Former leader of Georgian Dream and ex-Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili has released another letter—the eighth to date—from prison. In an open address, he reminded the public of the circumstances under which he assumed the head of government role for a second time in February 2021.
Garibashvili writes that at the time, “the country was facing an acute political crisis,” accompanied by the pandemic and, as he notes, vaccine shortages, a “closed country,” and a “locked-down economy.” In the letter, he cites the economic recession, the budget deficit, the public-debt-to-GDP ratio, and the exchange rate of the national currency, the lari.
According to the former prime minister, in 2021 he took over a “collapsing government” and quickly “stabilized” the situation:
“The country was practically facing the threat of default. The country and the team, trapped in such a profound crisis, were abandoned by Gakharia when he committed an unexpected betrayal and resigned. The government was on the verge of collapse, the ruling party was demoralized, the team was disoriented, and the party’s rating at the time had plunged to 35–37%. It was such a collapsing government that I took over on February 18, 2021.
Immediately after being appointed prime minister, we restored balance in the shortest possible timeframe, strengthened the team, stabilized the situation, and together took bold, effective, and at that time risky steps: we reopened the country, imported three types of vaccines, rejected the Covid dictatorship, and I granted our people complete freedom of choice regarding vaccination.
In parallel, we unlocked the frozen economy and gave a powerful impetus to business and economic development. Under Covid conditions, we launched new initiatives across the country, major infrastructure projects, the regional renewal program, and commenced work across all municipalities.”
As Garibashvili points out, that same year Georgian Dream decisively won the local elections, surpassing the 43% threshold and securing 47%. According to him, the authorities managed to prevent destabilization and a coup attempt involving Saakashvili, “put all destructive forces in their place, and brought an end to the political crisis.”
In addition, the politician notes, the government concluded both 2021 and 2022 with unprecedented double-digit economic growth. According to Garibashvili, the country’s economy grew fastest precisely during his “three-year tenure.” At the same time, he reiterated the narrative that Georgia had averted the danger of “being dragged into war” and “revolution”:
“In three years, the economy grew by thirty billion lari. We managed to bring inflation under control—it dropped below the target and, at times, was even under 1%. As a result, price pressures subsided.
For example, by opening the Turkish market and introducing reference pricing for pharmaceuticals, medicine prices dropped instantly—falling by an average of 30–40%—and ultimately, over two years, we helped our population save 400 million lari. Let me remind you that prior to this, medications were sold with markups of 100–300%, and no effective oversight existed.
We brought the budget deficit down from 9% to 2.8% and stabilized the lari exchange rate within the 2.6–2.7 range. Over three years, public debt was drastically reduced from 60% to 38%.
Thanks to targeted programs focused on the population and especially on low-income citizens (for instance, we allocated 500 million lari annually and established monthly allowances for children from socially vulnerable families), unemployment and poverty dropped to historic lows, and tens of thousands of new jobs were created. Following a multi-year hiatus, we raised civil servants’ salaries (increasing the pay of police officers, military personnel, and special service operatives by 40–50% over three years) and raised pensions, as well as the salaries of teachers and doctors.
Strong and real economic growth enabled us to expand the state budget multiple times within a single year and channel additional funds toward various needs of the country and its people.
All sectors and areas developed rapidly. Georgia ranked first in economic growth rates among EU member states and candidate countries. In terms of low inflation, we ranked third, and tenth in having the lowest public debt levels. During my three years in office, our team and I weathered the most severe crises. We averted real threats of revolution and of being dragged into war.
From the very first days of the Russia-Ukraine war, despite immense pressure, we firmly and uncompromisingly defended the national interests of our country, averting destabilization and genuine military danger.”
In the same letter, the former prime minister addresses foreign policy, the consolidation of Georgia’s regional standing, and obtaining EU candidate status:
“Alongside the rapid domestic development of the country, we pursued an active foreign policy. In three years, we conducted 25 foreign visits. We submitted our application for European Union membership. We concluded new strategic partnerships and free trade agreements. I carried out successful visits to China, Brussels, European capitals, America, the Middle East and Gulf states, Israel, and Jordan (where, with the blessing of His Holiness Ilia II, Georgia returned to the Holy Land after three hundred years).
We strengthened friendly and strategic relations in the region. The first mediation in recent times between Azerbaijan and Armenia took place with my direct involvement. In addition, a meeting of the prime ministers of all three countries was held in Tbilisi for the first time.”
Garibashvili puts a question to the public:
“And finally: without bowing to anyone either domestically or abroad, solely through the uncompromising defense of our country’s national interests and through the collective efforts of our team, we obtained EU candidate status in December 2023. Through the results achieved and, crucially, through democratic methods, we politically neutralized the entire radical opposition, leaving no ground for criticism. In January 2024, my government’s approval rating stood at 60%, as did the party’s rating.
With these results, I stepped down as prime minister in late January 2024.
Nearly three years have passed since, and I want to ask the people: has the situation in the country improved or deteriorated—both in domestic and foreign policy?!”
Letters from Prison:
Irakli Garibashvili served as Prime Minister of Georgia twice—from November 20, 2013, to December 23, 2015, and from February 22, 2021, to February 8, 2024. In addition, he twice led the ruling Georgian Dream party. Garibashvili finally left the party in April 2025, several months after stepping down as prime minister. At the time, he stated that he saw no further need to remain party chairman or stay in politics altogether. Nevertheless, the former prime minister maintained that he remained a “loyal soldier” of Ivanishvili’s team.
Subsequently, the politician was arrested, charged with corruption, and sentenced to five years in prison (he faced between 9 and 12 years of imprisonment, but in January 2026 it was revealed that he had pled guilty and entered into a plea agreement with the prosecutor’s office).
On August 24, Garibashvili was served with a new charge: accepting a bribe on an especially large scale committed by an organized group upon prior conspiracy. This criminal statute carries a penalty of 11 to 15 years in prison. This time, the ex-prime minister refused to plead guilty and declared his intention to fight for justice.
Meanwhile, since mid-August, Garibashvili has regularly published letters on social media, claiming he is being “forced” into an open fight.
- August 17: Irakli Garibashvili for the first time openly spoke out against the ruling team and Bidzina Ivanishvili. According to him, “on Bidzina Ivanishvili’s instructions,” a letter was sent to him proposing that he “confess” to a corruption offense unknown to him in order to hedge against a 1% “risk” of his return to politics. He placed full responsibility for his safety and that of his family directly on Ivanishvili and the current authorities;
- In the publication of August 18, he no longer mentions Ivanishvili, asserting instead that the sender of the letter was Mamuka Mdinaradze—who had previously served as vice prime minister, minister, head of the State Security Service of Georgia (SSG), and leader of the parliamentary majority. In the same letter, Garibashvili noted that he had “done everything” to avoid confrontation with his team and close associates. He claimed this was why he had admitted to the initial corruption charges, resulting in a five-year sentence under a plea deal. Nine days after Garibashvili’s letter was published, Mdinaradze unexpectedly announced his departure from politics;
- In his third open letter from prison on August 20, the ex-prime minister alleged that threats had been made to arrest members of his family. According to the politician, he is being pressured to plead guilty in the new case “solely to hedge the so-called one-percent risk communicated by you and banish me from politics forever.” The former premier claimed this was accompanied by “immoral blackmail and pressure”: “For the second time, hints were made about the arrest of my 75-year-old father”;
- On August 25, the former Georgian prime minister released another letter from prison, stating that he saw no point in attending court hearings because the new criminal case against him was purely political. Garibashvili called the proceedings a “political masquerade” and stressed that the truth was now his only path and weapon in the fight;
- In his letter of September 1, the former prime minister stated that he had questions regarding the suicide of an interviewee for the newspaper Asaval-Dasavali who had praised him and criticized Irakli Kobakhidze. According to Garibashvili, some had questioned the suicide narrative: “I ask this question publicly because questions remain unanswered in society regarding the suicides of several individuals that occurred during the Kobakhidze–Mdinaradze rule.” Following the letter’s release, opposition leaders were summoned for questioning, though the politicians named in the post were not;
- In his letter of September 7, Irakli Garibashvili claimed that “dirty political games” were being waged against him, adding that he had recently heard shameful and false statements from people who had lost their human decency. According to the ex-premier, the authorities are seeking to discredit him by linking him to the United National Movement, but these “ludicrous and helpless” efforts are futile. The politician asserted that Georgian Dream was staging a “revolting and tragic” masquerade;
- On September 21, in his seventh letter, he once again addressed his former allies, stating that they had “confused even their own voters” and sown “fear of hopelessness, instability, and an unpredictable future.” “You are already walking down Saakashvili’s path and bringing back the governing methods of the United National Movement.” According to Garibashvili, he had been promised that if he pled guilty, he would receive a plea bargain involving a long suspended sentence and a fine, without prison time. However, the ex-premier claims, he was “double-crossed.”