2019-12-13
On December 12-13, the Prime Minister of Georgia held an official visit to Ukraine.
During the visit, Giorgi Gakharia met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
During the face-to-face meeting, the two countries' leaders discussed common European prospects and challenges pertaining to territorial integrity. The parties emphasized the friendly relations between the Georgian and Ukrainian nations which promise to bring about concrete result for both countries.
Prime Minister Gakharia and President Zelensky also discussed deeper cooperation in the future focusing on overcoming common security challenges and achieving success on the two countries' path to Euro-Atlantic integration.
After the face-to-face discussions, an enhanced-format meeting was held at the Administration of the President of Ukraine, attended by Georgia's Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and the Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor Irakli Chikovani.
After the completion of the meeting, Giorgi Gakharia and Volodymyr Zelensky signed the Agreement on the Establishment of the High-Level Georgia-Ukraine Strategic Council. The work of the Strategic Council incorporates four directions: political, trade and economic, defense and security, and cultural and humanitarian. Each direction will have a working group led by corresponding Ministers, which will ensure a high level of comprehensive bilateral dialogue.
The leaders of eth two countries emphasized that the signing of the agreement at such a high level demonstrates the two countries' commitment to moving relations to a higher level.
Under the official visit, the Prime Minister of Georgia also met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksiy Honcharuk.
During the meeting, the Head of Georgian Government thanked the Ukrainian Prime Minister for supporting Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty, and emphasized that the Government of Georgia, for its part, always voices its unconditional support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, in both bilateral and multilateral formats.
According to the Georgian Prime Minister, the strategic partnership between the two countries must draw on effective economic cooperation, and the Georgian Government is ready to achieve more in the areas of trade, transport, and development and attract further investments in various directions.
Giorgi Gakharia also emphasized the importance of the Euro-Atlantic integration of Georgia and Ukraine, underlining the need to enhance the effectiveness of cooperation in this direction.
After the face-to-face meeting, enhanced-format negotiations were held with the participation of Georgia's Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and the Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor Irakli Chikovani.
According to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Georgia is Ukraine's strategic partner, and Prime Minister Gakharia's visit will lay the foundation for further deepening and developing bilateral relations. Oleksiy Honcharuk thanked his Georgian counterpart for supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. The Ukrainian Prime Minister emphasized the two countries' aspirations and added that intensive cooperation in this direction will continue.
As part of his official visit, the Prime Minister of Georgia met with Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov.
During the meeting, the Head of Government spoke about the aspirations and challenges of the two countries. Giorgi Gakharia also underscored the successful cooperation at the parliamentary level and commended the trilateral-format of cooperation between the Parliaments of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada thanked the Prime Minister of Georgia for his official visit, and emphasized that it is an honor to host Giorgi Gakharia in the 9th convocation of the Ukrainian Parliament.
During the visit, the Prime Minister participated in the Plenary Session of the Heads of the GUAM Member States. After the session, the parties signed documents designed to create a unified economic zone between the organization's member states, and to foster the achievement of FTAs. Giorgi Gakharia, together with the Heads of the GUAM Member States, signed the Comprehensive Declaration defining economic processes within GUAM, also the development of transport and energy corridors, prospects of developing free trade, people-to-people contacts, and bolstering tourism, along with the political dimension.
In addition, after the plenary session, the Letter of Intent was signed between the customs administrations of the GUAM Member States on the mutual recognition of authorized economic operators, to enable economic operators to enjoy special trust globally in relations with both the business community and controlling authorities.
Also, the Letter of Intent was signed between the customs administrations of the GUAM Member States on the use of blockchain technology in the verification of certificates of origin. Consequently, newly issued certificates of origin, besides the signature of an authorized individual, will feature a QR code verifying the validity of the given certificate.
The Prime Minister of Georgia, during his official visit to Ukraine, honored the memory of fallen heroes.
Prime Minister's Press Office