Mediation steps

• Preliminary steps

  Date

  Event

  26 April 2021

  The Georgian Government invited the Chair of the Secretariat’s Dispute Resolution and Negotiation Centre, Deputy Director Dirk Buschle, to mediate the discussions between the parties, and to review all documents and procedures carried out in relation to the project so far against Energy Community law and best European practice. Dirk Buschle was joined by Energy Community Environmental Expert Aleksandra Bujaroska.

• Mediation procedure

  Date	Event
  15 June 2021	The first meeting in the negotiations between civil society and the government of Georgia took place outside Tbilisi. The parties agreed on a number of measures and actions to be taken on three main subjects: effective and transparent control of the conditions in the construction and environmental permits and their review by independent experts, a de-escalation of the situation in the Rioni valley review, and an open debate on Georgia’s future energy security on the basis of the draft National Energy and Climate Plan.
  June-November 2021	The mediation focused on facilitating the implementation of the agreements made. This part of the mediation process was performed by regular virtual meetings among all participants aimed at de-blocking implementation obstacles and taking stock of the progress. The mediators summarized the results of these virtual meetings after each call.
  19 November 2021	The Secretariat’s Dispute Resolution and Negotiation Centre published the concluding report on the mediation, which lasted for six months, as scheduled. It resulted in a number of agreements and follow-up actions summarized in the report. At the end of September, the project developer, who chose not to participate in the mediation, had unilaterally terminated the project contract.