The Parliamentary Opposition held a meeting with the nominee for the post of Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze and the members of the Cabinet of Ministers nominated for a vote of confidence.

I. Kobakhidze introduced the Governmental Program “For Building the European State” noting that deriving from the Parliamentary Elections upcoming in October, the Program covers the 10-month period.

According to him, economic growth is a key aspect of the development of the country.

“A special emphasis is to be placed on further development of our strategic geographic location and the transit function, which is imperative for our economic progress. In this regard, we will focus on infrastructural projects in various directions, including roads, aviation, railroad and communications, with a foremost task to accomplish the West-East highway”.

As he stated, the Anaklia project is enrolled into a category of utmost importance.

Per his information, it is crucial to utilize the energy potential and resources of our country to a maximal extent; in this context, he added that 12 new HPPs are to be accomplished in 2024.

As he informed, the internet supply project will further cover up to 1000 highland villages, providing them with high-speed and quality internet.

After the accomplishment of a wide-scale water supply project, 365,000 beneficiaries will enjoy an improved quality of water, whereas 130,000 persons have never had access to the centralized water supply system. The Government is actively keeping the gas supply process and strives to improve the tourism potential.

According to I. Kobakhidze, all projects in agriculture will be accomplished, including the extension of the markets. As he added, a special emphasis will be placed on environmental protection, namely, the harmonization with the European standards, improvement of the early warning systems and further monitoring and assessment of the quality of ambient air and water; the project includes the efficiency of the environmental assessment procedures and the regulation of the industrial emissions in line with the European directives.

As he noted, equal socio-economic development of the regions will be subject to particular attention, in view of which wide-scale investments will be ensured.

According to a candidate, a special accent will also be placed on the educational infrastructure and sports support. As he reported, the state healthcare programs will have higher financing, the target groups will be provided with vital medicines and the children with cancer will receive treatment abroad. At the same time, through the cooperation of the Georgian medical personnel with international hospitals, the Government intends to inculcate the newest methods of managing cancer diseases, with a primary focus on the primary health system. As for the defense capacity, it shall be enhanced to ensure the sovereignty of the country.

“We keep active development of the long-term planning in the defense sphere and enhance the defense capacity through the equipment of the army, update of infrastructure, the national and multi-national training, and enactment of the reserve and mobilization sustainable system”.

He also dwelt on the bolstering of the capacities of the Interior Ministry, State Security Service, Intelligence Service and the State Special Protection Service. As he noted, the foreign policy will be actively directed to the enhancement of the foreign positions of the country.

“Naturally, in terms of the foreign policy, the full EU and NATO integration remains a key priority”, - he stated.

After the report, I. Kobakhidze answered the questions.

MPs from the Political Groups “Lelo” and “For Georgia” were absent at the sitting.