The information that Ukraine handed over Buk systems to Georgia for free is not true - Defense

The information that Ukraine handed over Buk air defense systems to Georgia for free is not true - the Ministry of Defense has issued a statement on this. According to the information of Juansher Burchuladze's agency, the "Buk" system was received by the Defense Agency in 2007 with a multi-million dollar purchase:

"We would like to respond to the wrong information spread by the so-called experts and individual media outlets, as if Ukraine handed over Buk air defense systems to Georgia for free, which is not true.

The Defense Agency received the "Buk" system in 2007 with the mentioned multi-million dollar purchase. This was done under a secret agreement, which is why we are deprived of the opportunity to specify more details. We explain to the public that tens of millions of dollars were also paid by the Ministry of Defense in 2017 for the purchase of Javelin anti-tank systems from the USA.

Georgia firmly continues its humanitarian and political support to Ukraine, based on the possibilities available to it. A clear proof of this is the tons of humanitarian cargo sent, and among them, finally, the generators purchased and handed over to Ukraine at the initiative of the Prime Minister.

As for the transfer of arms or dual purpose equipment to Ukraine, the Government of Georgia has repeatedly voiced a clear position on this issue," says the defense.