Tbilisi (GBC) - The Georgian National Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (GNERC) has officially granted an electricity generation license to Mtkvari HPP LLC, a 54.1 MW hydroelectric power plant located in the Akhaltsikhe and Aspindza municipalities. The plant comprises three generation units, two with a capacity of 26.5 MW each and one smaller unit with 1.1 MW capacity.
The development comes amid significant changes in ownership. The Co-Investment Fund, founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, has sold Mtkvari HPP to JSC Hydrogenius. The purchase agreement was signed on July 16, 2024, between LLC Mtkvari Holding and the buyer. However, the terms of the deal, including the sale price, payment structure, and any additional obligations, have not been made public. An "extensive agreement" was reportedly signed between the parties to prevent these details from appearing in the public registry.
Mtkvari HPP has been one of the Co-Investment Fund’s largest energy projects. The fund acquired the facility in 2014, shortly after the Georgian Dream party came to power, and resumed construction, eventually investing a reported $236 million.
However, the project later became entangled in legal controversy. In 2023, Bidzina Ivanishvili’s lawyer, Teimuraz Tsikvadze, revealed that the project had run $100 million over budget, raising questions about potential mismanagement or misuse of funds by fund executives, particularly Giorgi Bachiashvili, then-head of the fund.
The Mtkvari HPP project was one of the key components in the criminal proceedings launched against Giorgi Bachiashvili. On February 24, 2025, Bachiashvili disclosed that he had been informed by investigators that he would be indicted the following day in relation to the Mtkvari HPP case.
In a separate high-profile trial, on March 10, 2025, Bachiashvili was sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison by the Tbilisi City Court for charges stemming from the so-called “cryptocurrency case.” He was found guilty of embezzling large sums and laundering illegal income. Bachiashvili was eventually arrested on May 27.
The unfolding developments around Mtkvari HPP have brought renewed attention to the intersection of politics, investment, and legal accountability in Georgia’s energy sector.