125,248 square meters of state-owned forested land in Chorvila village of Sachkhere municipality was granted to the company owned by Ekaterina Khvedelidze, the wife of the former Prime Minister of Georgia and founder of Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili for 49 years. In exchange for using the forest Agro Cartu LLC must pay 32,877 GEL to the state annually.
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Agro Cartu (I/C 205203983) applied to the National Forestry Agency on November 25 of 2021 with the purpose of obtaining right to use the forested land. On September 14 of this year, an auction was announced to lease out three non-agricultural land owned by the State Forest Fund. The auction ended on September 23 with the victory of Ekaterina Khvedelidze's company.
According to the terms of the auction, Agro Cartu must use the forest area to arrange an animal shelter and a breeding ground, which implies setting up an agro-complex for quail, cockatiel, and pheasant, placing wooden aviaries, covering with a net (partially) and fencing the area.
The information about the transfer of the forest to Agro Cartu and the footage of the complex set up in the forest were broadcasted on TV Pirveli. According to the footage from October 27, a part of the forest is covered with a black net and fenced off. The nets are attached to iron constructions. The footage also shows white buildings.
Agro Cartu ordered company Innosystems to design an agro-complex of a closed cycle poultry farm for quail, cockerel, and pheasant in the village of Chorvila on November 17 of 2021. The company has published photos of the project on its website.
“These are capron nets, a special material that is environmentally friendly - it is processed by a special method and will never pose a threat to the forest or birds,” said Davit Chkhenkeli, General Director of Innosystems while commenting for TV Pirveli.
Chkhenkeli outlined that the forest was not damaged by the installation of posts for fixing the nets: “No equipment entered the forest,” he added.
According to the National Forestry Agency, the arrangement of animal shelter and building is a form of special use (lease) of the forest which, according to the Georgian legislation, can be carried out in the forest. The agency notes that this is not exclusively Georgian practice, and “a number of European countries implement the right to forest use with the mentioned model”.
“Leases for forest usage are not issued only for a 49-year term. For example, for beehives there is 5-year lease, and 10-year leases are issued for meadows. As for the 49-year-old forest use, it is important that it has a resort, recreational, sports and other cultural-rehabilitation load, which is adjusted to the population and is not used only for the interests of one entity.
Moreover, the lessee is obliged to ensure maintenance and protection of the forest, not to interfere with the implementation of forest restoration measures by the National Forestry Agency. The relevant Regional Forestry Service controls and monitors the fulfillment of the conditions provided in the agreement,” stated the Agency.
According to official information, 20 auctions to grant the right to use the forest were announced in the National Forestry Agency in 2022, until November 1. The agency states that additional budget revenues of 166,993.10 GEL were generated through the auctions.
The government of Georgia handed over 104,712 hectares of forest in the Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region to HG Capra Caucasika LLC for 49 years to arrange a hunting farm on March 23 of 2022. The company belongs to businessperson Davit Khidasheli, who is a partner and friend of Vladimir Yevtushenkov - the former vice-president of the largest Russian corporation SISTEMA, Russian oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The territory transferred to Khidasheli for organizing hunting farms borders the Russian Federation and the occupied Tskhinvali region, includes the territory of 81 villages of Racha and Kvemo Svaneti.
Earlier, at the end of 2021, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili's wife, Nunu Tamazashvili, received 5,630 square meters of forest in Bakuriani with a 49-year right of use. This section of the forest is located behind the house of the Prime Minister's family. According to the terms of the agreement, Nunu Tamazashvili must organize a tourist and recreational space in the area taken into use and pay 6,000 GEL per year to the state.
