Page 55 - GEORptAug20

Gakharia stressed that Georgia had the legal right to ask Frontera to return all the land including plots falling under operations, but had refused to initiate the procedures “because the investment climate of Georgia and its business environment is extremely important for us and we should not allow anyone to question this investment environment by spreading false information”. Gakharia also said that there were Georgian people employed at Frontera and “we had to protect their interests as well”.
Georgia’s minister of economy, Natia Turnava, announced on July 23 that the government had agreed to not break its concession contract with Frontera though it was entitled to do so by an arbitration ruling. However, she said that Frontera should accept the disclosure of the ruling that she implied was favourable to the government.
Frontera would be returned exploration and production rights for only 1% of the area initially under contract, namely the areas where operations have been carried out since during the Soviet era, Turnava said. Frontera has already returned the rest of the land that the company promised to explore, but never did, in line with a government request, she added.
"After the arbitration award, Frontera, in order to maintain ambiguity in the Georgian and international communities, rejected the Georgian side's offer to make the arbitration award public and launched an information campaign damaging the image of the Georgian state," Turnava said in a statement quoted by Business Media.
9.2.2 ​Healthcare corporate news
JSC Medical Corporation EVEX in Georgia, part of the LSE-listed Georgia Healthcare Group (GHG) and ranked as the country’s largest provider of healthcare services, has won the Gold Sustainability Award of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the Gender and Inclusion category.
The EBRD bills sustainability as underlying all of its operations. The development bank’s Sustainability Awards recognise clients that are also committed to ensuring sustainability is at the heart of their operations.
The EBRD ​said​that it has provided a senior secured local currency loan of up to $4mn-equivalent to EVEX, to be used in the construction of a new laboratory facility in Tbilisi.
EVEX has been operating since 2009. It is fully owned by GHG PLC. Established in 2015, GHG completed an initial public offering as a London Stock Exchange premium listing in November 2015.
EVEX said it is uniquely placed to spearhead social innovations in the healthcare sector to promote gender and economic inclusion. It is advancing nurses’ education and improving economic opportunities at the entry-level for the benefit of young labour market entrants.
In particular, EVEX is focused on the development of textbooks for nurses, improving learning outcomes and strengthening entry-level skills for young people; outreach to male nurses, addressing equal opportunities in a ‘pink-collar’ occupation to broaden the labour supply; and policy dialogue on skills standards, reducing skills mismatches to ensure that young trainee nurses and midwives gain the best possible start in their careers and for their future livelihoods.
The EBRD ​announced last November​that it had invested GEL12.5mn ($4mn) in an EVEX hospitals bond subscription.
The total size of the bond issuance was GEL50mn ($17mn) and the proceeds were to be used to refinance existing debt.
55​ GEORGIA Country Report ​August 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com