The former president of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) and opposition MP Roman Gotsiridze responds to the NBG's statement, noting that it is "absolutely meaningless" and does not give the Georgian banking sector a clear directive on whether they should comply with international sanctions.
According to Roman Gotsiridze, the US sanctioning of high-ranking officials of the force structure and persons related to LLC "Alt-Info" is an unprecedented case, which requires a response from the authorities.
"We heard pointless statement of the National Bank. On the one hand, they declare, that the enforcement of sanctions against Georgian citizens will take place only if the court issues a guilty verdict, while on the other, the NBG notes, that Georgian commercial banks will follow the rules of international sanctions. What will the Georgian banking system understand from this statement?" says Roman Gotsiridze.
The National Bank of Georgia on Wednesday highlighted its “systematic supervision” of implementation of international sanctions, as well as the enforcement of compliance to its own regulations and national legislation by individual participants of the domestic financial sector.
The NBG also noted sanctions would apply to Georgian citizens when legally binding guilty verdicts were issued by the country's courts on the basis of imposed sanctions.
The central bank emphasised that Georgia was operating in full compliance with the requirements stipulated by sanctions and asserted that the country had “never been and will never become a place to evade sanctions”.
The Bank stated all representatives of the financial sector operating in the country were required to adhere to requirements of international sanctions.
