Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The director general of Kaztransgas-Tbilisi, Sanjar Shokataev, after months of questions from Georgian journalists, finally acknowledged that a subsidiary company of the Kazakh giant had indeed been sold. The deal with potential buyers will be formalized in the next year. According to Mr. Shokataeva, Kazakhstan is attempting to withdraw its investments from Georgia. "Our government has simply decided to initiate a comprehensive privatization and the sale of Kaztransgas-Tbilisi will be part of this process," the head of the company said.
However, it is rather evident that "comprehensive privatization" does not refer to the sale of Kazakh assets in all the countries where Kazakhstan has had investments in the past decades, but only in those countries where the process of privatization has encountered serious obstacles.
"Vestnik Kavkaza" has already reported that Kaztransgas-Tbilisi, which owns the gas distribution network in the Georgian capital, has been in a legal dispute with the authorities of Georgia for quite some time now (http://www.vestikavkaza.ru/analytics/Oblako-gaza.html). The main reason behind the conflict of interests is the clear desire of the investor to solve financial problems by raising retail prices for the population. But in Georgia, especially with the Georgian Dream coalition coming to power, an increase in prices could lead to social unrest, since the voters of the ruling coalition "dreamed" not about an increase in prices but about a reduction.
As a result, for several years now the company has been managed by a special manager appointed by the state, due to a debt of $40 million. The Kazakh side has never considered such a solution fair or optimal, but all negotiations with the Georgian Minister of Energy, former defender of FC Milan, Kakha Kaladze, including during his visit to Astana, did not bring any results. The reason remains the same: the company's debt and the reluctance of the government of Georgia to raise gas tariffs, which could allow the company to pay off the debt. At the same time, the Kaztransgas company categorically refuses to pay off the debt with the help of other resources. Thus, a number of managers were appointed by the "regulatory commission on energy tariffs," but the issue of a strategic plan remained unresolved until the representative of the Kazakh side recognized that the company was going to be sold.
It is not clear how a company being controlled by outside forces can be sold, but Sanjar Shokataev makes it clear that this is not the most difficult problem: if there is a buyer, "the governments of Georgia and Kazakhstan will negotiate on this matter." That means that Kaztransgas-Tbilisi will be sold together with the debt. Now there is a need to find a buyer. But who will buy a company with such debt and a worn out infrastructure? The gas distribution networks in the Georgian capital have not been dealt with for a long time. The head of Kaztransgas-Tbilisi has said that certain "Georgian business groups" are interested in buying the company. The price is unknown, but the company says that its entire stake will be sold. "Georgian business groups" might suggest that there is talk about another deal with the billionaire and the de facto leader of the ruling coalition, the "Georgian Dream", Bidzina Ivanishvili. Back in 2012, not without reason, it was discussed that after coming to power he will be the one to buy Kaztransgas, reduce the price and help the exhausted population. But these rumors were not confirmed, and the problem of Kaztransgas-Tbilisi has turned into a major "headache" for the government of Irakli Garibashvili: on the one hand, it does not dare to increase the price of gas, fearing a harsh response ("you've promised to reduce prices but actually increased them"). But on the other hand, it is high time for Georgia to fight Kazakhstan. It is quite obvious that the Kazakh government is closely monitoring the "adventures" of the subsidiary of its energy giant and may take retaliatory measures: for example, stop the import of Georgian wines, fruits and other products based on the Charter of the Customs Union, which Georgia on its way to Association with Europe is not part of.
Under these conditions, the billionaire and the government could well return to the idea of buying the Tbilisi gas distribution network to solve two problems at once: to exclude the possibility of increasing gas tariffs and maintain good relations with Astana. 40-50 million dollars does not seem like a very big amount to billionaire Ivanishvili, especially since we are talking about a potentially profitable enterprise.
There is also another possibility. Azerbaijani company SOCAR might have become interested in the purchase of the Kaztransgas-Tbilisi company, since it already owns an extensive infrastructure throughout the country. Supporting this version is the fact that Azerbaijan is the exporter of the majority of gas that comes to Georgia. However, SOCAR representatives in Tbilisi have so far refused to make any comments on the matter.
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