Letters from a Georgian prison

Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

Former Prime Minister and former Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Merabishvili, who is on trial on four articles of the Penal Code for serious crimes of corruption, wrote about the deplorable condition of the Georgian economy: economic growth for the year fell by a third and the budget deficit amounted to about one billion lari from a total budget of 7.5 billion.

In the current situation Merabishvili does not mean that the causes of the crisis listed in his text have no point. The ex-prime minister describes the following causes of the deep crisis in the economy of Georgia after "Georgian Dream" came to power:

1) Failure to further reduce revenues planned by the former power.
2) Stricter requirements for large employers and social protection of workers and the impossibility of  immediate dismissal scared off investors.
3) The debate in Parliament about the need to ban casinos and betting.
4) The ban on free sale of agricultural land.
5 ) Increase in excise duties on certain products.
6) The irresponsible debate at governmental and parliamentary level on suspending the execution of court decisions on mortgage cases, ie eviction debtors.
7) Creation of new agencies and bureaucracies.
8) Initiation of the formation of a state insurance fund.
9 ) Initiation of the creation of a public pension fund.
10 ) Insistence that the international ratings of the country's economic success in previous years were false.
11) Aggressive xenophobia on the part of deputies from the ruling coalition in relation to national minorities.
12) Persecution of opposition.
13) The "irresponsible" withdrawal from his post of prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.
14 ) Applications for a new redistribution of property under the guise of "restoring trampled justice."
15) Reduction of the VAT return for business.
16 ) Cancellation of the visa-free regime with Iran and a number of Asian countries.
17 ) Waiver of spending resources actually mobilized in the budget.
18) Termination of infrastructure projects.
19) Focusing on the Russian market.
20) Non-recognition of the problems existing in the economy.

On this list there is everything from demagogically-inherent policies (such as accusations of abolishing the visa regime with Iran, while it was a categorical demand of a strategic ally - the United States ) to the usual squabbles between the "left " and the "right" about the appropriateness of social humanism, greater protection of workers employed and spending of budgetary funds for social needs, rather than development.

The demagogic "list " is confirmed by the fact that, when speaking about the failure of the new government to spend huge sums on infrastructure projects (really creating a lot of jobs) , the ex-prime minister "forgot" to mention: These funds were spent on universal health insurance for the population, including the insurance for retirees.

But in any case, the new government will have to think seriously about the effectiveness of its strategy in the economic sphere. Otherwise, if economic growth continues to decline, the questions asked by the former ruling team will gain increasing legitimacy.