On 27 November 2013, at the plenary session of the Georgian Parliament, the Adigeni Region Majoritarian MP, Zurab Chilingarashvili, spoke about the problems in the Adigeni Region. According to his statement, in 2012 the gasification process was practically finished in the two biggest villages of the Region; however, the process has been suspended for the last year and nothing has been done ever since.

decided to investigate the truthfulness of this statement.

Zurab Chilingarashvili declared to our parliamentary correspondent that the gasification process started in the two villages of the Adigeni Region, Ude and Arali, in May 2012 and was suspended in October of the same year.  As for the stealing of the pipes, according to Chilingarashvili, they were left unattended, became damaged and were misappropriated by the population.

We also contacted the Ministry of Energy of Georgia. According to the information of the Ministry, the gasification process was launched in the Adigeni Region in August 2012. Part of the work was conducted by the Georgian Gas Transportation Company. The information we obtained from the Ministry does not provide any reasons for a ceasing of the process as well as for not resuming it for one year. However, according to the Ministry, the responsibility to conduct the second part of the gasification process lies within JSC Sakorggas. In accordance with the agreement with Sakorggass, and based upon the Resolution of the President dated 15 November 2013, the gasification process will be completed by 31 December 2014. A total of 2002 users, including the population of the villages of Ude and Arali, will be included in the overall network.

also got in touch with the Acting Governor of the Adigeni Region, Arsen Balakhashvili. He stated that the gasification process in the Adigeni Municipality started in August 2012. The construction of the Arali-Akhaltsikhe 12 kilometre-long central pipeline was in process for three months in the villages of Arali and Ude. The gas pump was also installed during this period. The process was completed when the pipeline reached the village of Arali by the beginning of October. The Georgian Gas Transportation Company was responsible for these operations. According to Balakhishvili, the Adigeni Municipality has no information about the date of renewal of the process. As for Chilingarashvili’s statement about the stealing of the pipes, the Adigeni Governor did not possess any information about this fact.

After verifying Zurab Chilingarashvili’s statement, we found out that the first stage of the gasification process started in August 2012 and was completed with installing the Akhaltsikhe-Arali central pipeline and the pump in October 2012. The gasification process has in fact been suspended since then. The main phase of the process is completed and only the internal network in the villages needs to be built up. Despite the timeline of the gasification process being prescribed by the contract, the gasification process has not been renewed so far. The reason for the ceasing of the process for the whole year is also unclear. As for the stealing of the pipes, this information could not be verified. The investigation has not yet started and the Acting Governor of the Adigeni Region does not possess any information. Nevertheless, this fact does not preclude the possibility of misappropriating the pipes by the population. We believe that this fact does not have a crucial importance as the Majoritarian MP of the Adigeni Region aptly poses the key problem of gasification. The information Chilingarashvili provided is confirmed by the Ministry of Energy as well as the Adigeni Municipality.