In his first public comments on the case of two Israeli businessmen, awaiting verdict in bribery trial, PM Nika Gilauri said that anyone who will try to bribe state official will be punished.

“Any businessmen or any other person or investor, who will try to enter into a corrupt scheme, who will try to bribe a state official will be punished appropriately and it does not matter by whom [a businessman] is invited – whether by PM or by anyone else; those who will try to make money illegally [at the expanse] of the state budget will definitely be punished,” PM Gilauri told journalists after the parliamentary debates.

He was asked about his role in the arrest of two Israeli businessmen during the debates by a lawmaker from the parliamentary minority, but did not address the issue in his speech while addressing the Parliament. PM Gilauri commented on the issue in response to a journalists' question after the debates.

Ron Fuchs, who was arrested in Batumi in October together with his associate Zeev Frenkiel, says that he arrived in Georgia after receiving a letter from PM Nika Gilauri inviting him to settle a long-standing multi-million dispute with the Georgian government, which he won in the international arbitration. He says that the letter was part of “the plot” by the Georgian authorities to lure him into Georgia under the pretext of finalizing deal, but in fact it turned out to be a trap aimed at arresting him and forcing him to reject his multi-million claim.

During the trial in the Tbilisi City Court Fuchs’ defense wanted summoning of PM Gilauri for questions, but the judge turned down the request.