The Georgian Dream (GD) government has reportedly ordered the construction of approximately 200 new hydropower plants (HPPs). What does the rush for small and medium HPPs serve? Does it serve the country's energy independence? What tariff do we pay to new HPPs, and what tariff do we pay for imported electricity? Ministers and their families, along with former and current senior officials, are behind most of the HPPs.
Destroyed valleys, changed microclimate, dried riverbeds, wells, and springs – what impact do small HPPs have on people's living conditions? - See Mtisambebi’s journalistic investigation.
The Songhulashvilis and Enikudze
The family of Davit Songhulashvili, Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture in the Georgian Dream government, and Gocha Enukidze, a member of Ivanishvili's Parliament, are set to construct five HPPs in Lower Svaneti. All five HPPs will be located on the Tskhenistskali River. A significant portion of the river, spanning kilometres, will be diverted into 3-meter-high iron pipes and concrete tunnels. To build these tunnels, mountains will be drilled through from one valley to another.
The Georgian Dream government has declared all five HPPs as national priority projects. This means that the electricity generated by these plants will be purchased at a guaranteed price, even if it's not needed, and at a cost significantly higher than what Georgia pays for imported electricity during shortages.
Four out of the five HPPs, classified as so-called public-private partnership projects, were approved by the Georgian Dream government after last year's parliamentary elections. During this period, starting from November 25, 2024, Davit Songhulashvili has been the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture in Ivanishvili's government.
Songhulashvili himself is lobbying to ensure the state guarantees the purchase of his brother's and father's products for many years, securing national priority status for his family's projects.
Davit Songhulashvili's agency is both the body issuing permits for HPP construction and the regulator tasked with ensuring HPP owners don't harm the environment.
The HPP projects of the Songhulashvili and Enukidze families on the Tskhenistskali River currently begin in the village of Mele, where the Tskhenistskali and Ghobishuri rivers converge.
The decree for the Mele HPP was issued on March 4, 2025. We requested the project concept and other materials from Ivanishvili's government administration, but they refused to provide them and didn't even consider our complaint.
"When you put something at stake, you have to determine whether the profit will outweigh the damage. How much will it damage the local ecosystem in the narrow valley of Tskhenistskali? In my opinion, the damage to this valley will be greater than the benefit," says Imeda Oniani, a resident of the village of Mele.
No one has weighed the damage against the benefit. Exactly one week after the Mele HPP decree, a new national priority project, Luji HPP, was announced in the village of Luji in Lentekhi. Residents in the Lower Svaneti villages know nothing about Mele HPP, Luji HPP, or who controls the Tskhenistskali River.
Both HPPs are being built by the same company.
LLC Tskhenistskali-1 was registered by Gocha Enukidze and the Georgian Dream minister's brother, Ioseb Songhulashvili, just a few days before last year's parliamentary elections.
The Minister's father, Bidzina Songhulashvili, is also involved in the business. He serves as the president of the founding company of LLC Tskhenistskali-1.
The plans of Georgian Dream officials and their families don't end here. The Songhulashvilis and Enukidze's LLC also plans to build three more, larger HPPs on the Tskhenistskali River.
The next project is the 25 MW Tskhenistskali-2. Construction is planned between the villages of Sakdari and Babili. The head of the National Environmental Agency, appointed by the Minister of Environmental Protection, has already advanced the minister's family to the next stage for building the HPP. As part of the Tskhenistskali-2 HPP project, a 5-meter-high dam will be built, channeling the river into iron pipes for nearly five kilometers.
Even though no state agency has yet issued environmental or construction permits, the Mtisambebi team on site observed that the Ivanishvili government's minister and Ivanishvili's member of parliament are already at work – demolishing rock and clearing forest to build a road leading to the regulating reservoir.
Water from Tskhenistskali-2 will be carried to Tskhenistskali-3 through another 3-meter diameter tunnel, this time for a distance exceeding five kilometers. For this tunnel, the mountain will be drilled through from the village of Babili to Lamanashuri. The capacity of Tskhenistskali-3 HPP is 31 MW. The next HPP, Tskhenistskali-4, is even larger.
For these three HPPs alone, a significant portion of the river will be diverted into a 15-kilometer tunnel.
In the village of Lamanashuri, a report from as far back as 1989 was presented to us, stating that due to landslide processes, every single resident was subject to resettlement.
In 2025, the village sent a joint appeal to the Government of Georgia, clearly explaining why they oppose the construction of hydropower plants.
Khatuna Kavtaradze, a resident of Lamanashuri village: "When a large vehicle passes, cracks appear. What will drilling cause?! The mountains are fragile and unstable. In winter, trees regularly fall from the mountains with each rainfall.
Why should we sacrifice our lives for the government's pocket money?! Absolutely not!
Someone has to come here, and we're the ones who can let those people in, right?! We won't let them! They'll leave just as they came!”
The individuals making these decisions haven't planned on leaving for 13 years, and they are increasingly using their official positions for personal gain.
"Considering the current legislation, which defines a conflict of interest in a public institution as any financial or other personal interest of a public official that harms the state service, it's clear that in this case, the Minister cannot be impartial and independent when making decisions concerning his father and brother. This clearly indicates an incompatibility of interests in public service. Furthermore, if he's potentially receiving direct or indirect financial benefits from these HPPs, that introduces signs of corruption," explains Vladimer Kutateladze, a lawyer at the Civil Advocacy Center.
We addressed the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture with questions regarding the conflict of interest and corruption. The Minister did not respond. For 10 days, we also called his press service in vain.
"As someone raised and having worked in the energy sector, I tell you that something else is more important energetically than environmental impact assessment," said the Minister's brother, Ioseb Songhulashvili, attempting to convince us that the documents issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, which are essential for HPP construction, are in fact tenth-rate permits.
Mtisambebi: Do you not consider it a problem that your brother is the Minister who issues one of the main permits for HPP construction? Do you not see signs of conflict of interest or corruption?
Ioseb Songhulashvili: “Don't associate my family's name with corruption. It makes my skin crawl”.
Ioseb Songhulashvili showed no allergic reaction to the Georgian Dream government's thousand-times repeated narratives about the country's energy independence. He concluded his lengthy lecture by stating that energy independence is crucial for the country's sovereignty. We also began our investigation into the HPP fever with this very question: first, does the HPP boom serve Georgia's energy independence?
In 2024, Georgia consumed a total of 13.8528 billion kWh. This includes imports. Georgia imported 1.2275 kWh from Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey, which is less than 10% of the total consumption. But there's another detail. Our electricity consumption data includes what was consumed by occupied Abkhazia, for which we did not pay.
Davit Tchipashvili, member of Green Alternative and economist: "In January, which is the worst month, Russian imports were 145.097 million kWh. All of this 145.097 million kWh went to Abkhazia, meaning 0 to Georgia! The Georgia-controlled territory did not consume Russian electricity. A similar situation occurred in February and March. Over the year, 968.8 million kWh came from Russia as imports, but out of this, 659.3 million went directly to Abkhazia, meaning Georgia did not pay for it. When they take these numbers and say that 1.2275 kWh was imported to Georgia in 2024, and therefore we need to build HPPs, it's absolutely irrelevant because less than half of it was used for Georgia's needs."
If we deduct the amount consumed by Abkhazia, it turns out that Georgia needed only 4% of imports in 2024. This can be fully covered by ensuring energy efficiency and developing rooftop solar power plants. If the need for energy independence is a myth, then why is the construction of new HPPs being planned at such an aggressive pace and intensity? The answer should be sought in the list of these HPP owners.
Enukidze and Japaridze
Gocha Enukidze has been a member of Parliament for 17 years. This "eternal deputy," transitioned from the United National Movement to Georgian Dream, intends to build HPPs not only in Lower Svaneti but also in Upper Svaneti, Racha, and Gudamakari Gorge, according to documents we found.
In Mestia, his partner in the Kasleti-1 HPP project is Viktor Japaridze, also a member of the Georgian Dream Parliament and the owner of the pro-Russian propagandist media outlet POSTV.
Enukidze shares his stake with no one in two out of eight HPPs. Gudamakari HPP is entirely his property. He also won't share the company's profit in Racha. His eighth hydropower plant is planned to be built on the Sakaura River in the village of Sakao, Oni municipality.
Generally, Racha proves particularly attractive to former and current officials, as well as individuals close to the government, who are drawn to the energy business. In sparsely populated villages and depopulated areas, they are leaving no gorge untouched. The Georgian Dream party has effectively distributed all rivers to its loyalists.
"Life should be thriving here. In depopulated Racha, there's no one left to resist. When a pressing issue emerges, it's incredibly easy to achieve your goals through underhanded means in a region with a sparse population, many of whom are socially vulnerable or pensioners. This can't guarantee economic prosperity or that life will flourish here in the future," says Levan Kervalishvili, who returned to Racha seven years ago to take up winemaking. He constantly ponders why his homeland is becoming so depopulated. Despite some infrastructural projects – like road construction and park maintenance – these haven't kept people rooted, and even his last few neighbours have moved away. If he needs to build a winepress, he's forced to buy timber imported from Russia. Yet, his ancestral, century-old house was originally built with wood sourced directly from the nearby forest. Why is it, he wonders, that today ordinary people no longer have access to natural resources? They can't even use the wood allotted to them for firewood unless it's cut to a specific length. Meanwhile, the rivers of all Racha, and indeed all of Georgia, are being monopolized by a few privileged individuals. Levan struggles to comprehend how a country can lack a long-term vision for its future, whether it aims to be a land of wine and tourism or a land of hydropower plants:
"HPP construction would only be justified if it brought more benefit than harm – environmentally, socially, or economically. We live in a country where there is no justice. Environmental oversight studies are often falsified; there are clan businesses that claim everything for themselves. We do not live in a country where people have equal rights. If an equal business environment and true justice ever exist, then we can discuss whether it would be justified to turn Racha into one massive HPP. Unfortunately, we haven't yet achieved a state where individuals can find their truth."
The Chikadzes: Former Minister and Circus Director from Russia
The Tchidola HPP is set to be constructed by Aleksandre Tchikaidze, a former Minister of Internal Affairs, and his namesake, Aleksandre Tchikaidze, director of the Krasnodar Circus.
The Ministry of Culture in the Krasnodar region appointed Alexandr Mamukovich Tchikaidze, a dual citizen of Georgia and Russia, as director of the Krasnodar State Circus in 2024. Soon after, an even more unexpected event occurred in his circus and variety show career.
Ivanishvili's government recently signed an HPP construction agreement with him and the former Minister of Internal Affairs, also Aleksandre Tchikaidze, on March 12, 2025. Perhaps the absurdity of this energy venture drew laughter in higher circles, but upon arriving in the village, we found padlocks on most of the houses.
It's not just ministers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who are involved in HPPs; their deputies are too. In Racha, Eter Sabanadze, mother of the former First Deputy Minister, Kakha Sabanadze, will build the Tchalistskali and Kvedrula HPPs. Meanwhile, Kakha Sabanadze's sister, Maka Sabanadze, is behind the Sorgiti-1 and Sorgiti-2 hydropower plants. All four HPPs owned by the Sabanadze family are considered small HPPs. However, how accurately are small HPPs considered harmless?
Mamuka Gvilava, Environmental Impact Assessment Expert: "This is, of course, a mistake. Small HPPs have a cumulative impact. If we construct several HPPs on a single river, a considerable section of the river – say, three five-kilometer stretches, totaling 15 km – will be effectively removed from its natural course. While a single HPP might still allow for some fish passage, the sheer length of a 15-kilometer altered river section renders the habitat for aquatic life virtually non-existent, resulting in an overwhelmingly powerful negative impact on the ecosystem.”
Davit Tchipashvili, Green Alternative member, Economist: "A 5 kW HPP on the Mtkvari River is a small HPP, but a 5 kW HPP on the Vere River or any low-flow river is a large and devastating HPP for that ecosystem. Here's why:
Based on the established practice in our country, 90% of the river's average long-term flow is diverted. This means the river, in essence, no longer remains in its natural bed. We are left with kilometers of dry riverbeds.
This doesn't merely negatively impact the river's ecosystem; it completely devastates it.”
Nino Chkhobadze, Former Minister of Environmental Protection: “Europe abandoned the practice of building small HPPs a long time ago. The Soviet Union, in its day, also gave up on them; it simply wasn't profitable. During the GOELRO plan, when the first steps were taken in this direction, many small HPPs were constructed. We still have numerous abandoned structures from that era. These were typically 1-3 MW HPPs, and not a single one operates today. They failed to provide stability to the energy balance. I genuinely cannot understand why this HPP fever has started today."
The contribution of small HPPs to Georgia's energy supply, and consequently their role in our energy independence, is not only minimal but also detrimental. Even the state itself acknowledges this, as published by the Georgian State Electrosystem in its Seasonal Adequacy Assessment:
"Currently, our regulating HPPs are at low levels, which enables run-of-river HPPs to generate electricity. However, this also means we've lost our ability to maneuver the system. Consequently, grid flexibility is severely limited, and the safety of the entire network is jeopardized."
Former Deputy Head of SSS, Khojevanishvili
Kakha Sabanadze is not the only one from former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia's team who has mended relations with Georgian Dream. In Kobuleti, on the Achistskali River, whose gorge is a recreational zone attracting many tourists, the Achi-1 HPP will be built by Mtsire Hydro (Small Hydro), a company owned by Aleksandre Khojevanishvili, former Deputy Head of the State Security Service (SSS). One small hydropower plant already exists on the Achistskali. For several kilometers, the river's water is already directed into pipes, leaving the gorge dry in the summer. For the new HPP, a new, several-kilometer-long pressure pipeline is planned for construction above the village of Achi.
The government approved the agreement for the construction of Achi-1 HPP on April 8, 2024. Khojevanishvili acquired a 33% share in Mtsire Hydro one month after this decree. He bought the share from another former senior official, a former security official, Nugzar Tcheishvili, for a symbolic price of 99 Georgian lari.
It's interesting to know how much we pay for electricity from new HPPs and how this price compares to imported electricity.
David Tchipashvili, member of Green Alternative: "The information regarding the sale and purchase prices of electricity in Georgia is confidential. Therefore, we can only find this out through indirect means, including from former senior officials. Mr. Noghaideli represents the company Elgreen, which officially imports electricity from Azerbaijan. It appears from Noghaideli's interview that the price of Russian and Azerbaijani energy ranges from 3.9 cents to 4.9 cents."
The state also keeps secret the price at which we purchase electricity from new private HPPs.
David Tchipashvili: "The energy generated by Enguri HPP costs 1.2 tetri – tetri not cents. The state signs guaranteed purchase agreements with newly built hydropower plants and buys their energy at a price ranging from 6.5 to 8.5 US cents."
We pay more for energy to the brothers, mothers, and fathers of ministers, members of parliament, former senior officials, and their relatives than we pay to Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey, and more than the imported energy costs us.
There is another problem – when do we pay this high tariff?
David Tchipashvili: "This problem is the need for electricity. Georgia's energy system relies on Enguri HPP. When we need energy the most, for example, in January, Enguri HPP supplies cheap electricity to the system. Run-of-river HPPs, which are currently being built, may or may not generate electricity in January, and if they do, they supply it to the system at a high price."
That is why the seasonal adequacy assessment of Georgia's electricity system states that "With the increasing output from run-of-river HPPs, the sole remaining option is export.”
Despite the state acknowledging the problem that HPPs are already creating, they do not intend to stop construction.
Irakli Kobakhidze, Georgian Dream Prime Minister: "We have an ambitious goal. We want to exceed 10,000 MW by 2030. This goal cannot be achieved without the implementation of these projects. Our ambitious goal is for the generation to exceed consumption in 2030."
Where should the state take the surplus electricity, for which it has paid a higher price than imported energy? Does such an export have a buyer?
David Tchipashvili: "The Georgian State Electrosystem purchases energy from some parties for 7 cents, and because it cannot inject this expensive electricity into the system, it exports it and receives 3 cents per kWh. This means Georgia purely loses the difference per kWh. There's no other way; no one buys it at a higher price."
Zumburidze and Papuashvili
Just three days before last year's parliamentary elections, the Georgian Dream government, with a single decree, granted the status of so-called public-private partnership projects to the Basra HPPs cascade. Parvus Group owns the controlling stake in all four hydropower plants. This company belongs to Sulkhan Zumburidze and Mamuka Papuashvili. Sulkhan Zumburidze was the head of the Georgian State Electrosystem from 2007 to 2018, while Papuashvili was a member of the advisory board of the same company.
All four HPPs are located in the Bzhuzhi River valley, at the foot of Gomismta. Initially, all four HPPs had a capacity of less than 2 MW and did not undergo the procedures stipulated by the Environmental Assessment Code. The river's water was diverted into pressure pipelines for 9 kilometers. When the construction work for all four HPPs was already completed, the company increased the HPPs' capacity to 30 MW.
Parvus Group explained the increase in capacity with a "new circumstance," claiming that previously there was only a 35-kilowatt power transmission line in the region, but now the construction of a line with three times higher voltage has begun.
The owners of Parvus Group knew in advance that the state was planning to build the Ozurgeti-Zoti HPP high-voltage transmission line. Zumburidze himself discusses this in a video published on June 29, 2018.
Why was it necessary to redesign the project – that is, first build HPPs with a capacity of up to 2 MW and then increase the capacity – if their owners, due to their official positions, had full information about existing and planned lines?
A multi-kilometer road has been cut and forest cleared in the Bzhuzhi River valley to build HPPs from Ozurgeti towards Gomismta. These roads were cut without assessing the potential negative environmental impact, including geological aspects. The HPP owner has blocked the entrance with a barrier, and guards are stationed there. No one is allowed into the valley without permission.
In 2022, Mtisambebi discovered large cryptocurrency farms at the Roshka HPPs cascade owned by Parvus Group. Our exposé of Parvus Group's illegal activities with crypto farms was met with a formal response from the authorities – a disproportionate fine of 30,000 Georgian lari. However, in 2025, the exposed company was allowed to start 5 additional projects. The Bzhala HPPs Cascade in Martvili includes five HPPs. By government decree, it has already been determined that we will purchase 1 kWh of energy generated by Bzhala HPP at a much higher price than imported energy, 7.5 cents.
Irma Gordeladze, a resident of Likhauri and environmental activist: "I told them at the scoping meeting that they snuck in with small HPPs and are now increasing capacity. When they decided to increase the capacity to 35 MW, did anyone even bother to check if this river could handle it? Turns out, they'd done zero studies. The agency demanded additional studies, and within ten days, they brought 'conclusions.' One should observe a river throughout the year, in every season. How did they study the impact on biodiversity, hydrology, and everything else in 10 days?"
What economic benefit do hydropower plants bring, what amount enters the state budget annually from these HPPs, from which we buy electricity at a very high price – we addressed this question to the Ministries of Finance and Economy. We have not received a response.
Mamuka Gvilava, environmental assessment expert: "We would tolerate these impacts if it were directed to the Georgian budget. For example, in Quebec, 10% of budget revenue comes from hydropower plants. Quebec's main hydropower is state-owned. They expropriated in 1946. HPPs were transferred to state use so that money would enter the budget. I discussed with Canadian specialists, and they asked me why I disliked HPPs. My response was, ‘What do you like about them?’ It turned out that in New England, Canada, 30% goes into the budget. I am not against such HPPs either. Has anyone told us the number, and how much revenue is in our budget? This is confidential. My hypothesis is that there are no revenues from HPPs in the budget."
Monetizing the damage that hydropower production causes to the environment and people in specific monetary terms is possible, but this is also a subject of years of research, and during the HPP boom, no such accounting is carried out.
Nino Chkhobadze, former Minister of Environmental Protection: "A river diverted into a pipe is problematic for villages. Our water supply depends on filtration. Filtrate is created by the river.
If you completely divert the river into a pipe, you will have no springs, no wells. The village can be left completely without water."
Part of the energy absurdity is that not only is it not measured how much water will remain for the village, but it is also not measured how much water the HPP will have. In the best case, they use analogies from other rivers or studies from the 80s. Since then, climate change has melted glaciers and shattered the old Soviet myth that Georgia is awash in water.
David Tchipashvili, member of Green Alternative, economist: "In several rivers, there is no water at all in winter. The investor doesn't even get the 'calculated' water. Therefore, to ensure that their generation doesn't decrease, they don't even leave 10% and take all the water from the river."
Godfather of Former SSS Head – Sulori HPPs Cascade
Bichiko Paikidze, the godfather of Grigol Liluashvili, former head of the SSS, and a member of the Georgian Dream party in the Vani City Council, intends to build the Sulori-1 and Sulori-2 HPP cascade. Paikidze has registered the company B.P. HPP under his mother, Inga Adeishvili.
Paikidze brought heavy machinery to the village to build the HPPs even before obtaining the necessary permits and consent from the local population. They illegally trespassed on private owners' ancestral plots and dug up the area. Avto Dvalishvili, for example, had his fruit orchard completely excavated and then simply left by the heavy machinery, which was supposedly conducting 'research' in the area.
Sulori is known for its climatic and balneological resort. Due to its location and mineral springs, it was quite popular in the past. The village sees its future in revitalizing abandoned sanatoriums and tourism. That's why the population has united against the construction of the HPP cascade. For them, the HPPs pose a threat of losing their water sources and activating landslide processes. In the 70s, 12 families were displaced from landslide-affected Sulori.
The project for the HPP cascade involves the construction of small dams, 16 and 18 meters high. The river's water will be diverted into a 7 km steel pipeline. To supply the generated energy to the grid, a 17 km high-voltage transmission line will pass through populated areas.
Amiran Dvalishvili, a resident of Sulori village: "We won't give in, we won't allow a HPP to be built in Sulori. Should we abandon our children and future? They might as well resettle us, dig up our homes, and everything."
Ucha Mamatsashvili's Brother-in-Law's 32 HPPs
Might makes right – just a few days after last year's parliamentary elections, on November 4, the Georgian Dream government declared 8 HPP projects owned by Imer-Energy Capital LLC as national priority projects. All of them have a capacity of up to 2 megawatts, meaning they will not undergo environmental impact assessment.
The construction of the Boslevi HPPs Cascade is planned in Zestaponi Municipality, on the Kvirila River. The river will be flooded for approximately 6 hectares, and a reservoir will be built, from which water will be supplied to the HPPs via a multi-kilometer steel and concrete pipeline.
The sole owner of Imer-Energy Capital LLC is Koka Kokilashvili, who is the brother-in-law of Ucha Mamatsashvili, Bidzina Ivanishvili's cousin.
The Georgian Dream government did not provide us with the agreements signed with Imer-Energy Capital LLC even after a lawsuit was initiated.
Not only the local population but also Giga Guruli, an opposition member of the Zestaponi City Council, knew nothing about Ucha Mamatsashvili's brother-in-law's business. Guruli stated, “This is a very dangerous matter for the village population, given the geological location of the city. One doesn't even need to be a specialist to see it. Building four hydropower plants on a single river in a village that has repeatedly experienced its strong currents washing away barriers and animal shelters, and causing significant erosion, is inherently fraught with major risks."
Georgian Dream has, in fact, completely classified the decrees issued between September 26, 2020, and February 12, 2024. Despite this, by studying the agendas of dozens of government sessions, we found that decrees have been issued for the construction of 19 more HPPs, totaling 32, for companies owned by Koka Kokolashvili.
As experts state and as statistics and conclusions published by the state itself show, the country's energy independence is not threatened at all. Small and medium-sized HPPs cannot serve the country's energy supply. We pay significantly more for the energy they produce than for imported electricity. We lose a lot of money exporting their energy. The economic benefit of HPPs for the country's budget is minimal, and they are harmful and destructive to river valleys and people's living conditions. So, how can we explain this energy absurdity – the feverish construction of new HPPs, behind the vast majority of which stand former and current ministers, senior officials, and their families?
David Tchipashvili, member of Green Alternative, economist: "On the one hand, we are destroying river ecosystems, causing irreversible environmental damage, impacting the local population, and creating problems with access to drinking water. On the other hand, energetically, they create instability for the system, flexibility is threatened, and ultimately, energy security."
Zarkua's Son-in-Law
Tsiskvilara HPP was supposed to be built in Tsalenjikha by Blox Energy LLC, but the contract was terminated. In April 2024, a 10% share of the company was gifted to Aleksandre Amisulashvili, a former football player, friend of Kakha Kaladze, and son-in-law of Irakli Zarkua, a member of Ivanishvili's parliament. Soon after, the Tsiskvilara HPP project was granted national priority status by the Georgian Dream government.
Anton Obolashvili's Son-in-Law
As of April 23, 2024, the same status applies to Konstantine Khidirbegishvili's Hydrocompany LLC project, which will build the 1.88 MW Potskhovi HPP in Samtskhe-Javakheti. Khidirbegishvili is the former head of the Detective Division of the Gldani-Nadzaladevi Main Department of the Tbilisi Police Department, but that's not the main point here. He is the son-in-law of Anton Obolashvili, a millionaire MP from Georgian Dream, the husband of his daughter. The son-in-law has even listed his father-in-law's enterprise's location as the legal address for his own company.
Former Senior Official of Tbilisi City Hall
Another decree from the Georgian Dream government, dated March 12, 2025, declared Kabali-1 HPP a national priority project. This hydropower plant also belongs to former senior officials from Ivanishvili's party. Givi Kublashvili is the former head of the Municipal Improvement Service of Tbilisi City Hall. Energy Kabali LLC plans to build the 3.2 MW HPP on the Kabali River in Lagodekhi Municipality. Above the village of Khechili, the river water will be diverted into metal pipes for 2.4 kilometers.
Gharibashvili's Brother-in-Law
On April 23, 2024, the Georgian government issued three consecutive decrees, granting Momavlis Energia (Energy of the Future) LLC 15 land plots (over 11 hectares) in Dmanisi Municipality for 49 years to build the Mashavera HPPs cascade.
The day after these decrees, the company's largest shareholder, Giorgi Labadze, transferred 13.33% to Aleksandre Tamazashvili. According to the document, Tamazashvili was to pay $30,000 for it. Mashavera HPPs, which include 3 small HPPs with a capacity of up to 2 MW, were declared a public-private partnership project by the government during Irakli Gharibashvili's tenure as Prime Minister. The Georgian Dream still does not make public the decrees from that period.
Just before and immediately after the elections, while the country was preoccupied with protests and little attention could be given to such matters, the government issued decrees for dozens of new hydropower plants. If these projects are implemented, no river in Georgia, especially in the western regions, will remain without dams, weirs, riverbeds diverted into kilometers of pipes, and dry, ruined valleys.
Authors:
Maia Lomidze
Gela Mtivlishvili
Translated by:
Elene Devidze
