Holding offers to gift coal mining company involved in today’s accident to state

The Georgian Industrial Group (GIG), the largest industrial holding in Georgia owning Saknakhshiri coal mining company, is ready to gift the company to the state in the wake of today’s fatal incident in the Tkibuli Mindeli Mine, which claimed the lives of four miners and left six others with severe injuries.

GIG states that despite millions of GEL worth of investments for the Georgian coal mining company over the past 12 years, they "were unable” to find an engineering solution which would make work in the Tkibuli mines absolutely safe.

Despite the expenses we have made we are ready to give the company free of charge to the state,” the holding says.

 Being a wholly owned subsidiary of GIG, Saknakhshiri [translates as Georgian Coal] is the only coal mining company in Georgia.

There are two coal mines in operation, Mindeli and Dzidziguri. Both are part of the Tkibuli-Shaori coal basin which is located in mountainous areas of Imereti close to Racha region [western Georgia]. The company mines hard coal in underground operations. 

The government has not yet responded to the offer.

In his most recent statement the Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze said that one of the ministries is launching  "a very significant” programme from August 1, which will finally settle the labour safety problem in Georgia.

We have made a decision to close all the mines until the investigation is over and until international experts provide their conclusions over the condition of the Mindeli mine.  It will also be established whether the company operating the mine has met the previous safety recommendations,” Bakhtadze said.

The health condition of four out of the six injured miners remains critical. They are being treated in Tbilisi Burn Centre.