Greetings!

I want to greet the members of city hall and sure the Mayor of Tbilisi - together with him we laid a foundation of our oldest mutual dream - the construction of new cultural center building.

A musical theater will be placed here, not only musical-comedy theater, but of comedy and drama as well. Also one of the best exhibition center around the world will be constructed here. As Bilbao got famous with Guggenheim Museum this place will be one of the most beautiful places around the world.

Many ugly restaurants were placed on this territory in old times that due to the corruption and as a rule were built against the law. Some of you might even celebrated weddings and birthdays where I had been many times and I felt very bad when I saw how historic center of town was destroying. Gigi Ugulava together with his group dared to destroy all of this and we had supported this decision. Same we did on Tabukshvili street, where the house built by former Vice Mayor in a corrupt way - this cadres were air by some TV channels and they were calling people on for rebellion. Try and build something ugly of that type in Paris and we will see how it will be destroyed in about minute and a half. Why should we love our capital less than they love Paris in France? Why should we love our country less than any other proud country in Europe? I say this without an exaggeration, what happens in Tbilisi today - I mean the process of construction never happened before in any epoch and I will explain why.

Watch carefully Georgian history had not kept stone buildings for us. There are several stone buildings of domestic needs  - several hundred stone castles remain in Svaneti exclusively. Sure our cathedrals are remained, but there are no authentically built stone palaces. We had stone fortresses that were defending our cities from enemy attacks. We had small fortress-castles and we were warning one another after the attack of enemy. Practically when we had our statehood we had no time for large-scale constructions. And if someone was constructing something - same what happened when Vorontsov was acting king, when it happened during Lavrenti Beria's times - it was construction in style of empire, for the empire to like it and without envisaging local specifics. We were building in a way to show that we are not separated, but we are part of them.

This is first statehood epoch when Georgia builds in its own style, due to its state taste, by founding its own traditions and envisaging modern epoch - in the conditions of the development of freedom and its own statehood. This is why it is a grand epoch. Our aim is to turn Tbilisi to one of the most beautiful capitals of Europe. I was in Budapest yesterday. Budapest was the major center of Hungarian empire, because the largest resources were invested there together with Vienna and sure it is a grand city.

But in Western direction of Budapest and in Eastern direction of Prague not any single city has a chance to be of same level, outstanding, European, original and attractive as Tbilisi has.

Tbilisi is one of the most beautiful capitals for foreign universe, but at the same time it should be a city that will be comfortable for its citizens.

Much had been destroyed here - this is why we have a chance to start everything from zero and do it in much better way. First time the steps are made in order to refine public transport. There were discussions at Tbilisi City Hall regarding this issue. People were complaining that number of busses decreased and they have to wait long for the transport... Their complains were fair. I was raised in this city and I remember well how I had to wait for "number 2" bus and then hang on it to get from home to school and from school to home. God save us from such an occasion, when our children would have the same public transportation conditions. Now several times more busses drive out that during communist's time.

By the hard work of Gigi and by the help of our foreign friends we are now arranging modern tramway as they have in Budapest and in many other European cities. It all happens in Tbilisi.

We are first time introducing ecologically secure means of transportation, among them bicycles. It is true that Tbilisi is mountainous city, but in many cities like Tbilisi this factor is not restrictive. A boulevard is arranged in many places among them on the territory of Tbilisi Sea, where bicycle paths will be arranged.

We are opening new sport facilities not only in the center of Tbilisi, but throughout the whole city. You know that huge swimming pool opened in Ortachala, many sort facilities are being constructed in Gldani, Varketili, Vazis Ubani, Digomi - so to say in every region that previously was considered to be backward and abandoned.

In Varketili they had built apartment blocks right on asphalt - now these houses are leaned aside, only because no one took care of building the foundation.

We have the same situation on Nutsubize... Why am I telling all of this to you - the deputies, who see it all every day are here. You meet your electorate on the daily basis and know their problems. I myself was the chairman of Tbilisi City Hall and I remember it well. Today something is going on in Tbilisi what didn't happen for quite a while - a new geography is formed. This place was riverside before that was build by Lavrenti Beria, before that Vorontsov arranged Golovin's avenue - now called Rustaveli avenue. You had to come to Tbilisi fro the suburbs, went through this places and then leave the town. Now you know that taking railway away of town a new highway is being built that will join Kakheti highway. Kakheti highway will join Rustavi highway and later on to Mtskheta and in reality geographic center by its old meaning will no longer exist.

Everywhere we will have traffic. Gldani resident will directly go to Vazis Ubani. Varketili resident will directly go to Mtskheta and he will not have to come to center in order to get there and change several means of transportation. You know that the construction of metro had been renewed after many years. Our best constructors of metro are building metros in Moscow and other European capitals. Finally we are bringing these people back to Georgia. So, Tbilisi is gaining much comfort for our citizens. It also becomes a city that we all will be proud of and will be beautiful from visual point of view and from esthetic point of view as well. I was born on Plekhanov and remember this region was in such bad conditions, destroyed, stinky, where you could hardly see anything good.

Since Gigi Ugulava, David Ninidze, the group of architects - all of us worked together, old Plekhanov, practically turns out to look as Paris - I am not exaggerating.

It turned out that in this region, in Eastern direction of Prague and Budapest, from South direction of Petersburg - there is no such a beautiful urban center. I don't even say anything far beyond us in Asia.

We had this treasure but didn't want to notice it. Personally I was raised the way never noticing this. Sure much is being done in regards of road security. A pier at Hero Square and discharged traffic in Vake is a bright example of it. Bridges that go over it is a very important indicator.  

We should work hard to turn Tbilisi to a city with zero rate of car accidents. We have to make rule on driving automobile in a drunk condition stricter. No one should get upset because of this. We have enough tools in this city for those who want to drink and get home safely, not to become potential murderers and have all live to regret it. We need more underpasses, much has to be done in Tbilisi in order to make sure that not a single child, none of our family members get victims of car accident. You know that we had introduced a rule on sitting belts and it worked very well. We should continue working in this direction, because we have one of the safest capital in Europe regarding criminal. Europeans recently carried out a survey and were astonished when they found out results - during these years they used to tell us that zero tolerance policy and arrestment of people on every little crime was not necessary, but now they are conducting a workshop in order to study from us how to manage to decrease crime in country 5-6 times. Georgia managed to do it by abolishing corruption in law enforcement agencies and was extremely intolerant against crime. Not a single country managed to do this around the world. I had studied Criminal Law myself and I consider myself pretty educated in this sphere, but we have achieved it as a result of mutual actions.

When we were destroying garages - they used to arrange revolutions against us, but today we have children squares instead of garages today. No one steals cars any more today and there is no need of garage. To occupy space only for storing cabbage or marinades makes no serious reason. Children are almost attached to these squares because yards are illuminated and video cameras are installed everywhere. None of crimes are left without punishment and we all together achieved it.

Today people come to Georgia to study our experience and take many things to their countries. By the way I was told in Hungary that they are expecting our Minister of Internal Affairs on a visit to copy very interesting reforms that Georgia carried out in regards of security. What we are creating together sure irritates some people. We have this luxury to nominate specifically who is getting irritated - this is a space of empire and its leader Mr. Putin. We never had personal rivalry with him, not even some incompatibility or some quarrel. Any way nothing like this happened from my side. Thing is that our major dreams opposed one another. This man said honestly from the very beginning that his main dream was restoration of Soviet Union - uniting this space that was called Soviet Union. Georgia was always a pearl and crown of this space always.

Our dream was creation of united Georgia that could be oriented on democratic and free values, construction and freedoms of humans, on education and leading role throughout the world. To say shortly he wanted to restore his motherland (he imagined his motherland this way) and we wanted to restore our motherland. However we have different motherlands. Soviet Union is not my motherland. It could be motherland of some people, but they are in minority.

I spent a significant time of my adult years in Soviet Union, but it was not my motherland. I don't miss Soviet Union, I didn't love Soviet Union and will do everything in order that Soviet Union will never return to Georgia. Their dream is this.

Major detail that separates our dreams from one another my friends, is that their dream is oriented on past and restoration of past. But nothing can restore it and will never revive. Our dream is oriented on what we never had and want very much to have it, to create 21^st century's very successful, free democracy.

We are oriented on future and they are oriented on past. Future will always defeat past; kindness will always defeat evil - kindness is on side of future, so it means on side of Georgia.

I want all of us to understand that they will make everything to realize it all. What we do, every building we build is one nail driven in the coffin of Soviet Union. This is why our building irritate some people, among them those who are driven by love and nostalgia of Soviet Union. With each new building, new skyscraper, with each theatre, with each public underpass or bicycle path initiated by Gigi we driving nails one by one in already firmly sealed coffin of Soviet Union. The want to pull out those nails, open coffins and revive the mummy. This is why we mustn't be surprised when they act so. This rivalry is ideological, because this is not our choice - we want future and they want past, we will not be able to agree, because the past and the future cannot agree. This is why they sent us explosives and they were caught in international scandal. However our services neutralized the majority of bombs and the whole world now knows which state does all of it. These facts are documentary proved by serious special services. They still arrange provocations against us despite the fact that our service of counter intelligence where there is not a single "KGB agent" and where only work youngsters, who love their motherland with all their hearts does everything in order to disarm it. These people that are cursed by everyone from radical wing are very tough, they do not sleep day and night and deserve our special gratitude and applauses. Besides this sure their aim is to make us to lose our patience. Three months ago they located many rockets on our territory, later they even aimed those on us. When I was departing for some foreign visit and were getting closer to the airport, they called us:

• - Our plain is targeted by "S-300" type of rockets, we see it on radar, what can we do? They have declared first class alert. It means that as soon as the plain flies up they will push the button and shoot down our plane.
• - We have to fly in an ordinary way - I answered. If they want to shoot down our plane they have many other means for it and rockets aren't necessary. Everyone understands why they want to shoot the rocket - only to play on our nerves.
• -

If we will not understand their message by explosives and it didn't drive us crazy maybe we understand it by rockets that are targeted on us.

We didn't say anything regarding this fact during months.

Some time ago we departed with "Sesna" type of airplane recently, I conduct the flights by myself and they had targeted it again. In this case they published it on Russian websites in advance: We know he is flying and our rockets target his plane. They had even showed the photos. My spokesperson asked me: how should we act. I answered that I knew it but it didn't bother me at all. Because our aim is not reaction to their provocations, but the construction of state and the realization of our plans. It is not a surprise for Georgian history that some persons arrange masquerades on streets - nothing is surprising in it. Historically youngest Prince when a throne belonged to him or the Grand Vizier to whom the King wasn't very kind, or the feudal of some region that wanted to occupy the whole country used to go to Persia, Urdo, Petersburg, in Osmals or to some other empires and used to tell them: I am the major force, be with me and I will surrender you Georgia with its hands tight up. But in return they wanted position of King or at least Grand Vizier. Nothing is surprising in it, this is an absolute deja vu of Georgians. The only difference is that if it was possible to realize their plans in old times, when Georgia was split into feudal khanates, provinces, simply into separated regions - Mengrelia was separated, Imereti was separated, Karlt-Kakheti was separated, Abkhazia was separated and sometimes even Tbilisi was separated. Now we have Georgian state. This is why all of this is déjà vu on one hand and on the other hand it is exactly the reason why Georgia was not able to construct these buildings previously. And because of the reason due to which we not built this all these people would never harm us.

I will tell you why they need all these masquerades. They are doing it all hoping that those who come to Georgia when they see it all on TV postpone their visit, or those investors who should build a hotel here change their mind, or those tourists that are going to visit Georgia for a holiday decide not to come...  

They consider that this all is a myth and people coming to Tbilisi, Kutaisi or Batumi should get through FSB control - Soviet customs officers should stand here! These people must come to Georgia not as in free country, but as in one of the province of Russia...

We hosted two million tourists last year, this year we will host three million and next year four million tourists. This is why these masquerades might be funny for me personally, but the plans of organizers miss one thing - we had studied and went through it all and they will not stop us with their attempts and neither can they stop grand reconstruction process of our country. Our generation will be known for the history not as any separate leader: Misha, Gigi, Zaal or David Ninidze, but as whole generation that found resourse of unity. French historians used to write that group of Georgians were extremely tough on Persian court. The whole Army and finances were in their hands and Georgians had built Isfahan, Shakh Abbas had Georgian blood. He had one small room in his palace, where he had Georgian singers. He used to go there often and listened to the music. I saw this room with my own eyes. Everything there was Georgian... Bridge of Alaverd Unidladze, known as Alaverd Khan, that was unfortunately built in Isfahan and not in Georgia is a masterpiece of Georgian architecture. French people wrote that if Georgians will unite they will kneel Iran down and it will remain in their power till the very end, but Shakh knows it well that these are people that will never unite.

I remember that one of the chairmen of our diaspora in London Sasha Bestavalshvili told me that since Bolshevik's he witnessed how the emigrants were biting one another during a session. But nothing was do fight for - Georgia was already lost for them. Bolshevik's army was here and Stalin and Orjonikidze were ruling. They were still fighting with one another. Finally Georgian killed Ilia Chavchavadze, this is our history.  

All the sudden a group of people appeared in Georgia, this group united people of different ages and origins and that decided to be united and put aside all differences.

For example Vano Merabishvili is from village Udini that I had never visited; Zurab Adeishvili is from village Mtisdziri - they went to find his house recently, but couldn't find it because they were trying to find some wealthy house, when his house is the most pore one. Gigi and me have about the same origins, but we differ form one another - but it doesn't matter. We have different anthropology, but have one motherland and aspiration. We have different past, but have one and the same future. We will all be united until Georgia will come to the peaceful end and we all have to achieve it together.

They say we dedicate everything to certain dates - it is true and we dedicate this day to May 26. I want to congratulate you on this day, because we had started the construction of one of the best cultural monument throughout the world; we are opening a very beautiful park - Rike Park, where the restaurants of former government members were located. It was like this all the time, but you cannot blame anyone, because when our state had not existed everyone was doing whatever they could. Now we have a state compare to 16^th, 17^th and 19^th centuries and Rike is the symbol of it. We have a state where we can plan, make a wish and dream - later on we all can realize these dreams together.

There is not much time between the start of the dream and realization. We might not be young still, but you are here - each of us is as inpatient as you are. I also want to tell you that we are opening several large museums and galleries in the center of Tbilisi. We are an unique nation that has much to exhibit and they built us ten times less museums during the decades than we deserved. In order neither the world nor us to see what a huge treasure and history do we own.

In several days we will open facilities in Imereti, Adjara, kartli, Kakheti and will go together up to Abkhazia and other occupied parts of Georgia.

I want to congratulate the Mayor of Tbilisi, each of you and sure myself on this day.

Now go ahead and lets continue construction.

Thank you very much.