Saakashvili Responds to Pashinyan's Statement

The former President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, responded today via a Facebook live stream to the statement made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that Armenia surpassed Georgia in GDP growth for the first time in 2019.

Saakashvili specifically stated, “Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has announced that Armenia has overtaken Georgia in terms of GDP per capita for the first time. This has never happened during either my presidency or even during Shevardnadze's tenure. Such a thing has not occurred since Armenia's great sovereign, Tigran the Great. Geographically and in terms of resources, there is no reason for Armenians to earn more than Georgians. However, a similar trick was used by Bidzina Ivanishvili in the past,” as reported by tert.am.

He continued, “Let’s talk about the economic indicators at the end of Shevardnadze’s presidency. In Georgia, GDP per capita was $1000, but during my administration, that figure quadrupled, reaching $4000. If power had not changed in Georgia in 2012, the country would now be at the level of Greece or Croatia. Our families would not have had to leave the country to seek work. Since I left, Georgia's GDP has not changed, and it is possible that the country is poorer than it was during my tenure.”

Following this, Saakashvili discussed Bidzina Ivanishvili and his political team. He noted that now, when asked what kind of state Georgia is, people say, ‘Georgia is a country that is poorer than Armenia, and there is no water in the winter resorts,’ and it is necessary to compare what name the country had in 2012.