TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian economic analyst Kakha Bendukidze Thursday criticized the European Union for having too much bureacracy.

“We are a European country. Psychologically and politically we are part of Europe, the Europe of human rights, respecting principles of the circulation of capital. But there is another Europe, which is a bureaucratic creature, which decides tax rates and how the cucumber should be formed. I don’t want such a Europe. Such a Europe is in agony. There is a crisis in Europe, which wants to excessively apply bureaucratic rules. We don’t want a Europe where Greece’s problems creates a crisis in it,” he said at a conference organized by The Economist magazine.

According to Bendukidze, this week is decisive for Europe, and these days will define whether the crisis will deepen or not. And if it deepens, then it will also affect the Georgian economy.

He also discussed the reforms in terms of Georgia and Europe. For a country where 20% of the territory is occupied and there is a small market, reforms are very important, he said.

The British magazine The Economist held a conference in the hotel Radisson in Tbilisi Thusday. Georgia’s ministers of economy and finance, opposition party representatives and other key figures made speeches along with foreign colleagues and guests about Georgia’s investment environment and business possibilities.

Emphasis was placed on sectors of the Georgian economy which are attractive for foreign investors, such as tourism, agriculture, hydropower.

(Pictured: Kakha Bendukidze (left) and moderator Arkady Ostrovsky, Moscow Correspondent for The Economist. Photo: Mari Nikuradze.)