Tamaz Somkhishvili, famous philanthropist and businessman, called the imposition of sanctions against the Georgian leadership a right and timely step that demonstrates determination and commitment to democratic values of Ukraine and its political leadership.  

Tamaz Somkhishvili, a British investor and one of the leaders of the Georgian diaspora in the UK, said this in a commentary to the SBI website.

“President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has once again shown that he is a strong man who is capable of making tough decisions and is not afraid to call a spade a spade. Indeed, if we do not respond to the events in Georgia in time, we will lose decades and a country will be deprived of freedom. This is exactly what is happening in my native Georgia,” said the British investor.

According to him, the Georgian diaspora is outraged by the actions of the pro-Russian government of Georgia, in particular, by brutal violence of security forces against protesters. He welcomes the international community's response to this lawlessness.

“It is important that the Ukrainian government is imposing sanctions against the part of the Georgian government that is handing over the country to Putin right now. We need to defend ourselves against Moscow together, as a civilized world. Both Europe and the United States must act as principled as Ukraine,” said Tamaz Somkhishvili.

The well-known philanthropist noted that he fully agrees with the foreign policy of the Ukrainian government, despite certain misunderstandings that have arisen between the British investor, Kyiv city authorities and Ukrainian law enforcement.

According to him, a lawsuit is currently underway in which the businessman is demanding that Kyiv authorities compensate him for his losses due to the illegal cancellation of the tender for reconstruction of the transport interchange. In 2007, Kyiv Terminal won an investment tender for the reconstruction of Kharkivska Square in Kyiv. The investment was supposed to be $165 million. The company paid the city the equivalent of $14 million at the time. However, the city authorities canceled the reconstruction and the investment project, and later refused to reimburse the investor for costs and losses. Total losses of the businessman's company amount to about $100 million.

“We had some misunderstandings due to the unfair treatment of investments in the economy of Kyiv and the whole country. This is a legal issue that I hope will be resolved in a legal way in the near future. But this is a separate case. The main thing is Ukraine's strong course of support for my homeland, Georgia, which is now in the grip of a pro-Russian junta that is acting against the will of its people, rigging elections, forcibly dispersing protests, and abandoning its course toward the EU. In fact, the Georgian leadership today is a puppet of the Kremlin, fulfilling Putin's tasks and ignoring the opinion of its people,” summarized Tamaz Somkhishvili.

It is worth reminding that protests continue in Georgia against the results of the parliamentary elections, which are not recognized by the European Union, international observers, the President of Georgia and opposition politicians.