Representatives of the Power Energy Company Blackmail the People in Order to Pay Electricity Bills

The village of Kvemo Bodbe in the Sighnaghi district has not been supplied with the electricity for the last two weeks. Villagers said that they have paid all their electricity bills. The ‘Kakheti Power Distribution Company” demands them to pay the bills of thousands of laris, allocated by their communal meters. The people are not going to pay this money. The villagers have applied both the power company and the Sighnaghi District Municipality several times in vain.

Human Rights Center got interested in the problem of these people. The villagers informed the center that, representatives of the “Kakheti Power Distribution Company” demand them to install individual meters for their families as well as separate meters for ten families. Each family has to pay 110 GEL for those meters to be installed.  “Unless we obey their demands and pay bills, they will not supply us with electricity-they told us at the office,” said the villagers. Although, people tried to hold protest demonstrations, Sighnaghi district policemen dispersed them.

Representatives of the Human Rights Center’s Kakheti Office carried out investigation on the situation and it proved that the officials of the power company really had similar demands from the villagers. The center demanded the information from Zurab Janjghava, the Bankrupt Manager of the Power Company, several times. The manager refused to give them information.

Human Rights Center is going to send the materials to the Financial Police Kakheti Department and demands to react on it.

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti