Kutaisi: protesters voice out ultimatum to authorities

Large-scale protests will start in Tbilisi should authorities ignore the demands of the opponents to the construction of the Namakhvan hydroelectric power plant (HPP), the participants in the rally held in Kutaisi on March 14 have warned.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Namakhvani villagers have long been protesting against the HPP construction on the Rioni. They believe that the HPP will change weather conditions and result in crop failures and starvation. On November 15, a protest action ended in a clash with the police.

The action in Kutaisi was organized by ecologists, civil activists and politicians. The Georgian authorities refuse to dialogue with opponents to the construction of the above HPP, the protesters claimed and demanded from Natiya Turnava, the Economy Minister, to resign.

Varlam Goletiani, one of the organizers, has warned that if the government continues disregarding protesters' demands, the next rally will be held in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi.

"I want to tell the government once again that if they reject our demands, we'll meet in Tbilisi; there will be much more of us; and the next rally will be held in front of the parliament. We call on the Prime Minister to act as the executor of Georgian people's will and dismiss the minister. Otherwise, [...] it will ultimately turn into a demand for the government's resignation. However, radicalization has never been our goal," Mr Goletiani stated on air of the "Mtavari Arkhi" TV Company, which was watched by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 14, 2021 at 06:12 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.