The Ivanishvili-affiliated Co-Investment Fund has regained ownership of Mtkvari HPP, a 54-MW hydropower plant it had sold in July 2024 to Hydroenergy.
According to the business registry, the fund exercised its buyback option, though both the original sale price and the repurchase amount remain confidential. The asset is currently encumbered by a commercial bank mortgage.
Mtkvari HPP began test operations in 2025, supplying 213 million kWh of electricity to the grid, and produced an additional 28.4 million kWh in January–February 2026, making it a fully operational, income-generating facility. In 2024, the fund stated that the project’s initial investment was expected to be around $140 million but ultimately rose to $236 million, which Bidzina Ivanishvili attributed to poor management decisions by former CEO Giorgi Bachiashvili, prompting him to refer the case to the Prosecutor’s Office.
The hydropower project, located in Samtskhe-Javakheti, faced major construction challenges. In early 2017, the collapse of a 9.6-km tunnel during excavation left the TBM machine trapped underground after 7.3 km, about 76% of the tunnel had already been completed. This incident resulted in significant financial losses and required a new engineering plan, negotiations with the government, insurance and legal processes, and additional funding.
Construction was able to resume only in June 2019, and the modified project required an additional 300-meter tunnel section. These technical setbacks, followed by COVID-related delays, contributed to both the prolonged timeline and the cost overrun.
