The signatories agreed to cooperate in developing undergraduate and postgraduate programs, exchange lecturers and researches, and organise joint events. The agreement was signed on May 28, 2021 by Prof. Gocha Barnovi, Director of the Institute of Theology and Philosophy and IES’s Director Dr. Pavlo Smytsnyuk. The Rector of the Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani University, Prof. Dr. Vaja Vardidze, and the Shorena Parunashvili, Head of the International Relations Office have assisted at the signing ceremony.

During the visit to Georgia, Pavlo Smytsnyuk was received by H.E. Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt, the Apostolic Nuncio to Georgia. Discussed at the meeting was religious situation and the dialogue between the Catholics and the Orthodox in the region. The Nuncio expressed his support for the cooperation between IES and the Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University. Pavlo Smytsnyuk, on his part, introduced the work that the UCU and the IES are doing in the domain of inter-Christian relations in Ukraine and beyond.

Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University is an authorized Higher Educational Institution, founded in 2001 as the Institute of Philosophy, Theology, History and Culture. The University obtained further institutional accreditation in 2009. From this time onwards, educational programs are gradually added and today the University carries out educational activities with 13 undergraduate and graduate programs on three faculties. The collaborative agreement between UCU and Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University was signed in 2011, and then renewed in 2016.