The Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze reported to the Parliament concerning the agreement concluded between Georgia and the “Eaglee Hills”.

On the basis of Article 43, paragraph 2 of the Constitution of Georgia, and Article 149, paragraphs 1, 3, and 6 of the Rules of Procedure, the Prime Minister was addressed with questions by the parliamentary faction “Georgian Dream.”

The question concerned the investment agreement concluded between Georgia and “Eagle Hills”.

In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, prior to the Prime Minister’s address, an explanation regarding the question posed under the procedure of interpellation was delivered by Irakli Kirtskhalia, Chair of the “Georgian Dream” faction.

According to him, certain groups are attempting to discredit the unprecedented investment project concluded between Georgia and “Eagle Hills,” though they will not succeed: “There is a major group operating in the country which, for years, has attempted to discredit every positive development. They had—and still have—the same intention regarding this extremely important project. One political force is trying to act in a maximally anti-state manner and, through its dirty speculation, obstruct a matter of paramount importance for the country, which they will definitely not achieve”.

Prime Minister began his address by speaking about the projects implemented by “Eagle Hills” and noted that approximately 80% of the buildings located in the center of Dubai—including the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa—were constructed by this very company.

“Eagle Hills is a globally recognized brand, and its entry into Georgia is a signal to other investors as well. Accordingly, the arrival of this investor in our country will have numerous positive side effects”, - said Irakli Kobakhidze.

He also discussed the details of the agreement, including the shares held by the state and the company: “I would like to clarify that this agreement has two parties: the Government of Georgia—the Georgian state—and, on the other side, Eagle Hills, a company with a strong international reputation. In the joint company, the state holds 33.3%, while Eagle Hills holds 66.7%. One-third of the shares belong to the State of Georgia, and two-thirds to Eagle Hills”.

Irakli Kobakhidze also offered clarification regarding the commercial confidentiality status of the agreement, noting that it relates to the commercial interests of the partner company and enables it to negotiate with other potential partners in the future.

According to him, designating the agreement as commercially confidential is an established practice based both on Georgian legislation and international standards.

With respect to the obligations undertaken by the parties under the agreement, the Prime Minister explained that Georgia assumes no financial obligations, financial guarantees, or any non-standard conditions in favor of the partner company: “Georgia is entirely free of obligations. We participate in the project by contributing land plots, and the state has no obligations—not even a guarantee obligation. As for the investor’s obligations: the investor is obliged to fully finance the project and to carry out its management. In other words, all obligations lie entirely on the partner company”.

Head of the Government also spoke about the works to be carried out near the Krtsanisi Forest-Park and in the vicinity of Gonio within the framework of the investment project and responded to statements made on this topic by opponents.

“We have heard a thousand speculative statements, as though Tbilisi will ‘lose its lungs,’ and so on. We can clearly explain to the public that not only will the green area not be reduced, but on the contrary, the volume of green spaces near the Krtsanisi Forest-Park will increase. As for Gonio, there is no green area there at all today, and the space where no vegetation exists will be greened and arranged according to modern standards. Consequently, the volume of green spaces in Gonio and Krtsanisi will not decrease—on the contrary, these areas will expand”, - noted Irakli Kobakhidze.

He addressed the direct and indirect benefits expected for the country from the investment project: “I would like to emphasize once again that 16,000 apartments will be constructed, with a total area of approximately 1.6 million square meters. Of these, around 7,000 apartments will be built in Tbilisi and 9,000 on the territory of Gonio. In addition, hotels with more than 1,400 rooms will be constructed. You can imagine the scale of the tourism effect such a massive investment will have on the development of tourism. The total impact on Georgia’s economy will be approximately 11 billion GEL, which is a very significant figure. This year, for the first time in history, our gross domestic product—our economy—will exceed 100 billion GEL, and you can imagine that we are speaking about approximately 10% of that amount, which a single investment project will bring to Georgia. This represents a colossal economic benefit that our state will receive from this project”.

Following the Prime Minister’s address, the floor was given to representatives of the factions and the political group, who delivered their assessments of the information presented within the framework of the interpellation.