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Vazisubani Village Population Requests Sold Pastures Back

February 17, 2015
 
“If elected government cannot hear the voice of people, then let them hear moo of hungry cows”

Lela Khechoshvili, Kakheti

Ltd Vazisubani Mamuli purchased the former palace of the Romanovs in Vazisubani village, Gurjaani district. The state sold the pastures around the former palace together with the building. Local population protests this fact and claims the pastures belonged to people and the state sold them without any warning and auction.

If pastures are not returned to village population, on February 18 the farmers will bring cattle to Tbilisi in front of the government’s building and hold demonstration there.

“They sold village pastures in the past too. Now they sold the remained part of pastures close to the testing base. Our pastures were sold for low price – 1 square meter for 8 tetri, that makes total 50 000 lari,” said local Giorgi Solomnishvili.

Locals said more than 50 hectares of pasture was sold to businessman Mamuka Khazaradze. As locals said the new owner intends to arrange vineyard in the land. He intends to build third story on the place and make it into hotel that is inadmissible because the building is historical heritage. 

Malkhaz Chugoshvili is director of the Ltd Vazisubani Mamuli. According to the local population, he is father of the former advisor to the Prime Minister Tamar Chugoshvili. TBC Bank owner Mamuka Khazaradze is the founder of the company.

According to the director of the Ltd Vazisubani Mamuli Malkhaz Chugoshvili, the company will restore original view of the Romanov palace. 

"We bought 35 hectares of land through direct purchase. The land was used for cultivation and not as a pasture. Public Registration Agency can confirm that.  We are going to restore the old view of the palace in accordance to the law. I don’t have information about construction of the third floor on the building, because we have not seen the completed draft project of the construction. When we agree on final version, the project will be available for everybody. We plan to arrange chateau-style vineyards,” Malkhaz Chugoshvili told humanrights.ge.

Vazisubani population said each family had allocated 0.25 hectares from their plot to create pastures for the village. According to them, they learned about possible sale of the pastures in the past too and addressed to the Gurjaani district administration with request to purchase it; the administration satisfied their request.

On March 11, 2014 Gurjaani district administration sent official notification to the deputy of state attorney in the region/regional governor Zurab Arsenishvili about the fact.

“Mr. Zurab, in response to your letter # 133 of February 12, 2014 we would like to notify you that Gurjaani district administration is not agree to privatize the arable land. Those plots in fact are pastures of the village and local population uses it every year; so villagers are categorically against selling the land,” the notification reads. 

Despite the protest from the Vazisubani population, based on the May 13, 2014 resolution of the Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, the pastures of Vazisubani village were directly sold to the Ltd Vazisubani Mamuli for further investment of 700 000 lari in it. 

According to Malkhaz Chugoshvili, Ltd Vazisubani Mamuli is leading negotiations with the local government about the issue.

"We are negotiating with the local government and offered them to allocate the land even if it is covered with blackberry bushes. We will clean it with tractor and locals will use it as pasture. We also consider to give up 25 hectares of the purchased land and assign it to local population but unfortunately it will not resolve the problem; because other investors will appear and the state will sell the land to them [because it is state property],” Malkhaz Chugoshvili said. 
 
Gurjaani district administration offered local population to deforester the 15 hectares of the forest nearby the sold pastures and use it as pasture. Vazisubani village residents say it is inadmissible to cut down the forest because it will cause grave ecological problems. 

“District governor and municipal board chairman offered us to cut down the forest over the sold pastures. Our drinking water outflows from that place. Cutting down of 15 hectares of forest is equal to death. In addition there is water-source there and nobody cares if it is destroyed. Unless they return our pasture, we will take cows to Tbilisi,” the locals say. 

Vazisubani village residents collected signatures and sent joint statement to the Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on January 30, 2015. 

"Mr. Prime Minister, incredible injustice fact has occurred during your governance. You must not sacrifice interests of about 2 000 families in Vazisubani to the avidity and greed of one person and leave the village cattle without pasture. We did not elect this government to doom us to starvation. Because of this injustice we have to bring about 1 000 cows of villagers toTbilisi on February 18; we will hold protest  demonstrations in front of the chancellery, Bidzina Ivanishvili’s House and in front of Mamuka Khazaradze’s TBC Bank. If the elected government does not hear people’s voice, then the government should listen to the moo of hungry cows,” the petition of 700 villagers reads.  

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