Working Meeting of Bakhvi HPP Projects Advisory Board

On August 5, 2022, another retreat of Bakhvi HPP management and the advisory board working on environmental and social issues of hydropower projects of the company was held. At the meeting, the company's representatives introduced the members of the advisory board with the development phases and future plans of the projects managed by the company. The parties discussed and considered new challenges and relevant issues for the project stakeholders. Mikheil Nibladze, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bakhvi HPP projects, introduced the members of the Advisory Board with the organizational changes, the new team that will work on the development of Bakhvi HPP projects.

Specifically for the board members, Giorgi Abramishvili, a new director of Bakhvi HPP, gave an extensive overview of the current situation and challenges and potential in the country's energy sector.

"The year-on-year increase in electricity consumption and insufficient capacities have led to a significant increase in electricity imports. Despite the fact that we have a large hydro potential in the country, Georgia has become a net importing country, which implies the outflow of hundreds of millions of GEL from the state budget. Today, the pace of construction of new power plants has slowed down significantly. The main reason is the social protest raging in the country. Over the years, a way out of this vicious cycle has not been found. However, I think that constant dialogue with interested persons, working transparently and building hydropower plants with western experience are the guarantees that the sector will start development. It is the western standards that impose particularly high requirements on us, the companies, in managing environmental and social issues. This, in turn, determines satisfaction of the population and ensures that the effective environmental and mitigating measures are carried out during the implementation of sustainable projects to facilitate the development of the population and the region," said Giorgi Abramishvili, Director of Bakhvi HPP.

The representatives of the environmental team of the company introduced the members of the advisory board with the social projects and their development, namely the installation of the LED lighting system in Bakhmaro, the development of the tea road project, the planning and arrangement of the mountain route and educational projects.

During the meeting, the attending public listened to the interview of Pierre Biederman, an expert on environmental and social issues invited by the company specifically for this project, who spoke about the results of the studies conducted for the Bakhvi 2 HPP project. Also, the Advisory Board members and other attendees watched a short video, which presented the visual material of the section of the Bakhviskal River where the construction of Bakhvi 1 HPP is planned and a 3D version of the HPP itself. In conclusion, a short video was demonstrated, in which Mikheil Nibladze, director of the Caucasus Clean Energy Holding and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bakhvi HPP, spoke about the policy and contribution the company makes to the organization, in particular, in the area of educating the young generation in the sector.

The meeting lasted for 2 hours. The parties listened to interesting opinions, arguments and recommendations.

The retreats of the Board have been held at the initiative of Bakhvi HPP with the purpose of, on the one hand, introducing the projects in the company's portfolio, and on the other hand, encourage and strengthen local business. This time the meeting was held in the family-owned guesthouse Skijis Sakhli located in the village of Khidistavi, Chokhatauri municipality.

As a reminder, the Bakhvi HPP Environmental and Social Affairs Advisory Board is a deliberative body formed by the initiative of the company with the goal of ensuring greater involvement of stakeholders and greater transparency of the hydropower plant projects. The board members are 12 independent members nominated from the Chokhatauri and Ozurgeti municipalities. Representatives of various sectors are board members, including local self-government bodies and non-governmental organizations, media and business.