I welcome everyone,

I have gathered you here today to thank you in behalf of Georgia, on behalf of Kakheti and Kakhetians, because in times of difficulties, either in war or peace, the first who help our people, who stand beside every person who needs help, are our armed forces and every one of you.

You are the representatives of the best battle units of our armed forces, of the best units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

You had to fulfill your duties in different situations. Many of you have just returned from Afghanistan, while some are just departing.

Many of you saved the sovereignty of Georgia in 2008, and fought with a 100 times superior enemy.

If Georgia is on its feet today, it is your merit.

Recently, when Kakheti was hit with a huge natural hazard, and in terms of material damage it was nothing less than the damage suffered during the full-fledged military aggression in 2008, you headed towards Kakheti in a few hours in order to clear the roads, restore the infrastructure.

Several thousand houses have been significantly damaged, thousands of people have been left homeless, the bulk of the vineyards as well as the peach and other fruit orchards have been destroyed, infrastructure has been entirely destroyed, including that of energy, road, and water, but within a few hours of the disaster the restoration and reconstruction works had begun.

Everything that was being created here for years and decades was damaged – many people lost their lifetime savings, flattening it to the ground.

Against this background, any other State, much wealthier than us, much more numerous than us, would find it difficult to organize, but we have managed it!

Of course, certain houses still need to be roofed, but we will do this three times faster than any government would do abroad. I will not even compare it to the previous governments, as they would not have done anything at all.

This is the result of the fact that people shoulder each other in this country.

The main value in Georgia is the solidarity of people, standing side by side and no one knows it better than Kakhetians do, than each one of you do.

Neighbors were helping neighbors throughout all of this period, and they still continue to help each other. Similarly, the villages help other villages, everyone together helps –Telavi and in turn, Telavi – helps the rest.

The main thing is that the rest of Georgia is helping the affected regions – brigades from Khashuri, different districts of Tbilisi, Mtskheta, Samegrelo, Guria, Ajara, and Svaneti headed here within the first hours.

Is this not what our army is all about? Our army is the excellent unity of representatives of different parts of Georgia.

Kakheti is a special region – it is not just yet another region of Georgia, but that of the whole Caucasus.

These walls have a great history – it was here where the cradle of Georgian statehood was first shaken.

Kakheti is not just a geographical spot – Kakheti is the soul of Georgia, an excellent depiction of Georgian identity, a very important part and foundation of Georgian roots.

That is why we declared 2012 the year of Kakheti last year, and of course we did not expect this disaster.

We have started great reconstruction in almost every district of Kakheti – we were building the Center of Telavi, the Akhtala Resort, we are building Kvareli from the beginning, we are building roads in Dedoflistskaro and Sagarejo, we are building the mountainous Kakheti and have entered Akhmeta as well. Of course the development of Sighnaghi is ongoing too.

Yet, what has happened now this year, has multiplied our work and effort tenfold.

It was a huge challenge for us.

I would like to tell each one of you, and tell Kakhetians: it is a huge chance and opportunity for Kakheti and also for Telavi.

Telavi looks like a former battlefield now, but it will emerge with even more brilliance than it has ever had in its outstanding history, before Georgia and the world within the upcoming months.

This is a region that withstood the economic embargo of our enemy. Not only will we have as good of a vintage as we did last year, but even better.

Kakheti is not like what it used to be during the times of conquerors – a place to arrive and party, which was given a plan as to how much grape it had to sell and the fate of Kakhetians did not matter at all.

For some, Kakheti was an object of robbery, for some a place to party, while for us this part is a soul of Georgia.

That is why no matter who says what about Kakheti, no matter who messes with this region, they are doomed to failure – the main thing that we want is not to be distracted from carrying out the grand plans that we have in these regions.

The ultimate goal of these plans is that every family, in every single district, village, in every important city, lives well off, forgets about poverty once and for all, looks after its elderly with dignity, educates its children well, develops its household, and develops touristic infrastructure, from which they will receive income and become as developed and prosperous, and be more successful then they have never been in history.

This I promise personally to every Kakhetian, and this promise belongs to the promise of Georgia, as I speak on behalf of Georgia.

We make this promise today before our renowned armed forces.

As a sign of great respect towards you, like you, I have dressed myself in uniform today, but after the people in army uniform, follow people of other uniforms.

They will not leave this place and no matter how much we build, we will have much more to build; no matter how well we develop this place, we will have much more to develop.

What has begun in Georgia now, is only a beginning of a beginning.

All of us together have assembled the dismantled, destroyed, flattened and hopeless country 8 years ago, so that we have an exemplary army, exemplary special services.

We can be proud of this and tell everyone that we have managed what everyone thought was impossible, i.e. every other nation can do the same.

Of course, we are not yet wealthy, but 8 years is like one day for history.

The English discuss Georgia in the Parliament as a model and a country to emulate, the U.S. State Secretary is stunned by our structures…

Of course, I know that we are not as wealthy as England, America and some oil and gas rich States, who also learn from us, but we inherited a dismantled country and brought it to this condition in 8 years.

Some would need 8 and 10 centuries to undergo the same thing.

We have no centuries – we are impatient people and want everything today, that is why we have to develop fast and we have to make it.

“What does not kill us makes us stronger”.

This disaster has hit us severely, there are still many families left without compensation today, there still many houses to be roofed, but we will roof them all; there are still many social issues to be solved, but we are after them all and we will solve them, we will begin paying out compensations in August.

The main thing that everyone has seen is that none of Georgia’s regions, cities, districts, villages and none of the residents of our country will be abandoned even in times of unanticipated, the most difficult and pressing hardships.

This will never happen, as we already have a recently established subject, whose name is the Georgian State.

You are the best representatives of the Georgian State and because of that my friends, I would like to thank you once again.

I would like to decorate each one of you, and your chiefs and Ministers will convey to you the letters of gratitude and medals in the upcoming days.

We all are indebted before you, and I tell you this on behalf of every Kakhetian, every local resident.

Now you can give way to constructors, reconstruction workers and to the leadership of other services.

Thank you.