The head of the Distributors Association, Lasha Rizhamadze, echoed Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's statement today, noting that he is ready to join the work of the special parliamentary commission on the issue of food prices.

As he told InterpressNews, the part of the Prime Minister's statement where he notes that "the head of the Distributors Association is a radical opposition activist" was "vague and unclear" to him.

As Rizhamadze explains, the Prime Minister was provided with incorrect information, since since the association was established, they have been openly talking about the problems facing producers and distribution companies and demanding that a law be passed on regulating food prices as soon as possible.

"For us, it was vague and unclear. Perhaps the Prime Minister was given incorrect information. I have been the President of the Association for the last 2 years. I will repeat once again that we have been demanding the adoption of this law for years, pointing out exactly the problems that were in the Prime Minister's statement. These demands were made by us on the problems facing producers and distribution companies. We provided the information that was voiced regarding the imposed taxes. This created a problem in formulating prices.

We have been trying to do this for years, we want to present information about the problems that producers and distribution companies are facing.

Of course, we are ready to actively engage and provide any type of information, on the contrary, our goal is for this law to be adopted as soon as possible. A good complex decision should be made in accordance with the examples of different countries. We have been demanding this since the day the Association was founded," said Lasha Rizhamadze.

For information, the Prime Minister stated that the difference between Georgian and European prices for food products is indeed large. According to Irakli Kobakhidze, the difference is due to the high markup of distribution companies and markets, which averages 86% from the border to the counter. The Prime Minister called on law enforcement agencies to study the issue related to food prices. Kobakhidze also asked the Parliament to establish a parliamentary commission to assess the issue.

In addition, the Prime Minister noted today that the head of the Distributors Association is a radical opposition activist.

"He should come to Parliament and prove that this price increase is correct, healthy, and not based on cartel deals."