Kobakhidze said that American criticism is unfair and financial assistance is not particularly interesting
The assistance provided by the United States to Georgia is "less interesting from a practical point of view", since most of it is spent on non-governmental organizations, said Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
This is how he commented on the discussion at the committee hearings in the US Senate on Georgia.
US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Karen Donfried said "about Georgia's democratic rollback" and "outrageous criticism" of the American ambassador in Tbilisi. And Senator Jeanne Shaheen said that it may be time for the United States to reconsider its strategy towards Georgia in terms of the amount of assistance provided.
According to Kobakhidze, the criticism voiced in the Senate against the Georgian authorities is unfair.
"Most of this (American) funding goes to NGOs, so from a practical point of view it is less interesting for us. As for unfair criticism, unfair criticism has no weight for us", Kobakhidze said.
He noted that non-governmental organizations should mainly worry about the US plans to continue financial assistance to Georgia.
"So, whether NGOs will be financed or not, let them worry about it", Kobakhidze said.
The leader of the ruling party did not comment on the amount of American aid that goes under state programs.
Earlier, the American side estimated the amount of financial assistance to Georgia for 30 years, since 1992, at $ 6 billion.
According to the Georgian Defense Ministry, Georgia has received more than 445 million US dollars through the military department alone since 1997. This year, Georgia received $35 million from the United States to strengthen its defense capability.
According to the US Embassy, in the period from 2010 to 2017, the United States annually allocated $60 million a year in non-military aid to Georgia.
Over 21 years, for example, $2 million has been allocated from the US Ambassador's Fund for more than 20 projects of Georgia's cultural heritage. This money was used to restore important Georgian monuments of tangible and intangible cultural heritage: the Gelati monastery complex, the Cross Monastery, murals from Tetri Udabno, digitization of historical documents, support of Georgian folklore and archaeological excavations.
Georgia received a grant of $140 million from the United States in 2014-2019 to improve educational infrastructure, scientific and technical education, and European education became available to more than 1,800 students within the framework of the EU educational program.
The judicial system, healthcare, democratic institutions, entrepreneurship – for the development and reform of these areas, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has allocated more than $ 1.8 billion to Georgia, and in the next five years it will spend an additional $ 330 million in the country.
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Kobakhidze said that American criticism is unfair and financial assistance is not particularly interesting
The assistance provided by the United States to Georgia is "less interesting from a practical point of view", since most of it is spent on non-governmental organizations, said Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
This is how he commented on the discussion at the committee hearings in the US Senate on Georgia.
US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Karen Donfried said "about Georgia's democratic rollback" and "outrageous criticism" of the American ambassador in Tbilisi. And Senator Jeanne Shaheen said that it may be time for the United States to reconsider its strategy towards Georgia in terms of the amount of assistance provided.
According to Kobakhidze, the criticism voiced in the Senate against the Georgian authorities is unfair.
"Most of this (American) funding goes to NGOs, so from a practical point of view it is less interesting for us. As for unfair criticism, unfair criticism has no weight for us", Kobakhidze said.
He noted that non-governmental organizations should mainly worry about the US plans to continue financial assistance to Georgia.
"So, whether NGOs will be financed or not, let them worry about it", Kobakhidze said.
The leader of the ruling party did not comment on the amount of American aid that goes under state programs.
Earlier, the American side estimated the amount of financial assistance to Georgia for 30 years, since 1992, at $ 6 billion.
According to the Georgian Defense Ministry, Georgia has received more than 445 million US dollars through the military department alone since 1997. This year, Georgia received $35 million from the United States to strengthen its defense capability.
According to the US Embassy, in the period from 2010 to 2017, the United States annually allocated $60 million a year in non-military aid to Georgia.
Over 21 years, for example, $2 million has been allocated from the US Ambassador's Fund for more than 20 projects of Georgia's cultural heritage. This money was used to restore important Georgian monuments of tangible and intangible cultural heritage: the Gelati monastery complex, the Cross Monastery, murals from Tetri Udabno, digitization of historical documents, support of Georgian folklore and archaeological excavations.
Georgia received a grant of $140 million from the United States in 2014-2019 to improve educational infrastructure, scientific and technical education, and European education became available to more than 1,800 students within the framework of the EU educational program.
The judicial system, healthcare, democratic institutions, entrepreneurship – for the development and reform of these areas, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has allocated more than $ 1.8 billion to Georgia, and in the next five years it will spend an additional $ 330 million in the country.
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