Acting President of the National Bank of Georgia [NBG], Natia Turnava, met today with the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski.

The conversation touched on the change in the rules for the enforcement of financial sanctions imposed by the US, UK and the EU as a result of Russia"s invasion of Ukraine. As it was mentioned at the meeting, the purpose of the change is to complete the process of enforcement of international sanctions and bring them into compliance with local legislation.

“We talked in detail about the regulation adopted by the NBG. We noted that the implemented change serves to make the sanctions perfect and in full compliance with the legislation of Georgia. Once again, we noted that the financial system and the NBG remain committed to the implementation of international sanctions. Of course, the Ambassador had questions about this decision, on which he received a detailed explanation from our side.

Also, we talked about the importance of macroeconomic stability of Georgia, about what challenges exist at this stage. One of the important issues was the cooperation with the International Monetary Fund. It was noted that the temporarily suspended program with the International Monetary Fund should be restored as soon as possible”, - said Natia Turnava.

“We maintain constant communication with the NBG. We talked about recent processes in the NBG. On my part, I emphasized the importance of the NBG as a strong and independent professional state institution. Of course, we especially noted the need for macroeconomic stability for all EU aid receiving countries. Especially now, when in a month the European Commission will publish the first enlargement report on Georgia. Among the 12 priorities, the 2nd priority specifically talks about strong state institutions. I sincerely hope that the IMF program will be renewed, which will help us to continue the cooperation without interruption and directly support Georgia”, - added Pawel Herczynski.