“The borderline area was transferred to a Russian businessman without considering security risks. The state is fighting the indigenous population with criminal cases to create greenhouse conditions for the Russian businessman. Environmental issues and obligations are completely disregarded. Transferring forests in Racha and Kvemo Svaneti at the expense of the interests of local population there in favor of Russian businessman is enmity and betrayal of the country,” say deputies Tamar Kordzaia, Teona Akubardia, and Khatuna Samnidze at the press conference held today in the Parliament of Georgia.
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“The next biggest project since occupation,” is what independent MP Tamar Kordzaia called the transfer of 104,712 hectares of forest in Racha and Kvemo Svaneti to the partner of the sanctioned Russian oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov - David Khidasheli.“
“These forests comprise 1.4% of the territory of Georgia. They were handed over to Khidasheli, who is well known to Georgian population as the main character in the “Davit Gareji case.“
There are multiple disputes in court and prosecutor’s office regarding the transfer of forests, but Khidasheli is untouchable, and none of the cases are in motion.
It is important to point out that the World Wide Fund for Nature was ready to establish a protected area throughout Racha. The international organization was paying 45 dollars per square meter for the purpose of nature conservation and ecosystem protection, but the Georgian government gave it to a Russian businessman for 11 GEL. This also shows the government's priorities,” Tamar Kordzaia spoke at the press conference about the criminal cases brought by the prosecutor's office against local residents.
The prosecutor's office in Racha is accusing 224 citizens of fraudulently acquiring ancestral plots of land around the forest. At the request of the prosecutor, the court has seized 39 plots of land in the village of Utsera. The deputies called on the General Prosecutor's Office to stop the criminal case and to remove seizure on citizens' private property.
“No rule from environmental legislation is adhered to. There is a letter from the Department of Environmental Supervision that says a license cannot be issued without meeting several conditions. How will the forest be protected, how will the waste be processed, how will the ecosystem be protected? When the Russians demanded the transfer of forests in Bichvinta for 49 years, which are not in the border zone, people came out and held rallies. In our case, the adjacent territory to Russian border at Mamisoni Pass is being handed to a Russian oligarch.
We were in Racha in the previous days, across the occupation line. It is an absolutely free, uncontrolled road, which occupants can cross over by car freely,” said Kordzaia.
Teona Akubardia drew attention to the letter of the border police of Georgia, according to which the forests transferred to Khidasheli are located near the state border to Russia, although they go beyond the five-kilometer border zone.
“The point is that the occupation line in Racha goes beyond the actual border. There are many questions in terms of security.
We are going to send parliamentary questions to the agencies and demand answers. We will also summon the ministers to the Parliament on this issue in September.
We will protect the property rights of all citizens, which Georgian Dream has violated due to Russian or corrupt interests,” said the Deputy Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee, Teona Akubardia.
“The case is completely Russian. The interests of the country and local population are not taken into account, nor is the country's security protected. The Russian case means when you protect the interests of a businessman under the influence of the occupying country, and not the rights of your own population and self-government. There was no communication, dialogue, or agreement with the local population,” said Khatuna Samnidze, chairman of the Reforms Group.
She also talked about the facts of possible corruption in the case of the transfer of Racha forests: “There are two letters in the materials of the case, where the mayor of Oni says that they communicated and agreed with the local population. Doubts that this is a corrupt deal are further increased by the fact that the former mayor of Oni Mr. Sabanadze was appointed as one of the directors of the Khidasheli company shortly after his resignation. That was after he helped the Russian businessman get Racha forests without dialogue and communication with the population. Sabanadze became the director of the Khidasheli company at the expense of ignoring the interests of the population,” the deputies demanded an investigation of this case from the prosecutor's office.
Mountain Stories published a journalist investigation on July 17 - the occupation of Racha forests. The forests of Racha were transferred to Davit Khidasheli, the partner of the sanctioned Russian oligarch Vladimir Yevtushenkov, with many violations of the law - secretly from the people who use these forests, secretly from environmentalists, community organizations, and the media. The transfer of tens of thousands of hectares threatens the private property of Racha locals. This decision violates both national laws and European conventions, creates ecological and historical absurdities - to formalize the control of the occupier in the country by our own will, with our own hands, by our own decision.
