Tuesday, 12 August 2003

SHEVARDNADZE GUARANTEES SAFE BUSINESS FOR UES IN GEORGIA

Published in News Digest

By empty (8/12/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

\"The Russian company has all the guarantees that its business in Georgia will be profitable,\" the President Shevardnadze said on August 11 while commenting on the entry of Russian Unified Energy System (UES) to the Georgian energy market. Under a contract between the US company AES and UES, the Russian company acquired 75% of shares of AES-Telasi electricity distribution network, two 600 megawatt power plants of AES-Mtkvari, power lines to transit electricity to Turkey and Armenia, as well as rights to manage Khrami I and II power plants. The deal caused protest of the opposition political parties, which fear that the monopolization of the Georgian energy sector by the Russian state-owned company might lead to mounting political pressure on Georgia.
\"The Russian company has all the guarantees that its business in Georgia will be profitable,\" the President Shevardnadze said on August 11 while commenting on the entry of Russian Unified Energy System (UES) to the Georgian energy market. Under a contract between the US company AES and UES, the Russian company acquired 75% of shares of AES-Telasi electricity distribution network, two 600 megawatt power plants of AES-Mtkvari, power lines to transit electricity to Turkey and Armenia, as well as rights to manage Khrami I and II power plants. The deal caused protest of the opposition political parties, which fear that the monopolization of the Georgian energy sector by the Russian state-owned company might lead to mounting political pressure on Georgia. \"Somebody may ask, why we have not brought this company to Georgia nine years ago. Because UES would never agree to buy Telasi before, since it was unprofitable. Its sale has become possible only after the US company AES modernized the entire electricity network, thus creating a precondition for the entry of the Russian company,\" Shevardnadze said in his radio broadcast today. He stressed that the US company invested about USD 240m in the energy sector of Georgia, \"however AES went bankrupt and had to sell some of its enterprises throughout the world.\" While commenting on the statement made by former Minister for the State Property Management Mikheil Ukleba, under which a confidential agreement between AES and the Georgian authorities prohibited the sale of the US company shares in Georgia to the neighboring countries, Shevardnadze said there existed no secret agreement. \"There were just certain paragraphs of the agreement, which were not subject to publishing,\" he said. However President refrained to specify details of this confidential agreement. (Civil Georgia)
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