MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

Following the instructions of the Prime Minister of Georgia, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Natia Turnava and the Minister of Environment and Agriculture, Levan Davitashvili, accompanied with experts and Local Government officials, held a meeting with the local population in Tsageri to discuss the issues related to the Namakhvani HPP project.

“Why is the HPP being built by a foreign investor and not by the state?” “Should the investor be a Georgian or a foreigner?” – These and similar questions were answered at the meeting. Important aspects of the Namakhvani HPP project, including the safety of the HPP, the terms of the contract, and the issue of employment and training of the local population were also discussed.

After the meeting with the locals in Tsageri, Natia Turnava and Levan Davitashvili visited protestants – Rioni Gorge Guardians, in their tents. 

“There are people here who are really worried about the fate of the gorge and we saw that their protest is sincere - here we will not meet political parties that are eager to put on some show and make engaging statements. We are sure that what we offer to the local population through this project, including this one, will serve the development of the gorge,” – Natia Turnava said after meeting with the Rioni Gorge Guardians.

The Minister noted it is important to discuss all the topical issues that concern these people. According to Turnava, the Namakhvani HPP project has just been launched and leaves space for further discussions on certain moments for its improvement.

According to Natia Turnava, the meeting with the local population was very useful, necessary and even a little late, but at this stage, it still had a very positive outcome since many questions that exist in the community were addressed.

“There are questions that have simple answers - for example, when asked about the safety of the power plant, our experts, very experienced people, explained that even the gravitational dam that is being built, there has never been a failure or a collapse of such a dam recorded in the world and there is one in a billion theoretical chance of such a misfortune,” – the Minister of Economy explained.

Turnava also added that there is also a well-studied geology and the talks about the problems with rocks, which, for some reason, prevail, are false and not true. According to the Minister, on the contrary, the dams themselves will protect the gorge from landslides, which is a global experience and it will also work in the case of the Namakhvani HPP.

At the same time, according to the Minister of Economy, foreign investors bring the goodness of investing money in Georgia, establishing and developing companies here that pay taxes in Georgia and employ people here.