Turkish Company Exits Georgia under Public Pressure, Says Vahe Davtyan

Vahe Davtyan, a member of the political council of the ‘One Armenia’ party, made a statement: “Under long-term public pressure, the Turkish company ENKA has decided to withdraw from the construction project of the Namakhvani Hydro Power Plant in Georgia. As part of the project, Tbilisi had transferred the rights to use the Rioni River, the largest river in Western Georgia, to the Turkish company for a period of 90 years. The company has the discretion to exploit the river basin area totaling 13.4 thousand square kilometers, as well as all the flora and fauna of the river.

However, it is noteworthy that the public protest shifted from a purely environmental agenda to a distinctly political one. As a result, numerous anti-Turkish sentiments were voiced by the protesters. The situation took on a political character especially after clergymen joined the demonstrations, erecting an Orthodox cross in the project area, prompting Ankara to respond diplomatically.

Thus, the suspension of the project means that Georgia is losing an investment of approximately $830 million, and given the growing demand for electricity, it will inevitably have to increase imports from neighboring countries in the near future. This creates significant opportunities for Armenia, which has surplus capacity. Of course, this is only theoretical, as it is hard to imagine the de facto authorities of Armenia making any efforts to improve our regional position. The paralysis of the Armenia-Georgia electricity transmission line is a vivid example of this.

In any case, the developments surrounding the Namakhvani HPP are symptomatic and testify to serious realignments occurring in the region.