Georgian Manganese, protesters in Shukruti village reach agreement over home damage compensation

Georgian Manganese and locals in the village of Shukruti in western Georgia have reached an agreement on compensation for damage inflicted on their homes due to mining activity in the area.

Georgian Manganese exports ferroalloys and manganese ore from mines near the village.

Shukruti residents had been protesting for more than 100 days over the company’s mining practices, which they said were harmful and caused landslides, inflicted damage on local roads and their homes.

Ten individuals had sewn their mouths shut, including three women, in protest of Shukruti+, a contractor of Georgian Manganese. Protestors claimed more than 200 families’ homes had sustained damage and demanded compensation.

In a statement published this morning Georgian Manganese announced that the company will compensate the damage under these two options:

1. Damage will be assessed according to the existing memorandum signed between the village and the company; or
2. Following the request of the protesters, the Levan Samkharauli National Forensics Bureau will assess the damage, which should then be compensated by the company

Locals held similar demonstrations with the same demands in September 2019 as well, and blocked the road leading to Georgian Manganese and stopped the operations of the manganese mines.

Following the September protests, a commission was set up with Georgian Manganese, the Chiatura mayor and the village governor to investigate the damage and then start the process of compensation for claimed losses, but locals said the commission's work had not yielded any real results.