About 500 enterprises are on strike in Georgia, demanding new parliamentary elections

At 15:00 local time, many companies and individual employees suspended work for three hours, writes Paper Kartuli. The strikers demand new elections and the release of all detained protesters in Georgia. Among those who supported the strike is the fifth President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili.

Among the strikers are representatives of large businesses: the PSP pharmacy chain, residents of the Fabrika space, the Fresco chain of stores, the Rashi taxi service and others. The largest Georgian banks - the Bank of Georgia and TBC - stated that they would not interfere with the strike of their employees.

Some employees participate in street demonstrations. There are known cases of attacks on them, including by people armed with batons, writes Civil Georgia.

• Protests in Georgia have been ongoing since November 2024, the reason for them was the decision to suspend negotiations on the country’s accession to the EU until 2028. The majority in parliament belongs to the pro-Russian Georgian Dream.

• Against the backdrop of protests, a new, sixth president of Georgia was elected - Mikheil Kavelashvili, head of the Power of the People party, close to the Georgian Dream, which nominated him. Kavelashvili criticizes rapprochement with the West. Salome Zurabishvili stated that she does not recognize the legitimacy of these elections.