Welcome everyone.

First of all, I would like to introduce the report to you, which the City Hall of Poti and local municipality have presented.

I would like to discuss this report together with you and for you to confirm that the presented projects are indeed being implemented and what is being done is accessible for you.

The potable water would only run in the city once in two days in 2008, but you know that we have already begun the water project and every water pipe will be replaced in 2012. We will switch to a 24 hour water supply in 2013.

None of the governments managed to deliver water to the houses in Poti, a city that lies on water. This is a nightmare and we are now addressing this problem.  

Let us now discuss the gasification of Poti. There was no natural gas supply network in Poti until 2011 – we all know this. I have personally asked America to do this in 2008, as it required lot of money and we did not have such means.

We have built a high pressure gas pipeline and the natural gas is already delivered here. The main problem now is to bring gas to the families.

We have to elaborate a much more flexible system, we have to negotiate a deal with our companies and create a long-term credit system, all of us together. If a person cannot bring natural gas to their home, there is no use in having a pipe out in the street. Yet, it is not only a mayor’s job.

You know that the issue of electricity had always been problematic in Poti. Because of heavy rain and wind the majority of the roofs have been worn out. 

We are spending up to three million, to which we will add a million and a half. We are changing roofs in 26 blocks this time. We will allocate more funds, so that every multi-floor building has a solid roof.

We can see that the yards are also being refurbished.

Besides this, the construction of the Poti monument is being completed.

The beautiful theater named after Valerian Gunia is being constructed…

Yet, the principal issue my dear ones, is employment.

Thus, just as we had successes in Poti, we had failures as well.

The success is that business in general is expanding. Everything had been in few people’s hands before, and the residents of Poti were on the offside.

The problem is that this zone did not take off the way we expected. Things have been made bit-by-bit, but it is not sufficient.

When the Danish bought the port, it was not bad, but they fired people. I believe that the development of new grand industrial power sites is a means to overcome that.

We made a deal with “SOCAR” three weeks ago and it will build a huge factory in Poti, where the chemical processing of oil products will take place. There will be 2 thousand people employed at the factory.

The construction will begin towards the end of August or September this year. The construction will take about two years and few thousand people will be employed there as well.

Besides this, we are working on opening a ceramic factory. Similarly, we are developing an automobile assembly concept in this territory.

Concisely, given the development of transport communications, Poti has to become an industrial center.

There is much talk about us beginning the development of Lazika; they say that people of Poti require attention.

I assure you that the idea of Lazika is to strengthen the Poti complex.

The situation is that the more power sites that are created in terms of storehouses and infrastructure, then the more construction works are carried out, and more investments will be made in this territory leading to more new power sites being created.

Poti and Lazika will connect through a new road and distance between them will be about 20-25 kilometers. This means that a railway has to be built, that we have to complete the construction of an airport. First and foremost, the population of Poti and Samgrelo in general will benefit from this.

It will only make Poti more powerful.

We do not have easy money to be distributed according to our desires. Capital has to be created, for which we need to create material wealth.

What creates this wealth? First, strengthening and expanding of Poti and its adjacent territories as much as possible, so that people live better here.

There are many things, which I do not like myself. We have now changed the legislation, in order to give people the maximum opportunity to provide employment to even more people. We have introduced certain benefits, gotten rid of the VAT, to open industrial facilities in the city.

I am now personally working on completing the construction of the airport more quickly, as this pace does not satisfy me.

We have to enhance the technical institutes even further, which we have in Poti. It is very important, as in many places, because 75 percent of graduates of these institutes find jobs in the first month.

When I talk about the graduates, I mean not only youth, but people over 60 as well.

The other day I saw a 67 year old person who was taking the training courses.    

Through our vouchers, people of every age are acquiring professions, free of charge, in these technical institutes and are getting well paid jobs in one months’ time.

We all have to think about it. There are jobs out there and there will be even more. We just have to have basic qualifications in order to satisfy the requirements of employers.

Even yesterday, we took people from villages and introduced to them the farmer’s service centers. Some have land and cannot yield a harvest, as they have no chemicals. The people, who live a few kilometers away from these service centers, did not know that the state has practically solved such kinds of problems and they can now buy fertilizers and chemicals in those centers. It’s just that no one took them there and showed them that it is possible, besides, it is accessible to everyone.

I know that we have many other problems as well.

I know that not everything is accommodated in the port.

In fact, when we talk about factories, the construction began here in 2011, and the first metal construction department of the metallurgical factory is becoming operational. 220 people will be employed there in August.

Beginning from September, little by little, we will need few thousand people, on the construction of the factory. The construction of the Sport’s Palace is continuing and we will finish it very soon.

The condition of people, whom we have moved to the new Maltakva’s settlement, is very painful for me. Many of them were from Tskaltubo, where they had some income, whereas here, there are some problems in terms of employment.

We have built a textile factory in Batumi, where 1,000 people have to be employed – there are 650 people employed there now.

The majority of refugees, who live in Batumi, have found work in that factory. We need such a decision here as well. People should not have to go there, conversely, they need to strengthen each other and the new opportunities have to be created here. We will work on this, all of us together.

We will continue the construction of the fish processing factory.

Perhaps you remember that I fired the whole leadership of the Ministry of Economy, as they were blocking the construction of refrigerators here.

We have opened a renovated hospital, and you know that we will further expand the insurance system. Children under five years old will receive insurance, we are insuring every student today, and from September every pensioner above 60 will be insured.

The discounts on medicine will increase up to 100 GEL.

My wish is that there is not a single person left in Poti, for whom this hospital will not be accessible. Otherwise, its opening will not make sense.

Thank you.