“He is a man who is currently in detention, and I think that, given my situation, it would not be entirely right for me to go on the offensive against him. However, I can tell you with absolute sincerity that when I personally, along with other representatives of the government, took such an uncompromising stance against corruption, we were also prepared for the fact that accusations of this kind - perhaps even worse ones - would be, are, and will be made,” Regional Development Minister Mamuka Mdinaradze said in response to a recent statement by former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

According to Mdinaradze, if government representatives are not prepared for such accusations, they will neither be able to fight corruption nor carry out effective management.

“I will not talk about the objectives; I will refrain from doing so. He is a man who is currently in detention, and I think that, given my situation, it would not be entirely right for me to go on the offensive against him. However, I can tell you one thing with absolute sincerity: when I personally, along with other representatives of the government, took such an uncompromising stance against corruption, we were also prepared for the fact that accusations of this kind, perhaps even worse ones, would be, are, and will be made. If you, as a government representative, are not prepared for this, then you cannot fight corruption, you cannot get things done, and you cannot ensure efficient management.

“When a person goes on the offensive and makes unfounded and contradictory statements, I will try not to discuss his motives today. We cannot seriously discuss such matters, regardless of how many attacks are made against us because of our fight against corruption,” Mdinaradze said.

In addition, he spoke about delays in individual projects in the regions resulting from corruption-related crimes and urged those implementing the projects not to take advantage of the government’s humanitarian approach.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to talk about problems inherited from previous years that resulted from corruption-related crimes and which we unfortunately have as a legacy today. In every region I have visited, we have encountered several projects - in some places a bridge, in others a road, water supply or gasification projects - that remain unfinished to this day because of several individual contractors, or have been completed to a poor standard.

“I want to warn everyone - those people who are trying to obtain greater financial benefit at the expense of delays, poor quality and creating problems - not to take advantage of us and our humanitarian approach so easily, and to complete the projects that have been started in the regions on time and to a proper standard. Neither I nor any other government representative intends to accept a situation where, somewhere, the concrete grade has been reduced, somewhere else a project has been delayed, and as a result the population is left facing problems. This is also a form of corruption, and we must fight it as well.

“We are prepared for accusations. The main thing is that these accusations are not true. I will endure this and many other things as well, and we will not take a single step back in the fight against corruption,” Mdinaradze said.

For context, former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said in a statement published on social media that the main purpose of the so-called “anti-corruption campaign” was to send him to prison and politically destroy him.

As Garibashvili wrote in his message, he had no other option and was being forced to begin a fight.

“I want to tell the public the truth about why I am in prison. The main purpose of the so-called ‘anti-corruption campaign’ that began last year was to put me in prison and politically destroy me. I declare with full responsibility that I did everything I could to avoid entering into a confrontation with the team and with a person dear to me. For this very reason, I refused to pursue a legal battle and went through the devastating process to the end so as not to harm the interests of the state and the team.

“Unfortunately, in return I received a staged, dirty provocation, many lies and injustice. The public has not heard a single word from me throughout this entire period. I endured this ordeal with complete patience.

“But unexpectedly for me, in July I received the letter I published yesterday, which had been sent to me by Mamuka Mdinaradze. That same day, I made my position known to him and once again stated that I did not intend to return to politics. In order to mitigate the aforementioned ‘risk,’ I offered my own proposal. In response, however, I was told that there still remained a 1% risk that I might return to politics, and that, for this reason, it was necessary to bring corruption charges against me and for me to admit to them.

“That was the red line that made me take the most difficult step of my life. Therefore, since I have no other way out, I am being forced to begin a fight...” the letter states.