Chiatura Management Company announces total suspension of underground mining

The company in charge of mining operations in the Georgian municipality of Chiatura has announced that it will not resume underground mining in the area citing its ‘unprofitability’ as local protests against the company continue.

On Friday, the director of the Chiatura Management Company, Maksim Mazurenko, said that the company came to the decision after reviewing the results of an audit prepared by the German consulting company DMT.

According to Mazurenko, the audit officially confirmed the financial unprofitability of underground mining in Chiatura.

The Chiatura Management Company is a contractor for Georgian Manganese, which claims to be operating a dozen mines in the municipality.

According to Mazurenko, the audit revealed that underground mining yielded ore of lower quality that was less efficient to process. He also cited the stagnation of manganese concentrate prices and market instability, high operating costs, and the ineffective implementation of investments.

Mazurenko also cited recurrent protests against Georgian Manganese held by the residents of several villages in the municipality.

‘Over the past year, the financial situation of the enterprise has become extremely difficult due to the paralysis of the mines by the population. Even in the conditions of the stopped enterprises, we had to pay 100% of the salaries to our employees’, Mazurenko said.

‘During this time, we paid salaries with loans, this amount totaling ₾83 million ($30 million)’, he said, adding that ‘all of this led us to colossal losses, compounded by banks refusing to issue new loans to us. This became the main factor due to which we were unable to pay salaries’.

On Monday BM.ge reported that the Revenue Service imposed a tax lien on Georgian Manganese on 16 January 2025. They cited the company as saying that they were indebted ‘tens of millions of lari’ to the government.

‘We are talking about the debt to the budget, tens of millions of lari. The decision of the Revenue Service once again confirms the severe financial crisis the company is in’, said the company.

Since 28 February, dozens of miners from Chiatura have been holding protests demanding that the state protect the rights of the employees of Georgian Manganese. They also demand that the state take over mining operations in the region from Georgian Manganese.

In addition to this latest protest, the residents of Shukruti, a village in Chiatura, have been actively protesting for several years to raise awareness of the damage caused by Georgian Manganese. They accuse the company of running operations that have destroyed their homes and spoiled their agricultural lands, in addition to not compensating them for any damage to their property.

Mazurenko touched on the protests held by the residents of Shukruti, accusing them of hampering the introduction of ‘new technologies’ that would reduce the cost of mining in the region and of pushing the company to completely halt production in the municipality in November 2024. The protest he was referring to saw the residents of Shukruti unsuccessfully attempt to push the National Forensics Bureau to assess damage to their property in a long-term protest held in front of the Georgian Parliament in Tbilisi.

Shukruti demonstrators leave Tbilisi after fruitless protest

Residents of Shukruti protesting against Georgian Manganese have ended their protest in Tbilisi after two weeks of unsuccessful negotiations. The protesters had demanded an assessment by the National Forensics Bureau of their property, as well as to receive adequate compensation from the compan…

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According to local media outlet Sakartvelos Ambebi, Mazurenko is a Ukrainian national and a ‘trusted associate’ of Ihor Kolomoiskyi, a Ukrainian oligarch and a majority shareholder in Georgian Manganese.

Georgian Manganese is the largest employer in Chiatura.

Last week, protesting miner Davit Chinchaladze told OC Media that despite halting mining operations in November 2024, Georgian Manganese continued extracting manganese in Chiatura — not from underground mines, but through open-pit mining, which they claimed has now doubled in scale.

‘This automatically means the destruction and damage of the city and villages’ infrastructure. The mines had their own specifics and were far less harmful’, Chinchaladze added.

Chiatura miners protest and demand exit of Georgian Manganese from local mines

Georgian Manganese is the sole owner of a license to operate mines in the central Georgian municipality of Chiatura.

OC MediaMikheil Gvadzabia