Natia Turnava: We will provide GEL1200 assistance to the former employees of Frontera
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Monday, August 10
According to the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Natia Turnava, the government has decided to provide a one-time assistance of GEL1,200 to the former employees of the company Frontera.
According to her, the situation of former employees of Frontera still stays to be a huge problem. As the minister noted, the decision to provide these former employees the help was made because of the financial situation that these people have to go through.
She also noted that at this stage, the communication between the government of the country and the representatives of the company is very positive. The Georgian government has decided not to terminate its contract with Frontera and to allow the company to continue operating in the part of the original contract area where oil production has been underway since Soviet times.
According to the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the talks are about only 1 % of the territory, as about 99 of this territory has already been returned to the state by Frontera, according to an arbitral award.
According to the official statement of the Ministry, the decision of the state is conditioned by the strategic tasks facing the country.
The Georgian government announced the termination of its contract with Frontera in April 2020 and based its decision on international arbitration. This decision was followed by a huge backlash from the international patterns of the country, especially the ones from the USA.
A few weeks ago, six members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressing concern over the situation in Georgia.
The letter, dated July 27th, talks about Georgia's path since 1991, important reforms in the development of the global trade partnership, strengthening relations in the field of defense, and free and fair elections.
Members of Congress are urging Pompeo to address their concerns over a number of issues during future meetings with Georgian officials, especially Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. One of the things that they are most concerned about is the situation around the American company Frontera.
As the representatives of the USA say, the government of Georgia is not letting American companies work successfully in the country, and this could lead to huge problems for the country.
