The President of Georgia visited the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and toured the construction of the Paravani and Mtkvari hydro-electric power plants. He was accompanied by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Energy, which provided the President with information regarding work that is being planned for 2011-2012. Mikheil Saakashvili expressed his interest in the capacity of hydro-electric power plants and reviewed the likelihood of development of this sphere in Georgia. As the Prime Minister noted during the conversation with the President, the Paravani hydro-electric power plant will start functioning at the end of 2013 and the Mtkvari Plant will be available in 2015.

A Turkish company "Georgian Urban Energy" is administering the construction projects, however most of the workers (more than 300 people) are from the local community. More than 600 workers are employed for the construction of both plants. Mikheil Saakashvili also expressed interest in the working conditions of these employees. The current works are taking place at the main part of the superstructure - the water tunnel.

"According to our modernization plan, the main part of the construction will end in 2015, which means that at that time we will double our hydro-electric power capacity. Next year 12,800 workers will be employed at the construction sites of the hydro-electric power plants. Taking into consideration the fact that 10-15 thousand workers are already employed at infrastructure projects, the number of employed workers will reach about 30 thousand next year.

We basically have 5 zones where infrastructure development is possible - the Poti area, Senaki, Kutaisi, Akhalkalaki-Akhaltsikhe (the new railway is under construction) and the Gardabani-Tbilisi area. The good thing is that we have electricity lines everywhere. This is really an industrial-energy complex, because large facilities will be established here. First, we are employing people for the construction and after we finish building the hydro-electric power plants, these people will have an opportunity to work at the facilities the construction of which will follow in the future. The fact that the local population is satisfied is our main accomplishment. They had trouble generating income in the past, but now they have 500-700-1000 GEL salaries and at the same time they work nearby, in their own village. This is reality." - stated Mikheil Saakashvili.

As the Minister of Energy noted, the capacity of Paravani Plant is 78 mega watts and it generates 425 kilo watts per hour, which gives us the opportunity to export electricity. 125 million USD has been invested in the Paravani plant construction.

The capacity of Mtkvari plant will be 43 mega watts. A Georgian company "Caucasus Energy and Infrastructure" is administering its construction and the project is worth 65 million USD in investments.

"The Javakheti region was the most abandoned among regions of Georgia, but now it has begun developing faster than any other region. I think that construction of hydro-electric plants should become our mark in the world market. In this regard, we will constantly have jobs for workers for next 15-20 years. Along with this, we should learn to produce turbines and take them to the world market. This is very important. We had world class hydro-electric power plant technicians in the 80s. Enguri has been built completely by Georgians; they brought Russians only for political purposes. Right now we are lagging behind technically and we need to pay more attention to this issue. Our "Know How" is good construction. We are already learning to construct in the fastest way, which could help us pass the Turks and catch up to the Chinese. We should learn the building of the hydro-electric power plants well. It should be our mission to start constructing hydro power plants in Georgia faster than in any other country. We need to send people to Asia, Africa and Europe for that. We are not a failed and economically inexperienced country, where foreigners should come and build things. We are gaining appropriate experience and now is a unique moment to export it. A professional generation should follow after this construction. A hydro technical lab is also under construction. If I am not mistaken, Gia Natsvlishvili is creating such labs at the Technical University and we should gather all the energy experts here. By the way, this year most of the prospective undergraduate students have chosen engineering degrees. We may invite foreign main managers for now, but engineers and technicians should be Georgian" - Stated the President of Georgia.