Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said the Georgian government should not directly interfere in private business activities, commenting on the European Union’s decision to impose sanctions on Russian state energy company Inter Rao.
Inter Rao, which was sanctioned by the EU, owns a 75.47% stake in the Telasi Group, while the remaining 24.52% is owned by a business holding associated with Georgian businessman Khvicha Makatsaria.
According to Kaladze, business in Georgia is protected from state interference, and the company’s owners should handle the issue themselves. He added that the government would take action only if there is a necessary and justified reason to do so.
“This is a business activity, and rough intervention by the state contradicts the principles we have followed since 2012. They [the owners] will sort things out among themselves. Business is untouchable,” Kaladze told journalists.
Kaladze also criticized the previous sale of Georgian strategic assets to Russian state-linked companies, saying such transactions took place after the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. He claimed that criticism of Russian businesses increased only after the Russia-Ukraine war began, calling the current approach “hypocrisy.”
