Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

New Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili intends to restore ownership over the arable land plots taken away from ethnic Azerbaijani citizens of Georgia in the past.

Ivanishvili told a press conference in Tbilisi on Thursday that during the pre-election period, meetings were held with local residents, who said that arable lands were taken away even for sale to foreign nationals.

Georgia held parliamentary elections on October 1. Ivanishvili's opposition coalition Georgian Dream won the election, after which a new government was formed. Ivanishvili serves as prime minister in the new cabinet.

Ivanishvili also said the well-being of Georgian citizens is a priority for the new government, and pledged that ethnic Azerbaijani citizens will get back their arable lands.

"Georgian citizens constitute priority for us. We welcome foreign investment, but not at the expense of our citizens," he stressed.

Ivanishvili said he is likely to pay his next foreign visit to neighboring Azerbaijan, as his initially scheduled trip to the U.S. has been postponed.

"This visit will be the evidence of our desire to strengthen relations with Azerbaijan. Even though we have a very good relationship today, we are ready to encourage it further," Ivanishvili said, thanking Azerbaijan for its cooperation and assistance.

At a news conference held in Tbilisi for 150 Georgian and foreign reporters after the approval of the new government, Ivanishvili spoke of international and local issues.

Ivanishvili said the new Georgian government has fulfilled its promise to restore the rule of law in the country.

He said the process is underway to rid law enforcement agencies and the Interior Ministry of people who broke the law in the past. "You will witness how things develop," he said.

Ivanishvili expressed satisfaction with the changing situation in prisons and the prosecutor's office. "I am pleased how our ministers Sozar Subari [Minister of Corrections] and Tea Tsulukiani [Minister of Justice] work to deal with the cleansing of the ranks of law enforcement agencies," Ivanishvili said.

Ivanishvili said government agencies were formed as he had promised, and the vast majority of officials, even deputy ministers, remained in office.

With regard to the economic development of the country, Ivanishvili expressed his intention to establish two funds -- Investment Fund and Agriculture Development Fund.

The Investment Fund will bring together all wealthy people of Georgia seeking to invest in this fund, which would assist people doing business.

"This fund will also be designed to create conditions for development and improvement of the economic situation in the country," he said.

Ivanishvili also said the budget of the Agriculture Development Fund will equal 1 billion lari (about $600,000).

"This fund envisages opening new enterprises in every region, which will create new job opportunities," he said.

In an effort to develop the agricultural sector, Ivanishvili considers it important to start moving towards establishment of trade relations with Russia, which will open up the Russian market for Georgian goods.

According to him, this course will give a new impetus to the development of agriculture in the South Caucasus republic.

Ivanishvili stressed the efforts of new Agriculture Minister David Kirvalidze and special envoy for relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze in this regard.

With regard to internal conflicts, Ivanishvili said Georgia's territorial integrity must be restored and the rebel regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia must be part of the country.

"We need to improve relations with Sukhumi and Tskhinvali, showing that new people came to power in Georgia who are interested in establishing good relations," he said.

Ivanishvili noted further that Russia's interest in Georgia will awaken only if the country becomes "politically and economically interesting" for it.

Ivanishvili stressed that he has done everything possible to improve Georgia's relations with Russia, emphasizing the recent appointment of special representative Zurab Abashidze.

Diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia were established on July 1, 1992 after gaining independence from the former Soviet Union. Tensions between the two neighbors rose in August 2008 when Moscow crushed a Georgian assault to reassert control over Abkhazia and South Ossetia and later recognized the breakaway regions. In response, Tbilisi broke off diplomatic relations with Moscow and announced the two unrecognized republics as occupied territories in September 2008.

Georgia and the vast majority of other countries do not recognize Abkhazian and South Ossetian independence and officially consider them as sovereign territory of the Georgian state.

Ivanishvili also confirmed that he intends to quit politics after the elections to local government bodies in 2014.

At the same time, the prime minister said he will not withdraw if the situation tuns into the worst case scenario.

"If we cannot fulfil our promises, if the situation is tense and ambiguous, I'm not going anywhere and will be ready to take part in the elections," he added.