PM candidate says Georgia now lags behind West

The candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, has said that he wants to become the head of the government in order to overcome the existing problems in the country, Caliber.Az reports citing Georgian media.

Irakli Kobakhidze was nominated for the post of prime minister by the ruling Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia party, as the party that received the highest number of votes in the parliamentary elections, in accordance with the Georgian Constitution. The nomination was made after the resignation of the incumbent Irakli Garibashvili.

"Why do I want to be prime minister? To solve problems," Kobakhidze said.

According to him, the government is not going to lie to the people and tell them that all is well in Georgia.

"In fact, we have made fundamental progress in comparison with 2012, but there are still a lot of problems. And the reason for these problems is that in economic terms we are still lagging behind the countries of Western Europe, the United States and so on. That's the reality," said Kobakhidze.

Poverty is one of the main challenges for the government and the country, the Georgian prime ministerial candidate said.

"One of our national problems is that in 2022 the poverty rate was 15.6 per cent, which means that half a million people live below the poverty line. I suggest that we do not lie to ourselves or to you," Kobakhidze said.

The prime ministerial candidate also mentioned the demographic problem.

"We have serious demographic problems. We are not satisfied with the level of migration, nor with the birth rate, nor with the level of marriages and divorces. If you take a look at the simple figures, the statistics, you will see that the problems are very serious," Kobakhidze said.

The Georgian prime ministerial candidate also mentioned the rise in prices and the fight against monopolies.

"Monopolies are an important problem and need to be tackled. Despite the fact that there are still problems, the Georgian government is actively working on these issues in various areas, especially to reduce prices. We're going to pay particular attention to ensuring that monopolies do not hinder the development of our economy and that prices are not artificially raised. This is challenging and needs to get done," he said.

At the same time, the candidate for the post of prime minister is aware that the government has no control over price increases.

"Prices in any country cannot be the same as they were 11 years ago. The point is that the economy needs to grow more than inflation is growing," Kobakhidze said.

According to him, Georgia has been through two economic crises since 2012, but it has been able to make significant progress, which is visible.

According to him, when Georgian Dream came to power in 2012, Georgia's GDP was $10 billion. Now it is $30 billion.