“The reason for the sincere concern over the safety of Namakhvani HPP has been removed.  In agreement with the company, the construction has been postponed. It will not begin in the next few months until all questions are answered,”  the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development  Natia Turnava addressed the protesters on Sunday.

According to the Minister, the company is carrying out road works at this stage.

Natia Turnava said that the experts, scientific circles are involved in the verification process and construction supervision process to remove many safety questions and gain more confidence in the project.

“We want to increase the trust of the population. The dam would not be built until major studies are verified,” -the Minister added.

The non-governmental sector sees the agreement between the Georgian government and the Turkish company ENKA Renewables Ltd as favourable for the investor and believes construction poses several risks.

The Georgian government and ENKA Renewables Ltd signed a perpetual build-own-operate agreement back in 2019. ENKA has been awarded the rights to develop, construct, own and operate the Namakhvani HPP Cascade Project in Georgia.