Visit of the Chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board in Georgia

Within the STAREP (Strengthening Auditing and Reporting in the Countries of the Eastern Partnership) program, the chairman of the International Accounting Standards board (IASB) Hans Hoogervorst came to Georgia for the first time.

Short bio: Hans Hoogervorst is a former chairman of the executive board of the Netherlands Authority for the financial Markets (AFM), and a former chairman of the International Organization of securities Commissions’ (IOSCO) technical committee. Between 1998 and 2007 Hans Hoogervorst held a number of positions in the Dutch Government, including Minister of Finance, Minister of Health and State Secretary for Social Affairs.

During the visit, on May 7, 2018, Hans Hugervorst met the Deputy Minister of Finance, Lasha Khutsishvili. The meeting was also attended by: Yuri Dolidze, Head of the Service for Accounting, Reporting and Auditing Supervision, representatives of the World Bank Centre for Financial Reporting Reform (CFRR), Natalia Manuilova and Irina Gordeladze.

At the meeting, the parties focused on the prospect of strengthening mutual cooperation and the process of implementation of IFRS standards.

According to the agreement between the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, the Service for Accounting, Reporting and Auditing Supervision Subdivision (SARAS) of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia and the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation Corporation (IFRS Foundation Corporation), SARAS is entitled to translate, adopt and publish the international standards (IFRS, IFRS for SMEs) on official web-page. It is planned to sign new agreements among the parties regarding translation of the IFRS for SMEs training materials and the rights to use other important sources.