Papuashvili: Eagle Hills deal ‘entirely positive’, Brussels-backed groups aligned with xenophobic campaign

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday claimed the UAE Eagle Hills investment project had “only positive sides and no negative aspects,” arguing that Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s recent explanations “dispelled every myth, every piece of disinformation and every lie” surrounding the deal.

Speaking to journalists, Papuashvili claimed that Brussels-backed NGOs and political parties had aligned themselves with the far-right group Alt-Info, accusing both of spreading a “xenophobic narrative” in an attempt to trigger political change in Georgia.

“Over the past days, we saw that Brussels and Alt-Info ended up on the same side,” he said. “NGOs and politicians supported by Brussels share the same xenophobic line as Alt-Info, which should be alarming. Brussels needs to reflect on how it has ended up in such a value-based dead end, where groups under its protection are prepared to use xenophobia as a political weapon.”

Papuashvili further noted the Prime Minister had already provided detailed answers about all aspects of the Eagle Hills agreement that might be of interest to the public. He argued that demands to publish the full contract were unfounded, saying commercial investment agreements were not made public “in any country.”

He added that critics should look to the Anaklia port project if they were concerned about transparency. “Perhaps ask your funder whether the Anaklia contract is public - the one they later used to try to extract one and a half billion from Georgia’s budget,” he added. 

Papuashvili also dismissed criticism from civil activists and from individuals in the banking sector, accusing them of spreading speculation and misunderstanding basic financial calculations. He reiterated that the total value of the investment was ₾6.5 billion and said the Prime Minister had already outlined the project’s expected benefits.

“All questions that may be important for the public have been answered,” Papuashvili said. “Everything else was simple speculation.”