Mamuka Khazaradze: Gov't Wants to Suspend Anaklia Port Project

The founders of JSC TBC Bank, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, have arrived at the Prosecutor General’s Office, where the charge of laundering a total sum of $16 754 000 will be officially read to them. 

As Khazaradze, who is also the founder of the Anaklia Development Consortium, told journalists, “everything is directed against the Anaklia Port Project and the government is trying to suspend the construction of the Port".  

“I can say that all these are efforts of the government to stop the construction of Anaklia Deep Sea Port. The same attack took place in January. It caused very serious damage to the bank's shareholders as well as the Anaklia Port Project.

"Yesterday, we selected the new general constructor company of Anaklia Port, which suspiciously coincided with one of the minister's statements that there is no progress. Today we heard the Prosecutor’s statement from TV aimed at harming Anaklia Port. If someone thinks that Anaklia is my project they are very wrong. This is the project of our children, the project of our future generation, this is an absolutely new way, and a very important step to Europe”, Khazaradze said before entering the Prosecutor’s Office.  

He also added that he is ready for everything and nobody can intimidate him.

Today, the Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia charged the founders of JSC TBC Bank, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze.

According to the agency, they are accused of the laundering a total sum of $16 754 000.

“Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze are charged for the laundering of $16 754 000, as a result of which they received a large amount of income”, reads the statement of the Prosecutor General's Office.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia launched an investigation into the legalization of illicit income by the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TBC Bank on 2 August 2018.

Related Story: Prosecutor’s Office Charges Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze

By Ana Dumbadze 

24 July 2019 17:28