Epress.am News from Armenia
Georgia will abolish visas for Russians as it tries to attract bigger investment, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Tuesday in a rare gesture of goodwill between the former Soviet republics which fought a war in 2008, Reuters reports.
The Kremlin has refused to have any contact with Saakashvili since Russia crushed an assault by Georgia’s US-trained military on the Russian-backed rebel region of South Ossetia in August 2008.
But Saakashvili, who came to power in 2003, said Tbilisi wanted to abolish visas to send a signal to Russian businessmen and tourists that Georgia would welcome them.
“We want to give peace a chance and to step up with an initiative to abolish the visa regime with Russia unilaterally,” Saakashvili said in parliament during his annual address to the nation.
“Let all Russian businessmen know that Georgia is as attractive country for them as any other,” said Saakashvili, adding that Georgia’s aspirations to join the NATO military alliance and the European Union remained firmly in place.
Saakashvili said Georgia’s decision not to block Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization showed Tbilisi wanted to improve ties with its former imperial ruler.
“Let every Russian businessman know that they can come to Georgia, invest in Georgia, do business in Georgia, employ people in Georgia, and they will be protected here like any other representative of other countries… Let Russian tourists know that they can arrive here at any time,” he said, adding that in Georgia no one would “ban them from drinking Georgian wine and Borjomi, which they miss so much,” Civil Georgia reports. (Note, Russia banned import of Georgian wine and mineral waters in 2006.)
In October, 2010 Georgia allowed 90-day visa-free travel for Russian citizens registered as residents of Russia’s republics in the North Caucasus, while other Russian citizens were able to obtain the visa upon arrival in Georgia.