Future of former parliament building in Kutaisi is still unclear
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Thursday, January 16
The fate of the former Parliament building that was built in 2012 in Kutaisi is still unclear. It was reported that the West Georgia police hub was going to open in the building but as the online media outlet, IPN reported, the Ministry of Internal Affairs doesn't own the building.
According to IPN, the building is now owned by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.
“The inventorisation has been completed and a decision will be made soon on the functional loading of the former parliament building,” say the representatives of the ministry.
Mamuka Khazaradze, the leader of the political movement Lelo for Georgia, proposes to organise an international stock exchange in the former parliament building.
“We should make Kutaisi the financial center of the region. From our calculations and analogues that have been made in other countries, we think that in a few years the capital turnover will be $ 4 billion,” noted Khazaradze.
In addition, as Khazaradze says, Kutaisi International Airport should become a hub and not only for passengers but also for cargo.
“We need to modernize and bring in giants like Alibaba, Amazon, Fedex, etc. We have ties with them. From Kutaisi airport we can reach the market of half a billion people within a three-hour radius,” Khazaradze said.
According to the member of the United National Movement, Salome Samadashvili, the former parliament building is a good example of ‘stagnation of the country.’
“Moving Parliament, or other state agencies, to Kutaisi would have a long-term impact on Kutaisi's development. But today, Kutaisi, like many other Georgian cities and villages, is forgotten and left without any prospects for development,” noted Samadalashvili.
One of the leaders of the European Georgia, Sergi Kapanadze, says that this is a disrespect to state institutions, ‘because Ivanishvili wants to be the only institution that is respected by everyone.’
He said that other than the fact that Kutaisi had lost its political function, the former parliament building remained inoperative, which was 'misappropriation of state property.'
The Georgian Parliament Building in Kutaisi was constructed from 2011 to 2012 in Kutaisi. The building was inaugurated on 26 May 2012 and, according to the respective constitutional clause, became the main seat of the newly elected Parliament in October 2012 until the legislature moved back to Tbilisi in January 2019.
