The President of Georgia visited the Dariali Gorge today with the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alexandre Khetaguri, and toured the construction works at the “Darialihesi” hydro electric power plant.

Mikheil Saakashvili took part symbolically in the “Darialihesi” tunnel construction and signed a document establishing work hours and shifts at the construction site. According to the Head of State, implementing such projects is important because aside from creating jobs it will bring additional income.

“We have a unique opportunity now to adopt the techniques of the hydro electric power plants in other countries and build them ourselves across the world. Georgia is a secondary country in Europe in terms of natural resources. We are a European country and we have begun much construction, which means that in the future we are going to go to Africa, Asia and Oceania and build hydro electric power plants there.

We are not a lagging country of the third world. We have a tradition and an education system based on which it is possible to educate specialists. We have to employ Georgians everywhere. We are planning to build several more plants. I was looking at the gas pipeline that comes from Russia on the way here. Imagine if all of Georgia was entirely dependent on this pipeline…we would be in constant fear of Russians increasing gas prices or doing something else that would harm us. Unlike us, today all of Europe is dependent on this pipeline. Big development is only possible through energy independence. Georgia does not have oil and gas but we have hydro electric power stations, which means that we can be independent in terms of our economy. All of these projects will be implemented according to the modernization plan by 2015. This process will be irreversible and will definitely end. This region will no longer have an electricity problem after the end of the construction of Darialihesi” – stated the President of Georgia.

Darialihesi is located at the river Tergi in Kazbegi and the company Darial-Energy began its construction in fall 2011. The power of the plant is 109 mega watts, and annual output is 521 million kwt/hr.

150 people are employed at the plant construction site and 135 million USD will be invested in the project. The new hydro electric power plant will become functional in spring 2014.

Later today, Mikheil Saakashvili familiarized himself with the construction at another plant “Larsihesi”.

“There are people, who say that hydro electric power plants should not be built. If we had built “Khudonhesi” back in the day then the country that is located 100 meters away from the plant would not blackmail us since the 90s. We lost a lot of time because nothing was being built during this time period. We were dependent on the 9^th power plant since the 90s and we never knew when it would provide us with electricity, when it would turn off or blow up. The economic development is going on so rapidly that if we do not finish building these plants by 2015 it is possible that we will have an electricity deficit.

First of all, the constructions assist in employing people. This construction alone employs 300 people of which half are local residents. In reality the human resource deficit is already being created here. Georgians are working along with foreigners and learning high technology. The more we learn and build things on our own the more chance we will have to do build plants on our own in the future.  Many plants and facilities will be built in Georgia where people will be employed. We have to do our work on our own. We have to move our hands and build power plants. We shall no longer be dependent on hostile countries in terms of energy. People working here are creating the energy independence of Georgia. We have to create and develop everything on our own. There is no other choice. Energy independence is the basis for the independence of a country in the contemporary world. Without this, we will always be under a threat.

Lots of other things are being done in Kazbegi. In the past, Russians were building tunnels in our mountains to undermine our independence, but now we are building tunnels to strengthen the independence of Georgia. I am talking about the Roki tunnel, which they built so that Georgia would never be independent and never reach freedom. We are now drilling our own mountains so that nobody threats us anymore. For example, this is what they are doing to all of Europe now. Let’s just say that 90% of Europe is more dependent on these pipes than Georgia. It is very important that our country is no longer dependent on Russia. This is why we can have independent policies and development of our country” – stated the President of Georgia.

The company “Energia” started building the “Larsihesi” in 2011, and it will become functional in the fall of 2013. The power of the plant is 20 megawatts and annual output is 98 million kwt/hr. 120 people are employed at the “Larsihesi” construction and 20 million USD will be invested in the project.

The construction of new hydro electric power plants is going on within the scope of the state program “Renewable Energy 2008.” To date, 15 new plants are being built in the regions of Georgia. Construction of an additional 20 plants will begin in 2012-2013.