MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

“The Mestiachala HPP with its minimal impact on the environment if safe for the population, and it is necessary to integrate these capacities in our system,” – the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Romeo Mikautadze declared in Mestia following the meeting with a part of the population opposing the construction of Mestiachala HPP. According to the Deputy Minister, the next meeting with the local population has been scheduled to be held on March 24 in Tbilisi, where the representatives of several expert circles will also take part in.

At the third in line meeting held with the locals, Romeo Mikautadze briefed the participants about the Mestia HPP project and its impact on both environment and population. It was noted that the installed capacity of Mestia HPP 1 and Mestiachala HPP 2 is 50 MW, while the total investment value of the projects amounts to 75 million USD. As the Deputy Minister emphasized, the construction process is carried out using modern technical advances in the field, without a dam or arranging of the river, but with the principle of pressure pipeline that excludes significant impacts on the environment.

Romeo Mikautadze also focused on the social side of the projects. In particular, the local population will be employed at the construction site of the power plants thus bringing the significant revenue to the local budget, which will be used for welfare of Mestia and nearby villages.