Parliament Urges for Detailed Information over AES, UES Deal

(Tbilisi, August 5, 2003, Civil Georgia) – A special session of the Parliament discussed today the legality of sale of AES assets in Georgia to the Russian company Unified Energy Systems (UES) without the notification of the Georgian side.

“The authority should submit detailed information about the deal between the US and Russian companies. The population should know all the details of the deal. The country’s foreign political course should not change due to the entry of the Russian company,” Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said at the sessi!
on.

At a session of the Parliamentary Committee for Sector Economy held on August 4 Deputy Minister of State Mamuka Nikolaishvili said he was not reported over the talks between AES and Russian energy company, adding that the State Chancellery had not received any official document in this regard.

The Parliament urged the government to submit detailed information over the issue before August 8.

As a result of the deal the Russian power giant, which already owns 50% of the power lines in Georgia, acquires 75% of an electric distribution company Telasi in capital city, power plants Khrami-1, Khrami-2 and two power blocks of AES Mtkvari. Thus the Russian state-owned UES becomes the monopolist in the Georgian energy system.