2020-05-27
"Welcome, dear MPs. I am honoured to have an opportunity to address you today. I would like to emphasize that today the Government and the Coordinating Council are here at our request. I would like to start with the fact that exactly 102 years ago, the first National Parliament was established in Georgia and today the function of the Parliament in the country in its development, in everyday life, including parliamentary control. Of course, it was impossible not to talk about the commitment and responsibility we have before our citizens and the Parliament from this tribune, as well as not to answer the questions that have accumulated in the society", Giorgi Gakharia, the Prime Minister of Georgia said in the Parliament, where he presented a report on the measures taken by the Government during the state of emergency under the Covid-19 pandemic.
The head of Government noted that the most pressing questions of today, in spite of everything, concern the global pandemic and the Government is ready to talk about these issues.
"As already mentioned, there may be questions from different areas - from our economic and social life, but today the most pressing isuue that worries our citizens is a global pandemic. Accordingly, we are ready to talk about it, answer all the questions since there are no closed topics for us", the head of Government said.
According to him, no one knows what the world will be tomorrow, both in terms of economic and social life, and this has become the biggest challenge for Georgia as well. As the Prime Minister noted, today our society has the strongest sensation about what will happen tomorrow, and the biggest challenge of this global pandemic is that there is no vaccine in the world if there is no analysed, substantiated treatment strategy, no vaccine and no predictions based on accurate analysis.
"Our main task when we faced the crisis was to take certain concrete steps under a very high level of uncertainty. At some point, it became necessary for us to take steps that would make this crisis an opportunity for our country as a matter of priority. Today we can say that the epidemiological situation in the country is completely under control. This was made possible thanks to the fact that the number of new infected people has not exceeded tens in recent weeks. Today, when we talk about the stage of getting out of the epidemic, the pandemic, we have made one of the most important decisions and there are the following arguments for this. First of all, we can say that today we can officially say that new cases are mainly from areas controlled by the Government. These are quarantine zones, and known clusters. Accordingly, we can say that the spread of the epidemic and its speed are fully controlled. That is why today the Government in the interests of our people, primarily, based on their economic interests, has decided to take further steps to alleviate the situation, and the most important component of these steps is to launch all types of municipal transport in the country from May 29. In addition, from Monday, June 1, all types of shops, including malls, as well as open-air restaurants will operate at full capacity. In addition, exactly one week later, on June 8, all kinds of restaurants and hotels will be fully operational, which will receive approval from the relevant departments of the Ministry of Healthcare", the Prime Minister said.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, the death rate in Georgia is the lowest among 49 European countries and it is, first of all, the merit of the citizens.
"Today, when we talk about the fight against the epidemic, we have to consider one thing. It is impossible for a single country to defeat a global pandemic. Speaking of numbers, we can say that today the number of infected people in 213 countries of the world is more than five million 590 thousand and unfortunately the number of deaths is a little more than 347 000 people", the head of Government said.
According to him, Georgia ranks 123rd in terms of the spread of infection in the country.
"We can say that today we have 735 confirmed coronavirus cases in Georgia, of which 557 have recovered and unfortunately, 12 of our citizens have died. Today, Georgia has the lowest 0.3 rate of deaths per 100,000 population among the 49 European countries. In addition, we need to understand that today Georgia ranks 123rd in terms of the spread of infection in the country. Of course, we are not proud of these numbers but this is what allows us to control the spread of infection and pandemic and it is the merit of the activities of the Government, business sector and, first of all, of our citizens", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to the Prime Minister, tomorrow will appear completely new rules of global competition and a new situation in the new world, where the country has the opportunity to become more successful.
"We have taken the urgent steps to reopen up the economy. But I would like to emphasize here and first of all I would like to address our citizens that it is extremely important to maintain the right balance, how accurately, how carefully we will observe the requirements recommended by epidemiologists", the Prime Minister said.
He said adherence to the recommendations was a way for the Government to be proactive in opening up the economy and turning the global pandemic into an opportunity.
"It allows us to be more proactive in opening up the economy, and finally, it is the only way for our country to turn this global crisis, global pandemic into an opportunity. Everyone should understand that tomorrow we will witness completely new rules and a new situation of global competition in a new world, where the country has the opportunity to become more successful in various areas of social life, and of course, in terms of economy", the Prime Minister said.
Giorgi Gakharia noted that the Coordinating Council, set up on January 28, when the first coronavirus case had not yet been confirmed in the country, was making decisions in terms of stopping the spread of virus.
According to the head of the Government, the main focus was drawn towards the borders and Georgia was one of the first countries where thermoscreening was carried out at airports.
"As for the specific steps to be taken against the virus - several stages of combating the virus may be identified - preventing the spread of the virus, which began on January 28 and lasted until February 29. This was the stage when information about a virus for the first time appeared in the world. A month later, the virus also confirmed in Georgia. The Government made some decisions and we started to control the process quite early. First of all, it was the control of visitors from high-risk countries, which meant their thermoscreening and putting them in a quarantine. We immediately understood that this struggle would be long and on two fronts - health and life of citizens, on the one hand and on the other hand - the economy. We set up a Coordinating Council on January 28, though the first coronavirus case had not yet been confirmed in the country, which was making decisions in terms of stopping the spread of a major focus was drawn towards the borders. Georgia was one of the first countries to conduct thermoscreening at airports. This allowed us to transfer any person who had a fever to a quarantine zone and provide such person with appropriate services, regardless of whether he/she was infected or was not", Giorgi Gakharia said.
As the Prime Minister noted, four main directions have been identified in the country and specific persons are clearly responsible for respective direction.
"Four main directions with respective responsible persons have been identified in the country - healthcare, which must take care for preparing the country's healthcare system to deal with Covid-19, and this group is led by Mrs. Ekaterine Tikaradze; economy - as it iwas quite understandable that the global economic crisis could affect Georgia and have social consequences for each citizen and this group was led by Mrs. Maia Tskitishvili; security component - as from the very beginning it seemed that not only borders but even civilian life could also be subject to restricted controls. This group was led by Mr. Vakhtang Gomelauri, the Head of the Security Council; stocks and logistics - from the very first day it became clear that countries were beginning to limit their export potential. Markets were closing, making it clear that there could be a problem with the supply of certain products. Levan Davitashvili was in charge of this direction", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to the head of the Government, the main task at the stage of stopping the spread was to deal with the imported virus, border control, and rapid response of healthcare, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health.
"In terms of preventive measures, we have seen after some steps taken in advance that this would not be enough, and we have had to take tougher steps, such as closing travel from specific high-risk countries. First of all, we stopped flights from China on January 29. On February 24, we suspended flights from Iran, on March 6 - from Italy, and then we had to close the border with our neighbouring countries. February 21 was the day when we organized for the first time removal of our citizens by air and the first country was China. When talking about the fight against the pandemic we say that we have taken some steps proactively, there is a rationale to that. When we looked at the geography of the spread of the pandemic we saw that there was a pandemic outbreak in all countries with whom we had quite tight economic and logistical traffic. First of all, it was China, then it was Iran, where there was traffic, both in terms of trade and economy, and through Azerbaijan we had quite high traffic. Then it was Italy, where many citizens travelled and worked. Then there were France and Spain. In terms of traffic, all those active countries were at high risk, and that's why we made decisions to tighten traffic with these countries", the Prime Minister said.
According to the head of the Government, this was the first stage of the suspension, and its main task was to deal with the imported virus.
"This was the first phase of the so-called suspension, and its main task was to deal with the imported virus. Our main driving force was border control and the rapid and effective action of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health", the Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to him, schooling has been suspended for the prevention of internal spread, control facilities have been set up at border checkpoints, and special restrictions have been imposed on the penitentiary system.
"The second stage was the stage of slowing down the spread of the virus, when the first coronavirus case, imported from Iran, was confirmed in the country on February 26. Our citizen came through Azerbaijan. Then another citizen came also through Iran, and this was the first case when a serious and real risk of internal spread arose in the country. In order to prevent internal spread, we made further decisions - to stop the schooling process. Stopping the schooling process had absolutely substantiated significance and meaning for us. As you know, the social structure of the Georgian family is different from the European one, in our families the generations live together and it was critically important to protect the older generation from the transmission of the virus that children could bring from school. Therefore, we have decided to close the schools", the Prime Minister said.
According to him, on March 4, special control facilities were set up at the border checkpoints.
"At the same time, on March 4 special checkpoints, tents were set up at border checkpoints, as well as customs and MIA forces were deployed to investigate and thermoscreen all citizens at risk at these checkpoints", Giorgi Gakharia noted.
According to the head of the Government, the most important step was to impose special restrictions on the penitentiary system.
"The Ministry of Justice took a very important step when a decision was made on March 5 to impose a special restriction on the penitentiary system. But the most important thing was to transfer 780 people and personnel to the barracks regime to fully protect this system from penetration and spread of the virus. We has not a single case of the spread unlike many countries", the prime Minister said.
Giorgi Gakharia also noted that important steps in terms of preventive measures were to move the public sector to a remote labour regime on March 12. On March 13, a special group set up at the Ministry of Agriculture, which monitored the prices, decided to insure the risk of an exchange difference, while on March 15 it was decided to close ski resorts due to the high risk of internal spread.
"From March 12, the public sector has fully switched to a remote labour regime. On March 13, a special group was set up at the Ministry of Agriculture to control and monitor prices, which was extremely important. Due to the difference between the exchange rates and the speculative prices, the price fluctuations on the primary consumer food products have clearly appeared in the markets. After that, decisions were made to insure the risk of difference between the rates, which was implemented by the relevant ministries. The ski resorts were closed on March 15, because there was a high risk of internal spread", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to the Prime Minister, the creation of # stopcov.ge was the fastest decision ever made and it was one of the first virtual spaces to fight the pandemic, which was created in Georgia.
"A special website - stopcov.ge - was set up in mid-March, and it was the fastest decision ever made", the Prime Minister said.
According to him, this was one of the first virtual spaces to fight the pandemic, which was created in Georgia into Georgian, Russian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Abkhazian and Ossetian languages.
"It was and still is a space where people could and still can have any information about this pandemic. Today, a very large part of our citizens get initial information about the spread of the virus from this site", the Prime Minister said.
Giorgi Gakharia drew attention to the fact that the restrictions imposed before mid-March under the conditions of covid-19 were only made in the form of a recommendation.
"I would like to admit that this measure has a very important legal aspect. All the restrictions that we have listed so far have been made only in the form of a recommendation and I would like to take this into account. These restrictions were of a recommendatory nature only because we understood how difficult it would be to impose such restrictions on the economy, especially for business and economic activities. However, the internal spread of the virus has become a fact since the second half of March, and the rate of internal spread has increased significantly", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to the Prime Minister, all the steps that were taken were necessary, which gave us the opportunity to say that the country has managed to control the spread of the virus.
"I would like to say a few words about the decisions that preceded the concrete steps of restriction taken by us and the need to declare a state of emergency. Today, there are 297 hospitals in Georgia, with a total of 17,514 beds. Excluding specialized hospitals, there are about 10,000 beds left, of which 2,290 beds are located in intensive care units in the country today. We have 1,749 beds equipped with special breathing apparatus for respiratory diseases, which were technically ready to treat Covid-infected patients. In addition, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that today we have 488 resuscitators in the country who can serve only 1200 infectious patients at a time, and today we have 256 infectious disease specialists in the country who can serve 853 infectious patients a day. If we averaged the number of beds, breathing apparatus, and most importantly, the number of doctors, we would get a certain amount of capacity within which the country could sustainably treat patients with Covid-19", the Prime Minister said.
According to him, the Government of Georgia acted on the basis of models created and substantiated by international consulting organisations.
"This was a period when more or less well-established predictions upstarted in the country, which were made at the international level by international consulting organisations. There were three models, on the basis of which the Government acted. This was the model of the University of Pennsylvania, which indicated that the number of infected people in the country would be 5,950 after 12-13 weeks of internal spread. The second model is of the University of Basel, which stated that in 13-14 weeks after the first outbreak, the number of hospitalized patients would be 5,100. The third model belongs to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which stated that there would be about 3,000 cases in the country in 5-7 weeks after the first spread. These were not studies conducted by the Center for Disease Control or the Ministry of Health, these were studies conducted by independent organisations that were also available to everyone. In this case when we speak about the number of treatments for infected people, we must keep in mind that we mean only 20 percent of those infected. Based on the international analysis, it was clear that these were recommendations from the World Health Organization that only 20 percent of infected persons could receive inpatient treatment. But we all know very well what this caused in Italy, France, Spain, and in some of our neighbouring countries", the Prime Minister said.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, the main tool with which the Government had to respond promptly was the social distance and mobility in big blocks.
"These were the decisions we had to make. Based on this, after making conclusions, a meeting of the Security Council was held on March 16, where a decision was made to declare a state of emergency by March 19. I would like to admit and make everyone understand that criticism is simple. Everyone can think that each country has its own strategy and each country chooses its strategy from the opportunities at its disposal. There is a common practice to strike a right balance between the possibility of the country's health care system, the country's financial capacity and economic power in order to choose a right tactics of how strict economic restraint measures should be, on the one hand, and on the other hand, to protect people's lives and their health. We saw that our main tool should be the steps taken towards mobility, and in this way enabling the healthcare system to treat more patients simultaneously and steadily", the Prime Minister said.
Giorgi Gakharia explained that Georgia is one of the countries that has made the spread of the virus predictable and there is no unknown source of infection in the country at this time.
"I would like to remind you of many conversations not only in Georgia, but also in the world about the peak, the plateau of the spread of the virus that many of us have already forgotten. Georgia was one of the countries among similar-sized countries and one of the countries in our region that was able to make this plateau so predictable that today we can say that we do not have even a single new case of unknown spread. I would like to say once again that we know the source of all infected people in the last two weeks, which is either quarantine or already known clusters, and in one case it was the driver of an international carrier. Declaring a state of emergency and then all the steps that have been taken, especially the tougher steps such as closing the cities, the curfew, banning the movement of citizens by transport, were necessary, which gave us the opportunity to control the spread of the virus in the country. That was our main task. No one is going to keep these restrictions for long", the Prime Minister said.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, no one can give an example that the Government has imposed the restrictions inappropriately.
"Once again, I would like to emphasize and remind each of you of the many debates that took place regarding the legislative changes initiated by the Government and subsequently addressed to the Parliament and initiated by the Parliament. We have lifted the restrictions according to the epidemic situation. No one can give any example that the Government or the authorities have used these restrictions inappropriately and not for fighting the global pandemic. All this was used deliberately to ensure that human life, the life of our citizens, is extremely important for us, and then comes economic development and care for their social status", the Prime Minister said.
The head of Government drew attention to the fact that no agricultural enterprise, systemic infrastructure project, systemic industrial company was stopped in the country - 65,000 companies continued to operate, which was tens of thousands of jobs.
"No agricultural enterprise has stopped its operation in the country. No systemic infrastructure projects and no systemic industrial companies have been stopped and shut down in the country - in short, 65,000 companies in the country continued to operate, which was tens of thousands of jobs. As soon as the state of emergency was declared, operational management headquarters were set up with the Security Council in the country. There were established headquarters at the regional level, headed by the governors. It was a highly effective tool to ensure that we were able to control the spread of the virus in a timely manner and to avoid a full blockage of economic activities. Not a single agricultural enterprise has stopped in the country. No systemic infrastructure projects have been stopped in the country. No systemic industrial company has been stopped in the country. In short, 65,000 companies in the country continued to operate, creating tens of thousands of jobs. The whole process was controlled and no one can give an example where these factories or these workplaces became a source of infection. We got this result because we were acting gradually, absolutely pragmatically, and we understood that in terms of risk limitation, there were a few industrial cities that we had locked up not because the infection didn't come out of there, but only because we had local workers localized there and the infection did not enter there. When we talk about stopping the economy, Georgia has not had the level of quarantine that was available in most European countries. There has not been a single day of restriction for citizens to leave their homes in Georgia, and yet we have been able to control the epidemic", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, the Government was quick to take decisions that would allow the economy to get more oxygen and start the stages of opening up, easing and adapting the economy.
"We quickly made decisions that would allow the economy to get more oxygen, and start the stages of opening up, easing and adapting the economy. Of course, at the stage when we saw how the speed of the spread was falling, the cluster form of transmission was weakening, the mobility in the country was falling, and we realized we could already say that the spread of the virus was controlled by the Government. So, we quickly made the decisions that allowed the economy to get more oxygen, and we started the stages of opening up, easing, and adapting the economy. The most important word here is adaptation. Everything can be opened in one day, without any problem.
Some of our neighbours tried to open everything in one day to see what it meant. It is simple, if the opening is not accompanied by appropriate control mechanisms that allow us to adapt to the virus, then the economy, our social life, the reception of tourists, political life, including the work of parliament, all this will be extremely risky for the country. Therefore, we say that the stage of mitigation and adaptation, in which we are today, is extremely important and the responsibility here is even greater for everyone", the Prime Minister said.
The head of Government stressed the fact that in the regions where quarantine was in effect, none of the agricultural products produced by the locals were left without attention and were not spoiled.
"As soon as it became possible on April 24, we began lifting of the restrictions step by step from delivery services, transport and construction activities. I would like to remind everyone that it was already spring, when specific agricultural works were to be carried out, and none of the working days of agriculture had been suspended. In addition, in the high-risk regions that we have quarantined, none of the agricultural products produced by the local population were left without attention and were not spoiled. The Government provided both supply and subsequent organized transportation of agricultural products to agrarian markets. This was very important for us and our population", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, if we compare the state of the healthcare system in January, when the first risks of the epidemic appeared, and the current state, a great difference is noticeable. According to the head of Government, today it can be said that the health care system can effectively manage several hundred infected people.
"Today we can say that the health care system can effectively manage several hundred infected people. This is extremely important not only for saving our lives and health, but also for how effectively we can open up the economy. In the end, global competition will develop in this space, and the winners within this economic space and in the fight against the pandemic will be the countries that will be able to both protect the health of their citizens and revive the economy", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to him, the National Center for Disease Control and their rapid response were of great importance in the work of the health care system.
"Determining the source of a particular infection, then its spread and connections, as well as further testing was a very difficult process, where not only the health care system, but also the law enforcement agencies were involved. In this battle, the first blow was dealt to the network of infectious diseases hospitals in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, an emergency service "112" was a filter that allowed us to effectively control the spread of the virus.
"When the healthcare system was evaluated and an internal transmission started to grow rapidly, we realized that in order to protect the healthcare system, we had to create several barriers to the pressure of the infected. The first barrier was an emergency phone number - 112. This scheme was easily understandable - a person who had a fever would pick up the phone and call to 112 where he/she spoke with trained family doctors and if their diagnosis required further consultation, or there was a risk of Covid-19, such person was taken to a fever clinic. There the person was either confirmed to be infected and transferred to an infectious disease clinic, or was not confirmed and was transferred to a quarantine zone 24 hours later. It was a filter that allowed us to effectively control the spread of the virus", the Prime Minister said.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, rapid testing, especially in the initial stages, has misled many countries that are much stronger than us.
Examples from many countries have shown that rapid testing, especially at a very early stage, has misled many more powerful countries than us when the percentage of probability accuracy of the tests was quite low. One might think that rapid testing and mass, aggressive testing is a panacea and that was the only solution, but there are a lot of examples of many countries showing that rapid testing, especially in the early stages was not an option. Therefore, we simply evaluated the sources of infection. At the first stage, when we talked about imported infection, we locked the borders and made quarantine zones. As soon as the internal spread started, we did a few buffers, it was an emergency phone service - 112, then there were fever centres and finally, quarantine zones", Giorgi Gakharia said.
The head of Government drew attention to the fact that there was not a single infected person in Georgia who did not receive inpatient treatment. As Giorgi Gakharia noted, many systemic, much stronger states than Georgia have failed to do this.
"There were many examples in Europe when infected people were advised to stay home and be treated at home. Whatever the outcome, we all saw it well. Here I would like to emphasize that this result was achieved, of course, with quick steps, but first and foremost it was important that the Government agreed on all the steps to be taken with specialists, the Ministry of Health and epidemiologists. This was extremely important. This joint work was critically important", Giorgi Gakharia said.
He also thanked MP Dimitri Khundadze, who prepared a special group to monitor the readiness of the clinics to receive the infected.
"I would like to thank MP Mr. Dimitri Khundadze, who prepared a special group when the Ministry of Health simply did not have the human resources to control how ready the clinics were to received Covid-19 infected", the Prime Minister said.
Giorgi Gakharia noted that the Coordinating Council included the Parliament, the President, the local government and all those who wished to be involved.
"Everyone understands that 97% of our healthcare system is private. Mr. Dimitri Khundadze and his team performed an extremely important role in assessing the readiness of our private clinics. This was critical. A specific plan was developed at the Ministry of Health, according to which our clinics were gradually involved in the fight against Covid-19. It wasn't an easy task, there were clinics of a certain number in the case of 100 patients, additional clinics were already involved in the case of 200 patients etc., and this was a regional expansion. It was an absolutely thought-out plan managed by the Ministry of Health. This is critically important and the fact is that there is not a single case with an infected in the country who could not receive or has not received inpatient treatment. This is the only and most important component of why we have so many recovering people and why the lethal rate is so low in our country", the Prime Minister said.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, when there was no first patient in the country, a clinical group was set up under the leadership of Tengiz Tsertsvadze, who led the treatment tactics.
The clinical group, led by Mr. Tengiz Tsertsvadze, was also an extremely important component which was created when the first patient in the country did not yet exist. This clinical group managed and coordinated the treatment tactics and strategy as a whole, regardless of the region of the country where an infected person or a person at risk for Covid-19 came from", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to the Prime Minister, all kinds of hasty and quick opening put people's lives at risk.
As far as testing concerned, I would like to close this topic forever. It is unfortunate that in a small country where a pandemic is being fought, the resources of which are quite limited, the topic of testing in general is becoming the subject of political speculation. This is another topic, the topic of our political culture, which I do not want to touch on here, however, there is only one gold standard in the world, it is PCR testing, - the head of Government said.
According to him, today there are laboratories staffed by highly professional people in the country, where 2500 PCR tests are tested per day.
"There is a network of laboratories in the country, which are not very strong, but are staffed with high professionals. First of all, these are Lugar, Kutaisi and Batumi laboratories, which can perform PCR testing at the highest level. We must never forget that when there were the first cases of the epidemic in Georgia, 72-75 PCR tests were performed per day. Today, 2,500 tests are performed. 3,000 tests will be performed in the near future, and the relevant agencies have been instructed by the Ministry of Health to conduct 10,000 PCR tests prior to autumn, by the end of September", Giorgi Gakharia said.
As the head of Government noted, until there is an opportunity in the country to conduct a certain number of the gold standard - PCR tests per day, all kinds of hasty and rapid opening put human life at risk.
"We need to understand the following - when we say we want to open up the economy, we want to be the first country to be able to receive tourists and guests in an organized way. We are one of the countries that has been able to bring in 10,000 of its citizens from abroad at the expense of the state. Of course, this was possible due to quarantine infrastructure, all these people go through testing. We need to understand the following - when we talk about opening and some push us for opening everything and put a question why we have limited transport, we can answer to our friends that everything must be implemented in a consistent, reasonable manner and in compliance with the plan. According to this plan, until there is an opportunity in the country to conduct a certain number of the gold standard - PCR tests per day, all kinds of hasty and rapid opening put human life at risk. When we say that we will be one of the first countries to be able to open tourism and start the economy, we at the same time take responsibility for the readiness of the healthcare system, as well as the readiness of laboratory networks. In addition, the function of private laboratories is very important as well and we should all know "when and what kind of decisions or statements should we make", the Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said.
The Prime Minister noted that more than 22,000 citizens have passed the quarantine zones and this was the correct decision that the World Tourism Organization is using in its protocols today.
I would like to thank the Ministry of Economy for quarantine zones. It was an idea born in the National Tourism Administration of Georgia when we first saw that the spread of the imported virus was a huge risk. We all remember that the number of infected people came from Italy, some large clusters were from France, the US, Spain. And these people have already recovered and returned to normal life. That is primarily the merit of the doctors. In order not to increase these clusters and make our citizens' health more secure, we decided to create quarantine zones as a buffer", the head of Government said.
According to him, this was the right decision, which was applauded by the World Health Organization in just a few weeks, and today the World Tourism Organization uses it in its protocols how to open tourism around the world.
"This virus has a 14-day incubation period and it was the most correct decision that the World Health Organization applauded in just a few weeks. This is a decision which is used by the World Tourism Organization in its protocols today how to open tourism around the world. As of today, more than 22,000 citizens have passed quarantine zones in the country. Now we have about 4000 citizens in quarantine zones. No one can come out today without a PCR test, and the result of these 3 months of hard work is that new cases of infection now mostly account for quarantine spaces. People who return to their homeland, either by land or by air, with the help of the state, are placed under comfortable conditions in quarantine zones. After leaving these zones, they are subjected to appropriate testing and, if necessary, are treated. Therefore, the creation of quarantine zones was one of the most effective and correct steps. I would like to admit that in terms of uncertainty about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of quick tests, as well as their acquisition, we were given a chance to deliberately refuse to buy fast tests offered by numerous charlatans from around the world at the level of ministries, MPs and individual businessmen, because we had a high standard PCR test and absolutely effective quarantine zones", the head of Government said.
According to the Prime Minister, the task of the Government was to insure against internal risks, speculation and exchange rate differences between the main products, which was done effectively.
"Everyone understands that the pandemic is a global event, and not just a health, but an economic challenge. The world and our neighbours realized this very quickly. The first messages for us were when our neighbours or our suppliers simply blocked the markets for the main food products. It was wheat, sugar, cereals, etc. This was the case when some countries simply showed certain panic signs. Therefore, a special group was set up, headed by Mr. Levan Davitashvili, who worked effectively with major importers, and we made strategic supplies of 9 essential foodstuffs in the country, which we still have and have used where necessary. We did a programme that included price insurance for 9 major products. But I don't want to allow anyone to speculate here, no one has promised anyone a price fix. In international markets, for example, it is simply impossible to insure Georgian prices for sugar and flour. Our main task was just to insure our internal risks, speculation and the difference between exchange rates, which was done effectively", the Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said.
The head of Government thanked Levan Davitashvili and the group for their effective work. According to him, despite the biggest shortage, Georgian doctors did not face the problem of personal protective equipment, and today a large number of masks are produced in the country.
"Besides, Mr. Levan and this group in general, where the Ministry of Health also participated, deserve credit and I would like to thank them that despite the huge shortage of personal protection items in the country, they were able to ensure that Georgian doctors did not have any problems with personal protective equipment. In addition, today a large number of masks are produced in the country, where the Ministry of Economy is involved, and today in some developed countries there are queues simply because of these large purchases", the Prime Minister said.
He also stressed the need for smooth transportation of cargo.
"I would also like to emphasize cargo shipments which is very important for the Georgian economy as a whole and not only for supplies. I'm not talking about the supplies needed for the daily life of the country such as sugar, flour, medicines, etc. I'm speaking about our transit function, missing of which could be a big competitive problem for us, resulting in diversion of these trucks in other directions. But we must remember that there are thousands of trucks and despite the great risks, the transit through Georgia has not stopped not even a single day, This is more than 1,000 trucks a day, meaning more than 2,000 drivers from high-risk countries, and the headquarters was able to manage the process in such a way that the country simply did not put at risk of spread of infection. However, there were some gaps. As you know, we have had several cases of subsequent development of infection by Georgian drivers, most recent one happened in Zugdidi. Today this problem is more or less solved, but when we talk about high risks, we mean a quarantine zone and a transit. Therefore, the relevant agencies, the headquarters, the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Health have been appropriately instructed to make the management of transit flows much easier. I would like to tell you one more thing while talking about cargo transportation that we must take into account about 6000 Georgian drivers who have not lost their jobs for a single day, on the contrary, the state was helping them", Giorgi Gakharia said.
The Prime Minister noted that today 12,720 people have returned to their homeland with the help of the state.
"We were everywhere where the citizens of Georgia needed help and where the economy of Georgia gave us the opportunity to do so. I will give simple numbers - today 12,720 people have returned to Georgia from abroad, mainly from European countries with the help of the state. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government provided assistance to 21,198 Georgian citizens on the spot. These are the people who have lost their jobs. The assistance included flat rent, food, medicine, medical care, etc. This, of course, is not enough. Hundreds of thousands of people have left Georgia for work, and when we announce such ambitious programmes, we must keep in mind that the country has limited resources and while we do not know and no one in the world can make an accurate prediction about how long this pandemic will last, when there will be a vaccine, whether there will be a second wave or not, when stronger states sometimes talk about the third and sometimes the fourth wave of infection, meanwhile the biggest responsibility of the Government of Georgia during this period is to employ the resources at its disposal extremely efficiently and supportively. We were everywhere where the citizens of Georgia needed help and where the economy of Georgia gave us the opportunity to do so", Giorgi Gakharia said.
As the Prime Minister noted, as a result of the joint activity of the governments of Georgia and the United States, 90 students from the United States were brought from the United States. The Prime Minister thanked the US Government for this effort.
"As a result of the joint activity of the governments of Georgia and the United States, we have brought 90 schoolchildren from the United States, including 30 Armenian citizens, and I would like to thank the US government for this event. These are Georgian minors being educated in the United States within various programmes", Giorgi Gakharia said.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the education system and noted that the Ministry of Education has set an example of using the crisis as an opportunity.
"As you know, we unfortunately had to stop the education process in the country and it happened on March 4. The Ministry of Education has been able to effectively implement remote education rules. It wasn't easy and it's not ideal, but if we compare the level of readiness that was for March 4 and what was done in two months, we'll see a great progress. Tens of thousands of teachers in the education system work remotely with their students today. In addition to Microsoft, a special Georgian platform has been launched where educational programmes are introduced. And, "Teleskola" is also extremely important, which is very popular and reminded me my childhood. The effectiveness of the "Teleskola" may not be complete in terms of classical academic education, but it has a greater workload. We all need to understand that today we are in a pandemic, a struggle, and most importantly, this year will not be declared an academic year. The minimum required to achieve this goal was jointly done by the Ministry of Education and the Public Broadcaster, though there was another problem - the level of internetization in the country. The results were obtained quickly, and although it may be too late, the Government will make quick, highly effective decisions in this field", Giorgi Gakharia said.
The head of Government stressed that all services provided by the Government to citizens should be received by citizens on both sides of the occupation line.
"We have always said and emphasized that we will do our best to ensure that all the events, all the services offered by the Government of Georgia to its citizens, of course, should be provided to our citizens on both sides of the occupation line. And we have fully mobilized for it both in the Rukhi Clinic and the Gori Hospital, which is one of the best in the country in terms of fighting infection", said the Prime Minister.
Giorgi Gakharia thanked the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the members of the armed forces of Georgia.
"I would like to thank the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the measures taken for the fight against the pandemic. In the process were involved 10,000 Georgian police officers who reinforced more than 130 checkpoints. They were also responsible for curfew and the performance of various non-specific functions. These people were on the front line of the battle against the epidemic. 4,800 Georgian servicemen who left their deployment sites and helped the country, were responsible for not just the management of the checkpoints, but they were highly qualified doctors as well. I would like to express my special thanks to Gori Hospital, which according to international assessments was the best trained and organized medical institution in the country in terms of fighting infection and it remains one of the best institutions up today", the Prime Minister said.
Giorgi Gakharia also thanked the employees of the Administration of the GoG.
"I would like to emphasize that the ordinary employees of the Administration of the GoG managed to quickly create the platform #stopcov.ge. This is an extremely important platform that provides information instantly. I have also applied to this platform many times for information. There was no case when the information on this platform was not relevant", Giorgi Gakharia said.
The Prime Minister stressed the merits of Bidzina Ivanishvili and the "Cartu" Foundation, noting that the country will use this donation when it is most needed.
"The Office of the Business Ombudsman has set up a Support Fund where hundreds of thousands of people have participated and thousands of Georgian companies have expressed their desire for financial assistance. This is a fund where 132 million GEL is currently mobilized. This is a financial resource that will be used at an extremely acute time. Of course, I would like to mention here the merits of Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili and the "Cartu" Foundation, and we will use this donation exactly when it is most needed by the country. This donation has the greatest importance of financial insurance", Giorgi Gakharia said.
The Prime Minister also spoke about state procurement, saying that 90 percent of 94 million GEL spent on public procurement during the state of emergency was used only to fight the epidemic.
"During the state of emergency, a total of 94 million GEL was spent on public procurement, 90% of which was used solely for the purpose of combating the epidemic. Of course, any information about these purchases will be available to any stakeholder and everyone will have an opportunity to assess the effectiveness and efficiency quality, in which we have no doubts", the Prime Minister said.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, the current and capital expenditures will be reduced by 600 million GEL, which can be postponed without any reasonable harm and damage to the country.
"Georgia is part of the global economy. Unfortunately, it is still a poor, economically weak part of the world, and naturally, the global economic crisis affectედ our economy. As you know, the uniqueness of the economic crisis in connection with the current pandemic is the simultaneous crisis of demand and supply, which has had a serious impact on the economy of Georgia. The driving force for the economic growth in recent years, of course, was tourism, foreign investments, and remittances - all of these areas have been put at high risk. From the very first day when the Government assessed the situation as not a short-term but a long-term crisis, which we had to deal with according to a long-term plan, we certainly started working with our international partners. According to the first estimates of the International Monetary Fund, our economic growth rate will decrease by 4% this year. Actually, I don't compare it with other countries, this decrease is more in some places and less in others, but we have to keep in mind that tourism as such is very sensitive. As a fact, tourism has a momentary impact on agriculture, development, trade, and various services. As you know, Georgia was waiting for the entry of 12 million tourists, for which agricultural production was ready. Today, it is obvious that we will not have such demand. According to current data in terms of budget figures, the real data will be as follows - budget revenues will be reduced by about 1 billion 800 million in terms of budget funds, we will reduce costs by 600 million GEL, and this will be 300 million GEL for current expenditures and 300 million GEL for capital expenditures. These are capital expenditures that can be postponed without any reasonable damage to the country, or tourism projects that will not be relevant in the coming year. As a whole, 3 billion GEL is needed for the country to support business and social support plans that we have announced. In reality, it amounts to 4 billion 200 million GEL. This was the initial stage when we began active negotiations with our international partners. I would like to emphasize that Georgia was and will be the first country to conclude negotiation, within the pandemic and economic crisis, and to agree on a new programme with the IMF. This was a very important fact, because the agreement on the new programme with the IMF meant simplifying the work with other donors, which in just 2-3 weeks has already been confirmed as a fact and the Government of Georgia has received support from international donor organizations in the amount of 1 billion 500 million USD. We have already started spending of some amounts from these funds. As for the private sector, this is a completely different reality, after the liquidity problem has been solved, we started talking to donors about business, and for our private sector - the real financial and banking sector - we've received consent from international donor organizations that an additional 1 billion 500 million USD is ready for them when they have a liquidity problem. As you know, we will introduce an adjusted budget in the near future, in the next week, in 10 days, and this will be the next opportunity to talk again", the Prime Minister said.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, the Government's goal is, firstly, to provide social assistance to the citizens, secondly, to help the citizens and companies to keep the jobs, and thirdly, to save the companies during the crisis.
"We are talking about a global crisis. It is the fact that the crisis will have a serious impact on the economy of Georgia and will reduce economic parameters. We have discussed this issue with our international partners, first of all, with the IMF", the Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said.
As he pointed out, first of all, the main goal of the Government was to provide social assistance to the citizens, then partly to a citizen and partly to a company, in order to keep the jobs as much as possible.
"Therefore, we have worked with donor organisations and balanced these revenues, and now we can say that we are not making any vain promises to spend money now that it is unclear where it should come from and so on. Later, we said that our primary goal is social assistance for a citizen, because it is a long-term crisis and the citizen faces a long-term problem, his/her income will be reduced or just disappeared altogether, because he/she will lose his/her job. Second, our help will go partly to a citizen and partly to a company in order to keep the jobs as much as possible. Third, it is a concrete help for companies to save companies in terms of their liquidity during the crisis", Giorgi Gakharia said.
The head of Government stressed that this is not a post-crisis plan. According to him, the post-crisis plan is a different matter and it is irresponsible for anyone today to talk about the post-crisis plan for the development of the country, which indicates that such a person will understand nothing in the economy.
"Today, demand-supply is at risk in the country and in the world as a whole, and no one knows what the supply-demand chain will be like in just two, three or four months, once the economy and international trade are reorganized. In general, talking about a post-crisis economic plan today is irresponsible. So, let's agree that we are talking about an anti-crisis plan, what were our messages and the main basis for our anti-crisis plan. This plan was structured when the crisis began and it was also aimed at assisting specific people and, of course, specific companies", the Prime Minister said.
Giorgi Gakharia noted that this is not enough for social assistance, but this is the minimum to be sustainable.
"We have made the first decision to fully cover utility costs. One million 200,000 families have already benefited from this opportunity. We've seen that people whose income has been reduced, will have an elementary problem with covering their current expenses. For this reason, we have made the first decision to fully cover utility costs. This measure has already applied to one million 200,000 families. First of all, assistance was provided to natural persons in connection with the loan service - after negotiations, the banks agreed to postpone the loan for three months, and this service has already been used by 600,000 natural persons. Insuring prices on food products was the equivalent of extinguishing a fire, and no one calls it an anti-crisis plan. We helped the person who was in trouble due to his economic income", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to the head of the Government, people who have lost their official jobs and income, will be assisted with 1200 GEL for 6 months. According to the Prime Minister, 450 million GEL has been saved in the budget of Georgia for these people.
"The second stage was already targeted. It was not an irresponsible decision. Georgia will not be able to provide any additional assistance if the economy is not balanced and this balanced budget is not agreed with our international partners, donor organisations and the IMF. For example, I might want to give 10,000 GEL to each family. I understand that everyone needs it, but it must be economically justified. Consequently, we have announced these specific, long-term measures after we had calculated, planned and agreed all of these activities with our international donors, and we already knew where we were goingFor example, I might want to give 10,000 GEL to each family. I understand that everyone needs it, but it has to have its economic justification. Consequently, we announced these specific, long-term measures after we had calculated, thought out, agreed and planned all of these with our international donors, and we already knew where we were going with this plan. Shortly afterwards, it was announced an assistance for people who had lost their official job and income at amount of GEL 1,200 for 6 months. I would like to tell you that 450 million GEL has been saved for these people in the budget of Georgia", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to the Prime Minister, self-employed people who can prove that they had a stable income per month, will receive a one-time assistance of 300 GEL.
"In addition, the state has also subsidized one more activity in order to give companies the opportunity to maintain jobs and help our citizens in the amount of 150 GEL, which is applicable to salary less than 750 GEL. This assistance gives the company an opportunity to have more liquidity and fire fewer people. As for self-employed people, those who can prove that they had a stable monthly income, will receive a one-time allowance of 300 GEL. People with a social rating score of 65,000 to 100,000 introduce a social group with the highest risk people and families, who can have a 600 GEL assistance. In addition, 600 GEL was allocated for 22 thousand large families, and 40,000 people with disabilities will also receive 600 GEL. I would like to emphasize that this is the social assistance provided to our citizens and not an anti-crisis plan. It was absolutely understandable that we extended this assistance for the duration of 6 months. I understand that this is not enough, but it is the minimum for their sustainability. This fight against the coronavirus is not over. When we announced support for tourism, in just one month we realized that these activities were funny, miserable and useless for the sector. In today's world, no one can say what the summer months will be like, or no one can tell you what the fall will be like, what the probability of a second wave will be, how strong the second wave will be, whether there will be a vaccine or not - there is no such reliable data today. That's why, we are obliged to carry out sustainable activities and in a timely manner", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to him, a separate programme will be developed for the assistance of travel companies and guides, which will aim to save jobs and companies, as well as increase their competence and support.
"As for the business sector, a property tax and an income tax in the tourism sector have been fully postponed until the end of the year. The state will help hotels with a turnover of up to GEL 20 million to subsidize the interest of banks, for which we have reserved money. As for hotels that are larger, with a turnover of more than $ 20 million, the state has decided to help with with property tax preferences, and that's very important. The people who operate in this business understand very well what I am talking about. Assisting companies and guides will be a separate programme and the main goal of all these steps and programme will be to save jobs and companies, as well as increase their competence and support both in terms of overcoming shock in liquidity and delivery. Using hotels as quarantine spaces were a serious support in economic terms as well, with about 5,000 jobs retained, in addition to the enormous competence acquired by large hotels on how to manage Covid-19-related risks. There are special protocols for cleaning, "catering", and transportation. When tourism opens up, these are the people who are best prepared to deal with tourism opportunities. I would like once again say that there is a three-step plan to open tourism. Today we are at the stage of adaptation and preparation. From June 15, domestic tourism will be opened, and from July 1, Georgia will be ready to receive guests from abroad", Giorgi Gakharia said.
The Prime Minister in his speech focused on agriculture. The head of Government noted that in addition to supporting agriculture, the Government has implemented systemic reforms such as land registration.
«Agriculture was the second sector which was in need of assistance and we have taken these steps. Agricultural assistance has an absolutely well-thought-out plan. Our long-term task is to industrialize agriculture. We all understand that land registration is a systemic problem in Georgia, so along with the support of agriculture, we have implemented systemic reforms such as land registration and at the same time we have told eto our farmers if they do not have a registered land, they must register by the end of the year, and even after this year will receive 200 GEL per hectare. This is a direct motivation for farmers to register their land, and the Ministry of Justice is fully prepared to help them, and second, to systematically consume the services that the relevant agencies of Ministry of Agriculture provides to them. As for agro-diesel, no matter how many manipulations and speculations are made on this topic, people who work on the land and for whom the cost of agro-diesel is one of the most expensive will have a discount of up to 1 GEL compared to the market price recorded at fuel stations, and this is not an anti-crisis plan, it is a systemic decision of the GoG and will be continued so even after the crisis is over. Fortunately, this decision has been made and everybody will see its implementation soon. To summarize, a Georgian farmer, a peasant, a man who works on the land, has emotional attitude to the land; however, our goal is to industrialize agriculture. That's why we say that a direct assistance will be measured financially as 435 GEL per hectare for a farmer with the registered land, while an indirect assistance will be more than 1000 GEL", the Prime Minister said.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, the state will subsidize a mortgage loan from today until the end of the year.
"One of the most serious losses has exercised development and construction. We have already developed a specific plan for developers and builders, which is not just the help to companies, it is the help to our citizens who have either decided to buy an apartment and improve living conditions or are involved in this process, or have already paid an initial instalment, or have already started working with a construction company and their apartment is under construction. All such risks will be insured by the state. From today and up to the end of the year, the state will subsidize mortgage loans for all those who decide to take out mortgages by the end of the year in order to improve their living conditions", Giorgi Gakharia said.
According to him, an additional 150 million GEL will be allocated to promptly provide IDPs with apartments in the near future. This will also be a direct support to the construction sector to ensure their sustainability.
"We fought hard to get a VAT exemption for constructions that were started with a permit issued before 2008. Tbilisi City Hall has made specific decisions and entered into specific projects to finally solve the housing problem for the people left homeless by specific companies, including the Government. In addition, an additional GEL 150 million will be allocated to provide IDPs with apartments in the near future. This will also be a direct support to the construction sector to ensure their sustainability, to withstand this crisis in the long run, and not to repeat the tragedy that occurred after the crisis of 2008, when many families in Georgia were unhappy because they had their last income paid in apartments and are till now in the streets", the Prime Minister said.
Giorgi Gakharia stated in his closing speech that in this fight, Georgia will be finally evaluated, and there is an opportunity to deserve an extremely high assessment.
"Everyone understands that we are a transition economy, and our economy is quite weak. Despite the fact that the 2020 budget and our economic data were very impressive, very promising, according to the assessment of international organisations, - this crisis was extremely unexpected for us and the citizens. I am absolutely convinced that the state, a citizen, the business, a company, and the opposition can use this crisis as an opportunity. In fact, everything is ready for it. We can use these methods of quick, proactive management steps taken not only for being self-sufficient or ignoring the shortcomings that were in all institutions and systems, but just for strengthening the institutions. Let's use these three months to strengthen the healthcare system, the social system, as well as the network of our laboratories, our construction sector, and our financial sector - to use all this to compete globally when there will be a vaccine when the world will be different. When everyone counts the results of this crisis, it is better for Georgia, which belonged to the level of average development prior to the crisis, to be a few steps ahead. It's not just our ability - it's our commitment. Due to this commitment, we have always taken the necessary steps to ensure that we understand the importance of this responsibility, first and foremost, for the further development of the country and for our citizens. Finally, I would like to say that effective states are formed under similar challenges - how uniformly and efficiently they will be able to respond to such global challenges. This is not a crisis of Georgia and this is not a crisis of any region. This is a global crisis and still ongoing. No one knows when it will end. So, our response to this crisis will be the responsibility of each of us, and this is the case when there will be no point in quarrelling and blaming each other. When, after some time, people evaluate what Georgia has done to fight the global pandemic, they will evaluate neither the ruling party, nor the opposition, nor the doctor, nor the epidemiologist, nor the police, nor the minister, but the whole country and this will be an extremely high assessment. I urge each of you, all members of the Government, our citizens, the opposition, which is also part of the Government - to do our best to be proud of each other and to be proud of the country because we have been able to be the most efficient, taking into account our resources compared to others, and we have used this efficiency primarily in the interests of our citizens", Giorgi Gakharia said.