Page 42 - GEORptJun18

Georgia. Georgia is cementing itself on the world aviation industry map and becoming the leader of this field in the region.”
The ATC investment should create 300 jobs. Local workers will be trained by aviation market specialists. At full capacity, expected in the seventh year of operations, the plant’s annual sales are forecast by the company to reach $60mn or more. All of the plant’s output will be export-oriented, which should positively reflect in Georgia’s trade balance.
An Iran-bound cargo train which traversed parts of Poland, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan on a test run reached its final destination on May 10, Islamic Republic News Agency reported on May 10. Azerbaijan Republic Railway Company announced the train’s arrival. Its subsidiary A.D.E. Container Company and Swiss Company Hupac Intermodal provided the service.The trial-phase container train crossed 2,356 kilometres, including 399km in Polish territory, 965km in Ukraine, 396km in Georgia and 596km in Azerbaijan.A GPS system made the train trackable at all points.One aim of the new route will be to transfer consignments from Southwest Asian countries to Eastern Europe and then onwards to Western Europe. A future objective will be to link the route to the multimodal North-South Transport Corridor which in turn will connect with China’s Belt and Road initiative connecting China with Europe with modern transport infrastructure.
9.2.3 Metallurgy & mining corporate news
Six Georgian miners died and at least three were injured when the tunnel in which they were working collapsed on April 5. The Mindeli coal mine, located near the town of Tkibuli in the region of Imereti some 200km west of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, is operated by Sakhakhshiri, a Georgian company. The mine operator claims that the accident was caused by a shock effect triggered by a rock burst, a spontaneous rock fracture that is a common occurrence in mines. The incident comes after another miner died in a different mine in the Imereti region on March 26, and amidst a flurry of criticism levelled at mining companies for not abiding by environmental and worker safety standards. On April 3, Agriculture and Environment Minister Levan Davitashvili criticised Rich Metals Group (RMG), a company registered in the Netherlands that operates a large gold and copper mining operation in Georgia, for polluting three rivers adjacent to its mine. The minister said that the government gave the company, which has invested $300mn in Georgia and employs 3,000 workers, nine months to stop releasing pollutants into the rivers.
The interior ministry has launched a criminal investigation against Sakhakhshiri, Georgiatoday has reported. Those found responsible for violating safety regulations risk up to five years of imprisonment.
Politicians like President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze called for stricter safety rules and an improvement in labour standards in Georgia’s mining industry.
42 GEORGIA Country Report June 2018 www.intellinews.com