On January 26, 2011 was held the meeting of the Georgian Government. The agenda included 44 items.
Before the meeting started, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Nika Gilauri, talked about several issues. We present the Prime Minister's speech:
"Good day.
Before we discuss the issues on the agenda, I would like to inform the public about the status of the Business Ombudsman. As you know, we declared about the New Economic Course several months ago. This implies a closer and more transparent cooperation with the private sector on the part of the government and the Ministry of Finance. We have completed building the relevant infrastructure. In December, the Tbilisi Economic Zone of Registration was opened. A couple of days ago, the President inaugurated the same infrastructure in Adlia. In Poti, the corresponding point, the economic zone, is being completed and will be opened in February. The new Tax Code took effect from January 1. According to it, it is the Prime Minister's obligation to appoint the Business Ombudsman and present him to the public. We will be discussing this issue at the government meeting. The idea is to further expand the rights and obligations of the Business Ombudsman, to make him more active in the infrastructure of the Council of Disputes, in the system of the Council of Disputes, and to make it simpler for the Business Ombudsman to protect the rights of the private sector. This will be one of the issues that we discuss at today's government meeting.
Besides, I would like to tell you that I am meeting with representatives of the private sector today. I want to consult with them and discuss the candidacies, discuss the options that we are going to talk about today. It's about how to make the Business Ombudsman more active and how to enable him to protect the interests of the private sector more actively. This should be done to ensure that the New Course is not empty words, that every businessman, every investor feels the support of the state and the relations improve further.
The new code took effect from January 1. I'm sure there will be certain shortcomings, and practice will show these shortcomings. It would have been impossible for us to know about these shortcomings from the very beginning. So far, the private sector hasn't addressed us. I ask everybody to address both the government and the Ministry of Finance and the Business Ombudsman whom I am going to nominate in the nearest three or four days."
Prime Minister's Press Service