can see how organizations funded from a specific foreign source are acting in a coordinated manner to obstruct the development of our country and hinder the implementation of strategic economic projects. There is only one interest behind this to somehow try to delay the development processes in Georgia, including economic development. They are not particularly successful in this regard. Over the past four years, we have had very high economic growth 9.7%. However, if not for this kind of activity, if not for the foreign agency networks and their sabotage, naturally, the growth rate would have been even higher,” Kobakhidze said.
He added that the state would be uncompromising and would oppose all attempts at “economic sabotage” carried out with foreign funding.
Kobakhidze also stated that the campaign against the Eagle Hills project is being waged by “media outlets controlled from a single source” and financed from abroad, as well as by political forces such as Lelo, Alt-Info, Alliance of Patriots, the United National Movement, and others.
“These are mainly the political parties that oppose this unprecedented investment and flawless project that is to be implemented in Georgia. Such marginal political forces will not achieve any success, nor will the foreign donors or European bureaucrats who finance sabotage in Georgia succeed. All projects that are vital for the development of our country for economic development will be implemented in Georgia. This is our promise to the Georgian public,” Kobakhidze said.