The suspension of 1.7 GWT of energy projects is partly due to flaws in the projects themselves, according to Levan Vepkhvadze, Executive Director of the Business Association of Georgia (BAG).
Responding to a question from BMG, Vepkhvadze noted that while some projects were affected by technical or procedural shortcomings, others faced issues that were “artificially created.”
“Some of the projects are duplicated, which means that they were started with one scheme, but then, when auctions appeared, they were transferred to auctions, although these old projects remained in that old scheme.
Some of the projects were introduced; however, when letters were sent requesting additional information, including, for example, on connection, this information could not be provided. Therefore, there are many complex problems here. I think that some of these problems were created absolutely by chance and artificially, some were flaws in the projects themselves, and accordingly, a decision was made,” said Vepkhvadze.
The government’s October 13 decree suspended consideration of dozens of energy projects for which investment agreements (memorandums) had not been signed. These projects were mainly submitted under the Direct Contracts Agreement Program and were previously overseen by former Deputy Minister of Economy Romeo Mikautadze, who is currently facing corruption charges.
The suspended projects include hydropower, solar, and wind power plants. Most of these cases originated during the tenure of former Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili and under Mikautadze’s supervision at the Ministry of Economy.
