I welcome everyone,
Thank you for finding some time to meet with me on this rather cold evening.
I am delighted to see our friends, my neighbors among you.
Instead of this hospital, there was a carcass on this spot only 3-4 months ago, but there is a clinic operating today, which is equipped with the latest technology.
I would like to tell you that you will not recognize Kvareli in few months, as there are many things being changed here.
We are starting a huge renovation process in all of Kakheti – Telavi, Kvareli, the region of Akhmeta, Gurjaani and other parts of the region.
Kakheti had a huge potential that was underutilized. This part of Georgia has an incredible touristic potential, we have hospitality in our genes, but this feature of ours had been entirely unused before.
Kakhethi was not considered as a tourist destination during Soviet Union times, but no matter what kind of problems there are in the country, we are starting to spend hundreds of millions this year already, precisely in order to make it a much better place.
The only hotel in Kakheti was in Telavi during the Soviet Union times – “Intourist”. There are four new hotels being built in Kvareli this year, which are due to complete towards the end of this year.
When we are talking about wine, I have to mention that there will be a much greater demand on the market of our wine than we can produce in a maximum of two years. This is our answer to the embargo.
Our wines have emerged in new markets. By the way, I met Putin in St. Petersburg in 2006, when Russia embargoed us and told him that banning our wine from their market was a great mistake: that the time will soon come that you will want our wine back again, but we will have other niches and there will be none left for you. This time has already arrived.
The same concerns the hospitals, but the facts are there – if we had 5-6 renovated chambers all across Georgia before, we have ultra modern clinics in every district already today. The same rich people, or relatives of government’s members went for treatment in those chambers back then, yet none of them were of the level that we have in the new medical centers. While those people who had to go to the capital for treatment had to stay in terrible conditions and would receive much lower quality service for a 5-6 times greater cost.
This is precisely what most irritates some people – they do not like the idea of equality.
The idea of equality does not mean that everyone will make the same living – there will always be someone who will have more income and someone who will have less income, but this will only be predicated by who will work more and who will work less. This will have nothing to do with who have the remains of robbed property from the past, or who appropriated more land back then.
Some state on TV that apparently, those people who do not have a lot of money, have no place in politics. Apparently, these people should not be elected; nor do they deserve positions and if they do not go to elections – the better it is.
In fact, the overwhelming majority of our government members come from poor families. Of course, there are some who come from well-off families, but they are in the minority.
You probably remember when the opposition in Tbilisi mobilized and decided to hold a meeting against Zurab Adeishvili on Kvarloba Day. These people encountered only one problem – they could not find the house of Zurab Adeishvili. Why? Because they were looking for the biggest and the wealthiest house – they could not have imagined otherwise, but it turned out that he had one of the most ordinary houses.
This is the very difference between our and their psychology; that is why they think that they should be allowed to come back; they are even irritated by the idea that one can be in the government and not make money from it.
They are terribly irritated now by the 30 GEL agricultural vouchers as well. It does not mean anything to them, that because of the chaos across the world the prices on gasoline are going up – they will manage to spend an extra 5-10 GEL on gasoline for their own cars, but for those who have the spring work ahead, every single Lari (GEL) is precious.
They do not like the energy vouchers either, they say that we want to buy people for 20 GEL, but people know the truth very well. We want to help our people at least by a little and express solidarity towards them.
Certainly, we have neither the oil dollars and nor the “Gazprom” revenues, but we have the revenue as a result of the non-corrupt, efficient work of the government and this revenue should be justly redistributed to our people.
These hospitals are the very example of just redistribution – no one will come here for treatment from foreign places – it is here for this place.
More than half of the local population here already has insurance and the rest will also have the opportunity to receive free or the most affordable insurance from the state.
This insurance, in general, is not just formal, it covers all necessary procedures or services.
The state also fully provides for medical services for children under 5, i.e. pre-school age children and pensioners. Healthcare will be accessible for every socially unprotected person.
Each one of them will receive the same and a better quality service than the people living only on one street would have access to before. This is the very idea of equality – To put the interests of our people first.
Despite of all the difficulties, people have already felt relief and all of us have become hopeful.
The best people are living here – the whole of Kakheti, with its people that are very peaceful, patient, the most hardworking and open minded, with a good sense of humor…
I visited Kvareli School a while ago, where we opened a new “class of the future”. I was amazed when I looked into the eyes of the children. I was surprised by their intellectual level, by the shinning eyes of each one of them.
They are incredible children, these children are terrific and if we open up possibilities for them, we will all eventually be restful and successful.
The main thing is that we should open up possibilities for these children so that the old corrupt officials never come back again and so that they never even have a thought that it will ever be possible to rob the country and people.
Most of all, my heart belongs to pensioners, elderly people, but nothing makes me happier than seeing youngsters and little kids here at this meeting.
When these kids grow up, they will not even guess why we were excited about opening these hospitals – hospitals like the ones in the Netherlands will become a usual thing, we will have better schools than those in Switzerland, we will travel on roads similar to those in Japan and the U.S.
But those of us, who remember the bad as well, should do everything for these kids to have only good on their minds. This is the main thing.
They should never remember that we had problems in the realization of agricultural products; that we had security problems; they should never remember that people looked at the government, and more importantly every day with fear.
In order for us to forget about this, the government, as never before, should work tirelessly today.
I thank you for your patience.
I do not wish anyone to have to come to this hospital, but if they do need to, very good doctors will serve them on the highest level here; everyone should know that you will always be protected and we will always stand by your side.
Thank you very much!