TBILISI, January 29. /TASS/. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has said that he is stepping down.

"I would like to inform the public of a decision I have discussed with my team. Today, I am stepping down as prime minister," he said at a briefing at the Georgian government offices in Tbilisi.

"I took office as the head of government for the second time in the hardest period, amid interior and exterior political, economic and social crises," Garibashvili said, adding that he was proud of the achievements he and his government had made. He also pointed out that the principle of rotation was among the most important ones for the ruling party Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia. "We are facing new goals. We will elect a new parliament in the summer and the Georgian Dream needs to prepare to win the election in a convincing way," Garibashvili added.

The Imedi TV channel reported earlier that a decision had been made at a meeting of the ruling party’s political council on January 24 that Georgian Dream Chairman Irakly Kobakhidze would become the country’s next prime minister, while Garibashvili would move into the party chairman’s position.

Garibashvili has served as Georgia's prime minister since February 2021. His first term as head of government in the South Caucasus nation was from 2013 to 2015.