In his FB post the former Governor of the NBG Giorgi Kadagidze named 10 steps that the GoG would have taken if it had genuinely supported Ukraine.
1. The government would have adopted a law according to which restrictions on individuals and legal entities sanctioned by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom would have been applied to the territory of Georgia.
2. A monitoring group would have been created according to the special normative act, which would have regulated customs procedures and control to minimize import, re-export and other increased risks with the Russian Federation.
3. The government’s goal would have been to reduce / eliminate imports from Russia (Russia did it itself in 2007). In return, they would have demanded appropriate assistance from Western countries. For reference, imports from Russia hit a historic high in April.
4. Georgian government would have introduced a visa regime with Russia, thus controlling who we want to receive and who we do not. Today, we have the most liberal visa regime with Russia, after Belarus and Armenia.
5. Plastic cards and bank accounts issued to Russian citizens would have been active only on the territory of Georgia, thus minimizing the risk of using banking channels to circumvent sanctions.
6. A special restriction would have been introduced on establishing companies by Russian citizens, according to which the director had to be a citizen of Georgia (similar to the model of the Dubai Economic Zone).
7. Georgian government would have officially closed the airspace like the western countries. In the absence of direct flights, this would be a strong political statement without any harm.
8. Georgian government would have given organized assistance to medical staff, as well as ensuring treatment and rehabilitation of the manageable number of wounded people (in Tskaltubo, Borjomi, Nunisi).
9. To avoid speculation, Georgian government would have been published a single monthly report on the increase / decrease in exports and imports, the number of opened bank accounts, the number and activities of registered companies, the number of real estate transactions, etc.
10. The Prime Minister of Georgia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Mayor of Tbilisi and other officials would repeatedly visit Kyiv like the leaders from Britain, Poland, the Baltic states, Finland and all other Western countries. Most importantly, as they did when we were in trouble”, - the post reads.
