Czech Republic postpones ratification of Georgia-EU association agreement

The ratification of the Georgia-EU association agreement by the Czech Republic’s parliament was postponed until April 1, Georgia Online reported March 10 citing Rustavi 2 television channel.

Rustavi 2 said the reason for the delay is a conflict between the Energy Ministry of Georgia and the Czech company Energo-Pro, which owns the largest Georgian electricity distribution company.

The Georgian ministry demands $60 million from Energo-Pro, while it is not specified on what the demand is based.

Jaromir Stetina, the Member of the European Parliament from Czech Republic, said on air of Rustavi2 that the fate of the association agreement can’t be at risk because of a separate trading case.

“The Czech parliament can even remove this issue from the agenda,” he said.

Georgia signed the association agreement with the EU on June 27. The agreement stipulates Georgia’s accession to the EU free trade zone.

A month later, the agreement was ratified by Georgia’s parliament, and on Sept. 1, the realization of a large part of the agreement was launched.

For its final entry into force, the agreement must be ratified by the parliaments of all EU member states.

Thus, if the Czech parliament doesn’t ratify the document, this will prevent the full implementation of the agreement.

/By Trend/