Iormuganlo Residents Warn the President

Natia Danelishvili, Information Center of Kakheti 

Residents of Iormuganlo village in Sagarejo district refused to accept 30-GEL vouchers [Georgian government’s initiative to distribute 30-GEL vouchers among farmers to fertilize and to cultivate their plots] in protest. The local population protest sale of agricultural land and pastures in the village. They petitioned to the President of Georgia, where they threatened with extreme forms of protest unless their petition is satisfied.

“Several thousand families live in Iormuganlo that makes about 20 000 people. 98% of them are ethnic Azeris. They seized lands from us and assigned to unidentified Ltd. The total space of agricultural plots is 5 100 hectares and is spread in six villages of Sagarejo district. According to our information, the land was sold to the Ltd Georgia Project – 2 for five million GEL,” Iormuganlo residents told the ICK who have already petitioned to the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili.

“Mr. President, why do we need the 30-GEL voucher if we do not have a plot? We are neither politicians, nor interested in it at all, but everybody recalls about us only during pre-election campaign. However, this time, apparently we are no longer necessary even for the election purposes and our issue has been finally settled. We think we are predestined for starvation. Mr. President, we decline your 30-GEL vouchers, which are so much proclaimed by you, as an important aid from the government to cultivate our plots. We do not have plots any longer and so we do not need anybody’s charity. Initially, the land was assigned to us based on 25-year-long lease agreement for what we transferred huge sums to the state budget but later the lease-agreement was annulled. We have been cultivating the land every year non-stop; we grew vegetables for our families and for the whole country. We kindly request you, to personally control this issue; otherwise we intend to apply the most extreme measures of protest and we will protect each meter of our land,” the petition to the President reads.

Sagarejo district governor Gia Chalatashvili told the ICK that the land belonged to the state and the Ministry of Economy sold it out.

“Iormuganlo residents did not remain without land. Their plots were not sold. The sold land previously belonged to the soviet agricultural unions which was state property and the Ministry of Economy sold it on the auction. A huge sum 5 500 000 GEL was accumulated into the state-budget as a result of the sale. According to my information, an English businessman purchased it but I do not know the purpose of his purchase. We have not met him yet. Azeri people own perfect plots in the Iori River Ravine. Each family has almost 2 hectares of land there and the state is working on assigning those plots to them in private property. They had leased the sold land but the lease-term expired. So, they should have applied to the Ministry of Economy to prolong the lease-agreement and the Ministry could clarify to them that the state did not intend to lease the land to them in future. However, nobody applied to the Ministry. Maybe five people are complaining about it and refused to accept vouchers but I know the majority of local inhabitants accepted vouchers and they are happy with it,” the district governor told the ICK.