In a tender held by the Economic Development Ministry the TBC group acquired the rights to manage Tbilisi's Lisi Lake and the surrounding territory.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili met Economic Development Minister Giorgi Arveladze at the State Chancellery to discuss the results of the tender. Saakashvili said that it was transparent and held in conditions of fair competition and hailed the tender as a success.

"When a country is trusted and people are confident that everything there is done honestly and fairly, money enters that country and it is successful," the president said.

Saakashvili added that the money invested in the land would create many new jobs in the construction sector, attract more tourists and improve the country's business environment.

"Money from privatization should not be an abstract concept for our citizens. This money must be used for the development of our country. Specifically, we are building many new important roads. Much of our population lives in villages where no-one has bothered to fix roads since the collapse of the Soviet Union. I instruct you to draw up a plan to repair roads in a minimum of 200 villages," he told Arveladze.

"We have raised pensions in Tbilisi according to merit and years of service in the workforce, but this has yet to be extended to the regions. I order you to make sure that the people see benefit from the fact that tax revenues have grown.

"We particularly need to expand social assistance for the poorest of our society. This programme will serve to end poverty in Georgia. Everyone must see that money is entering our country, that there is no more corruption and that our economic advancement will be reflected equally in urban and rural areas," President Saakashvili said.

Press Office
of the President of Georgia