Preparations for the official visit by Georgian Prime Minister Irakly Garibashvili to Ukraine continue, Georgian Foreign Ministry spokesman David Kereselidze said.

"The Ukrainian government has already been formed and we expect Prime Minister Garibashvili's visit to take place as soon as possible," Kereselidze told a briefing on Monday.

Kereselidze said the appointment of two former high-ranking Georgian officials as Ukrainian government officials will not hurt Georgian-Ukrainian relations.

"Ukraine is a strategic partner of Georgia, we have common goals and common challenges and therefore new appointments should affect our relations," Kereselidze said.

However, he said that "it would have been very bad" if the former Georgian officials who are being prosecuted in Georgia had been appointed to the Ukrainian government.

Among the people who were named as candidates to posts in the Ukrainian government were former Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili and former Georgian justice minister Zurab Adeishvili, against whom criminal cases have been opened in Georgia. However, they were not appointed.