On Desember 8, 2010 was held the meeting of the Georgian Government. The agenda included 70 items.
On December 8, 2010, the government of Georgia held a meeting. There were 70 issues on the agenda. The agenda. Before the meeting started, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Nika Gilauri, talked about several issues. We present the Prime Minister's speech:
"Before we move to the issues on the agenda, I would like to welcome Eka Tkeshelashvili. This is her first government meeting in this capacity. Eka has done quite a difficult job in the past years. She worked in a lot of difficult positions, and now she has been assigned one more difficult ministry. Temur has done quite a good job in the past years, but there is still much to be done, and I wish Eka success in this difficult work.
Another issue that I would like to comment on is the New Course of the Ministry of Finance and the Revenue Service, about which the President made a statement last Sunday. This is a very important new initiative. I would like to say that during the past years, a lot of things have been done in the Ministry of Finance and the Revenue Service to improve the infrastructure, perfect the legislation, and attract new staff. However, problems still remain, and we see these problems. There are still problems in the relations between the private sector and the Revenue Service which manifest themselves in increased penalties and increased fees.
The New Course is designed to eradicate these shortcomings. During the past period, foundations have been laid to move to this new stage. Changes and reforms have been pursued in several directions. The first direction was infrastructural projects. The most part of improvement and rehabilitation of the infrastructure will have been completed by the end of the year. Construction of the Economic Zone of Registration in Tbilisi has already been completed. The same kind of zone will be created and completed by the end of January near Batumi and Poti. The relations with the tax body, which means importing goods to the country and the relations with the Revenue Service, will be brought to order completely.
Apart from this, it has been very important that the Ministry of Finance and the Revenue Service have introduced Internet-based services. In this direction, we are one of the leaders in this region and the world. We have created a system of Internet payments. Today, you can deal with the Revenue Service electronically. We have new infrastructure not only in Tbilisi, but also in the regions.
A few days ago, we inaugurated a new West Georgia office of the Ministry of Finance. What is most important, new employees have been hired and the existing ones retrained. In the Revenue Service and the Ministry of Finance, all this has been done. In the next year, we must definitely eradicate the remaining shortcomings in the relations between the Revenue Service and the private sector.
I would like to point out that all of us will be involved in this, including the Minister of Finance and me. We will exercise maximum control to ensure that the President's assignment is fulfilled. We have seen that simultaneously a tax payer culture has been developed in the society, the new Tax Code, which is different in its approach to the private sector, takes effect from January 1 next year, and the improvements of the infrastructure are going to be completed in December and January.
All these three factors enable us to develop a new course, a new approach which will make doing business ever simpler for the private sector and make our country more attractive for international investments."
Prime Minister's Press Service