The EU-Georgia Business Council (EUGBC) is hosting its annual Black Sea Platform conference on November 20. Zviad Chumburidze, Secretary General of the non-profit organization, stated that the council is working to maintain Georgia’s role as a European gateway in the middle corridor despite challenges in the country’s European integration.
Guests from Central Asia and Eastern Europe, including business representatives from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Romania, and Bulgaria, as well as several ambassadors, are expected to attend the conference. Chumburidze emphasized that without Georgia, the region would lose access to European development and that the country remains crucial for European contacts in the South Caucasus.
When asked about funding, Chumburidze noted that EUGBC does not receive grants and operates using local resources. He stressed that foreign donations can become negotiable under current regulations, making independent funding necessary. The council was originally created by BP, which invested over USD 2 billion in the region and helped unite over a hundred companies with a permanent connection to Brussels.
Chumburidze also mentioned plans for a roundtable in Brussels next spring to reinforce Georgia’s European ties. He reaffirmed that EUGBC will continue its efforts to preserve the country’s European gateway function, stating, “We are not stopping and we cannot change the European path so easily.”
