President of the National Bank of Georgia received a letter of response from Terri Davis Secretary General of the Council of Europe. The President of the National Bank of Georgia notified the Secretary General of the Council of Europe about the illegal cooperation of Russian banks with so-called Abkhazian banking system and asked for MONEYVAL (The Select Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures - MONEYVAL) assistance for the settlement of the mentioned problem. In a letter of response Secretary General of the Council of Europe asked the President of the National Bank of Georgia to provide the full information about the illegal activities of the Russian banks in Abkhazia to the members of MONEYVAL mission, which paid a business visit to Georgia.   The above-mentioned mission arrived in Georgia to study the existing system of combating money laundering and terrorism. Within the framework of this visit the members of the mission held meetings at the National Bank of Georgia, General Procurator’s Office, at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economic Development as well as at commercial banks, brokerage companies and insurance and securities’ regulating bodies.     During the summing meeting with MONEYVAL mission members, the President of the National Bank of Georgia noted: “It is of vital importance for us that Georgia had a good reputation and Georgian banks – a positive image. Respectively, in Georgia we have strict rules alongside with the liberal banking legislation for those cases when the matter concerns dirty money laundering”.   According to Roman Gotsiridze activities of so-called banks functioning in Abkhazia are illegal and absolutely out of control. “This is a problem of international importance” – declared the President of the National Bank of Georgia.   Members of MONEYVAL mission noted, that the progress in anti money laundering and combating terrorism is quite evident. They gave a positive assessment to the activities of the Financial Monitoring Service by the National Bank of Georgia. Mission members declare, that due attention will be paid to all issues put forward by the Georgian side during their visit in Georgia. As for the issue of illegal cooperation of Russian banks with so-called Abkhazian banking system, according to the MONEYVAL Experts, MONEYVAL will study the matter and arrive to the relevant conclusion.