Georgia has denied having any financial liabilities to the Israeli defence electronics company Elbit Systems Ltd., which said that it had filed a lawsuit against the Georgian government in the amount of about USD 100 million.

“We know that a lawsuit has been filed [by Elbit Systems], but we have not been formally notified about this lawsuit from the arbitration,” Nino Kalandadze, the Georgian deputy foreign minister, said on April 18.

“According to the information available to us, the Georgian Ministry of Defense not only does not have any amount in arrears, there are number of defense companies, which, unfortunately, themselves owe the Georgian side,” she added without further elaboration.

Elbit Systems Ltd. said on April 8 that it had filed a lawsuit in the High Court of Justice of the United Kingdom because of the Georgian government's “failure to pay amounts due to the company in connection with deliverable items under several contracts signed in 2007.”