According to the President, "We should not say that this is a renovated building, we should instead call it a new theater. To be honest, this building was a weakness of mine. I used to visit the construction site very often. Basically, we started everything from a scratch and this project is one of the clear signs of what is being done in Georgia. Kutaisi Theater was almost completely rebuilt; renovations are going on at the Meskhishvili Theater. The Marjanishvili, Rustaveli and Griboedov Theaters were renovated in Tbilisi. Huge restoration work is going on at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater as well. Tbilisi Concert Hall was practically rebuilt. TelaviTtheater was renovated too, as well as other cultural centers, and of course, this incredibly beautiful Batumi Theater. Several days ago a famous Danish architect, Hening Larsen was visiting Batumi. He designed one of the most beautiful opera buildings in the world, Copenhagen Opera. I had a chance to meet with him and he was stunned by what he had seen here.

 

I think opening this center is the birth of a new genre and the beginning of a renaissance of the Georgian culture. What is being done in this direction is of great importance for us and for the city of Batumi. People keep repeating two things regarding this city: First, that people who come here from different parts of Georgia find the constantly bad weather discomforting. Second, that the number of tourists visiting Batumi was greater last year compared to this year. None of these stories is true. The weather has clearly improved and the number of tourists has increased incredibly. During Aslan Abashidze's rule, around 130-140 thousand tourists would visit Adjara each year, which is three times less than the population of Adjara. Since then, the number of tourists visiting increased and the number today is three and a half times the population of Adjara. All these facts mean that we have more employment; more and more people are becoming engaged in small business and finding new sources of income, which enables them to provide a better education to their children, put money aside for medical care, and improve their living conditions.

 

Miracles do really happen in this city, and people are wrong when they criticize us for comparing Batumi to Cannes or Nice. Neither Cannes nor Nice has a theater as beautiful as this one...while arriving here; local population warmly welcomed us, knowing that everything we do is being done for people. This is something that a lot of politicians on TV do not know. The fact that Opera Theater was built here means that real estate prices in the neighborhood have doubled or even tripled. This also means that the number of tourists will increase, as well as the number of small cafes, small businesses; hence, the local population will have better opportunities in the future.

 

All of these facts make me happy. A truly great project was accomplished in Batumi. The efforts of Levan Varshalomidze, as well as Mr.Khmaladze and his son, whose architecture is definitely worth the praise, have to be noted. Nowadays almost everything is being built by Georgians. When we started rebuilding Batumi, we imported 80% of our workforce from Turkey. Right now almost everything is being built by Georgians. We managed to improve our skills, which has led us to new sources of income. This is also a true achievement. Moreover, in the process of rebuilding Batumi, people who had been unemployed for almost 10 years found jobs. Therefore, this is not only a cultural celebration, but also a big step towards rebuilding the country. This amazing Opera building and everything else that is being done should be considered among the best in the world.

 

For a very long time period we were miserable laggards, always lagging behind. We let others convince us that we were unable to accomplish anything significant; that we would always be beggars and losers. But no! We will work more efficiently than others and no matter how many times the opposition members call me "fountain the first", we will successfully finish everything we started. There are fountains inside and outside the buildings, but fountains are not all that we are trying to build: there are Opera buildings, cultural centers, factories, jobs in the agricultural sector, schools and universities, including the new Batumi University of Technology, construction of which will begin shortly.

 

To make the long story short, this is a dream come true, and I would like to repeat once again, this dream is coming true for the happiness of every patriot in Georgia and for misery for enemies of our country."

 

The Patriarch of Georgia and several members of the Georgian Government were among the guests invited to the premiere.

 

The President of Georgia attended the first premiere at the renovated Batumi Center of Arts and Culture

 

The President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili along with the first lady of  Georgia, Sandra Roelofs attended the premiere of the musical "Keto and Kote" at the renovated Batumi Center of Arts and Culture. According to Mikheil Saakashvili, "the project was completed in an incredibly short amount of time and as in the case of Kutaisi and Tbilisi, it is now possible to organize grandiose events in Batumi." In his speech, President Saakashvili also mentioned Tourism and emphasized the fact that the number of tourists in Batumi this year compared to last year has tripled.

 

According to the President, "We should not say that this is a renovated building, we should instead call it a new theater. To be honest, this building was a weakness of mine. I used to visit the construction site very often. Basically, we started everything from a scratch and this project is one of the clear signs of what is being done in Georgia. Kutaisi Theater was almost completely rebuilt; renovations are going on at the Meskhishvili Theater. The Marjanishvili, Rustaveli and Griboedov Theaters were renovated in Tbilisi. Huge restoration work is going on at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater as well. Tbilisi Concert Hall was practically rebuilt. TelaviTtheater was renovated too, as well as other cultural centers, and of course, this incredibly beautiful Batumi Theater. Several days ago a famous Danish architect, Hening Larsen was visiting Batumi. He designed one of the most beautiful opera buildings in the world, Copenhagen Opera. I had a chance to meet with him and he was stunned by what he had seen here.

 

I think opening this center is the birth of a new genre and the beginning of a renaissance of the Georgian culture. What is being done in this direction is of great importance for us and for the city of Batumi. People keep repeating two things regarding this city: First, that people who come here from different parts of Georgia find the constantly bad weather discomforting. Second, that the number of tourists visiting Batumi was greater last year compared to this year. None of these stories is true. The weather has clearly improved and the number of tourists has increased incredibly. During Aslan Abashidze's rule, around 130-140 thousand tourists would visit Adjara each year, which is three times less than the population of Adjara. Since then, the number of tourists visiting increased and the number today is three and a half times the population of Adjara. All these facts mean that we have more employment; more and more people are becoming engaged in small business and finding new sources of income, which enables them to provide a better education to their children, put money aside for medical care, and improve their living conditions.

 

Miracles do really happen in this city, and people are wrong when they criticize us for comparing Batumi to Cannes or Nice. Neither Cannes nor Nice has a theater as beautiful as this one...while arriving here; local population warmly welcomed us, knowing that everything we do is being done for people. This is something that a lot of politicians on TV do not know. The fact that Opera Theater was built here means that real estate prices in the neighborhood have doubled or even tripled. This also means that the number of tourists will increase, as well as the number of small cafes, small businesses; hence, the local population will have better opportunities in the future.

 

All of these facts make me happy. A truly great project was accomplished in Batumi. The efforts of Levan Varshalomidze, as well as Mr.Khmaladze and his son, whose architecture is definitely worth the praise, have to be noted. Nowadays almost everything is being built by Georgians. When we started rebuilding Batumi, we imported 80% of our workforce from Turkey. Right now almost everything is being built by Georgians. We managed to improve our skills, which has led us to new sources of income. This is also a true achievement. Moreover, in the process of rebuilding Batumi, people who had been unemployed for almost 10 years found jobs. Therefore, this is not only a cultural celebration, but also a big step towards rebuilding the country. This amazing Opera building and everything else that is being done should be considered among the best in the world.

 

For a very long time period we were miserable laggards, always lagging behind. We let others convince us that we were unable to accomplish anything significant; that we would always be beggars and losers. But no! We will work more efficiently than others and no matter how many times the opposition members call me "fountain the first", we will successfully finish everything we started. There are fountains inside and outside the buildings, but fountains are not all that we are trying to build: there are Opera buildings, cultural centers, factories, jobs in the agricultural sector, schools and universities, including the new Batumi University of Technology, construction of which will begin shortly.

 

To make the long story short, this is a dream come true, and I would like to repeat once again, this dream is coming true for the happiness of every patriot in Georgia and for misery for enemies of our country."

 

The Patriarch of Georgia and several members of the Georgian Government were among the guests invited to the premiere.