English businessman appeals to President for justice

Director of Thames Steel UK Limited Thomas Black has appealed to the Georgian President for help in the issue of the Rustavi Metallurgical Plant, which is owned by that company.

Speaking at a press conference in Tbilisi on October 23, the English businessman announced that he has found out that the plant is due to be sold at auction due to heavy debts. Black stated that he was not aware of this because the Plant management have taken everything that happens at Rustavi into their own hands.

"I arrived in Georgia in July to prepare for further investment plans, but was unexpectedly prevented by the local management. I was not able to enter the plant to review the documentation. It became known later that the reason for this is that the management of the plant were involved destroying it and selling it on as scrap metal," Black stated.

Black noted that Joseph Kay, a Georgian businessman notorious for claiming to be the rightful heir of Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili’s property, ran the plant and is connected to the problems. Black stated that as the company is about to be sold at auction Thames Steel UK Limited may lose the GEL 70,000,000 it paid for it back in 2007.

Black appealed to the President and the Government of Georgian to help him “get rid of the criminals” that are “trying to expropriate” his property. “The reputation of Georgia as a country attractive for investments and a country that is trustworthy and just is under threat now,” he stated.