PM Gakharia: Organizations that violate COVID-19 induced regulations will not be eligible for subsidies

During the February 4th government meeting Prime Minister Gakharia announced that those organizations that violate the existing healthcare regulations will not be eligible for any government support and will not receive subsidies. Gakharia noted that that the deliberate violation of the rules will be taken very seriously, and the organizations that choose to go through with it will not be able to receive governmental support established during the pandemic.

Earlier this week, approximately 200 restaurants announced that they will reopen on February 6th despite the existing violations. Chairman of the Restaurant Association of Georgia Shota Burjanadze said that the government failed to provide this sector with a reasonable solution to the crisis and postponed the scheduled meeting. He added that this was a difficult decision to make and the restaurant owners understand the risks associated with it.

Founder of the Association of Entertainment Centres Giorgi Mtiulishvili claimed that the “government turned into a python and is literally strangling us”.

“There are 232 countries in the world and they are not closed down like we are, only 708 countries have similar restrictions in place, and one of them is Zimbabwe [….] They [ Georgian government] did not offer us a solution. Turnava should have apologized to us today, she should have presented a feasible plan on how to move forward instead of threatening us,” Mtiulishvili said in an interview with PalitraNews.

Should the restaurants go through with their decision and reopen on February 6th despite the existing restrictions. Individuals who choose to eat at the restaurants that illegally open will be fined GEL2,000, whereas the establishment will be fined GEL10,000.

The movement “Shame” has announced an event to take place on February 6th, Saturday 20-00 in front of the parliament building. The movement claims that the previous public unrest has already brought about some positive results as some of the restrictions got lifted. They expect a feasible crisis management plan to be announced and the curfew to be abolished.