Page 42 - GEORptMay19.pdf

issue until the first quarter figures will be presented,” he said.
The regulations, on the upside, were consolidating the country’s financial stability, Gvenetadze argued.
9.1.8 Renewable energy sector news
Police used tear gas and rubber bullets on April 21 against Georgian locals protesting against construction works at the Khadori 3 hydropower plant in Pankisi Gorge, a Muslim enclave in Georgia’s Caucasus mountains.
Local inhabitants claim that the hydropower plant, the third to be built in the area, jeopardises the environment and destroys its tourism potential.
The government has promised to suspend construction works until “90% of population agrees with it”.
It is more than one year since the local population actively protested against the planned construction of Khadori 3 and Samkuristskali 2 and court proceedings related to these cases are still ongoing, the Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) and other NGOs claimed .
Apparently out of the blue, on 21 April the construction of Khadori 3 was resumed. Special police forces were used to secure the protection of the building activity against expected public resistance. Police used rubber bullets, batons and tear gas against gathered protesters, EMC reported.
EMC links the resumption of works at Khadori 3 to the appointment of new energy minister Natia Turnava.
Her biography shows that she is a lobbyist for business and energy interests and it is evident that within the first days of her appointment HPP construction works in Pankisi Gorge were renewed according to her decision with the application of police forces.
Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Gakharia, after the clash, said that the construction of the hydro power plant would continue if it was supported by 90% of the population. His statement hinted at the complex situation in Pankisi Gorge: an ethnic group called Kists with Chechen roots form the majority (75%) of the population in the isolated region in northern Georgia that encompasses nine villages (around 8,000 local inhabitants). Following the Chechen crisis in the 1990s, thousands of refugees fled over the mountains into Georgia, and many ended up settling in the Pankisi Gorge area.
“As for the hydro power plant the builders will continue negotiations with you over this issue and the decision will be based on the agreement with the population. But you must know one thing: throwing stones is not the way out. We must calm down now and do what is suitable for our brotherhood, relationship and centennial history,” Gakharia said.
He added: “We have put the issue of the hydro power plant aside and agreed – the HPP will be built when 90% of the population support it.”
9.1.9 Utilities sector news
Georgia is to privatise its postal services run by Georgian Post, economy minister Giorgi Kobulia said in a Bloomberg interview, after which he explained the policy to local media .
The country’s railway transport company will be unbundled, its railway transport market will be opened up to private operators and the electricity system privatisation might resume, he also reportedly said.
The privatisation option was under consideration for the railway company Georgian Railway, but only after a company reorganisation including the
42 GEORGIA Country Report May 2019 www.intellinews.com