“First of all, I would like to congratulate Zaza himself and his family on his release after a year of illegal detention. I welcome the fact that the negotiations and our joint efforts have managed to resolve this issue in a humanitarian context, which shows once again that formats such as the Geneva International Talks and the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism are extremely important.

Of course, the consolidated efforts and tireless daily work of all relevant state agencies with the direct involvement of the President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili and the Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II are noteworthy. I must mention that the government efforts and the whole process were carried out under the personal leadership and involvement of the Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, which undoubtedly played a great role. I would like to thank every person, all the partners and colleagues who participated and contributed to achieving this result.

We will continue to work with the same consolidated, joint efforts to ensure that our remaining in illegal detention citizens Genadi Bestaev and Irakli Bebua, return to their families as soon as possible”, - said State Minister Tea Akhvlediani.