On March 21, 2011 was held the meeting of the Georgian Government. The agenda included 18 items.
Before the meeting started, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Nika Gilauri, asked the Minister of Agriculture, Bakur Kvezereli, to provide information on development of maize and wheat programs and beginning of spring agricultural works.
"More than 35 thousand farmers have already been registered on the Wheat Program. The programs are carried out successfully, spring works are beginning. There are respective warehouses in all regions, where seeding material is distributed from. Distribution of seeding material is in active progress in the regions. Process of distribution will come to an end for April 10, and simultaneously, sowing will start; it has already started in some regions. By April 15, we will have certain results with respect to the area on which the hybrid maize will be sown this year. I would like to point out that in some regions irrigation channels are being brought to order. This is an important part of spring works as there are certain problems especially, in Kakheti and Kvemo Kartly Regions. Before the irrigation season starts, these works will be completed and they will be brought into operation without any problem. Results of the Wheat Program are also very important. The seeding material imported in the last autumn has been sown on 10 thousand hectares. For the present time, we have very good results. In summer, we will have harvest and an opportunity to summarize results of this project. The program is intended for providing 35% of local customers with local production. Up to now, the maximal result was 15%. Our aim is to achieve 35% of local utilization. As for maize, we produced 75% locally, but this year, we will have an import of 1 025 000 tons," pointed out Bakur Kvezereli before the government meeting started.
The Prime Minister asked the Minister of Energy, Aleko Khetaguri, to provide details on condition existing at Enguri Hydro Power Plant.
"As you know, Enguri Hydro Power Plant was completely switched off for ten days. Lock repair works were carried out on the water supply system. It was for the first time in the history of Georgia, that we were continuing exporting electric energy with the power plant switched off and there were no restrictions of electricity in the territory of Georgia. Two days ago, we switched Enguri in the system again producing about 350 megawatt of energy.
As for now, we have stopped two heating stations and are moving to summer regime. The whole territory of Georgia is continuously provided by electricity and capacity of export will grow.
With Enguri switched off, all four heating stations were working at full load; now, only the Ninth Power Unit is connected and the other three are switched off. At this stage, we conduct export to Azerbaijan; repair works are being carried out on the power lines and export to Turkey will be activated from the first days of April," pointed out the Minister of Energy.
On April 21, 2011, the government of Georgia held a meeting. There were 58 issues on the agenda.
Before the meeting started, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Nika Gilauri, talked about construction of Khudoni Hydro Power Plant. We present the Prime Minister's speech:
"Good day. Before we start the government meeting, I would like to give the public and members of the government a piece of news about one of the most important issues we are going to discuss at today's government meeting. This is the issue of construction of Khudoni Hydro Power Plant.
We concluded an agreement with an Indian company Continental Energy a year and a half ago1; This company was to conduct technical-economic research with respect to construction of Khudoni Hydro Power Plant: whether it is possible to construct Khudoni Hydro Power Plant, or how profitable construction of Khudoni Hydro Power Plant can be in the current economic conditions.
The research was completed several weeks ago. Since that, we carry out very specific negotiations with respect to the agreement. Today, the Minister of Energy is submitting the issue to the government meeting in order that we conclude an agreement on construction of Khudoni Hydro Power Plant with Continental Energy. The research has confirmed that construction of Khudoni Hydro Power Plant is profitable in spite of the fact that quite solid investments will be made and its construction will be quite difficult. It is technically possible to carry out its construction and it is economically acceptable considering the current market.
We will execute an agreement on construction of Khudoni Hydro Power Plant in the nearest days, which means that preconstruction works will be carried out in summer of this year, while construction of the power plant itself will start next year.
This is a 650 megawatt project. As you already know, there were several Khudoni Hydro Power Plant construction projects - 600 megawatt, 650 megawatt and 700 megawatt. This is 650 megawatt version which was ultimately selected by technical design. In sum, the investment amounts up to $1 billion that makes it one of the biggest investment projects in Georgia.
I would like to thank everyone who was working on the project for this period. It was not simple at all to conduct the research or carry out negotiations. All details have been completed and construction of Khudoni Hydro Power Plant will be one of the main issues on the agenda of today's government meeting."
Prime Minister's Press Service