PM reaches new heights of lie, slander over Anaklia port – Lelo leaders

Badri Japaridze and Mamuka Khazaradze, the founders of Georgia’s TBC bank and former investors for construction on Anaklia deep-sea port, on Monday traded accusations with the country’s prime minister Irakli Garibashvili over the maritime infrastructure, claiming the official had reached “new heights of lie and slander”. 

Garibashvili on Monday said the government would get involved in the construction of the strategic port in the country’s west, close to Russian-controlled Abkhazia region, accusing the Anaklia Development Consortium founded by Khazaradze of appropriation of investors’ funds.  
“The fact that today our country has a slanderous and lying government is already a confirmed fact, but today Garibashvili has reached new heights with his lies and slander”, Japaridze said, who, along with Khazaradze, entered politics in 2019 after the Prosecutor’s Office charged both with laundering of more than 16 million dollars back in 2008. 

“We agreed that the European Union would provide a guarantee of 50 million euros for the Anaklia project, but this guarantee would be provided if the government and consortium also ensured the money. The government refused to guarantee 50 million dollars”, Japaridze said. 

He claimed Garibashvili lied when he said that the project investment was 25 million dollars, stressing it was 75 million dollars. 

“The second big lie he said was that Khazaradze and Japaridze invested three million, when it is confirmed we had invested 40 million dollars”, Japaridze noted. 

Khazaradze reiterated that the government had disrupted the project. 

In his previous comments he accused the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party and former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili of “purposefully rejecting” the project as it was not in Russian interests.