Tkibuli Coal Mines

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The Mindeli Mine in Tkibuli. Photo: Lana Kokaia/OC Media.

Georgia

One dead and eight injured in Tkibuli mine explosion

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•1 min read

One miner was killed and eight more have been injured in an explosion in the Tkibuli coal mine in central Georgia. The cause of the explosion in the Mindeli mine shaft, at around 23:00 on Sunday, is still not known. The injured have been transported to Tbilisi, where three remain in serious condition in intensive care. Doctors say that one of those injured is in critical condition. Guga Kashibadze, head of the burns centre at the Khechinashvili University Clinic, told reporters that the

The coal mines in Tkibuli. Photo: Lana Kokaia/OC Media.

Feature Stories

‘We all have bronchitis’ — the blackened lungs of Georgia’s coal miners

by Lana Kokaia

•6 min read

The owners of the coal mines in the Georgian mining town of Tkibuli deny that any employees have job-related illnesses. The miners themselves tell a different story. On 21 July 2020, Amiran Bochorishvili, a 65-year-old miner in Tkibuli, marched into the office of the director of the Mindeli Mine and cut open his wrist. After 40 years working 300 metres underground, the mining company, Saknakhshiri, attempted to transfer Bochorishvili to surface duties, cutting his salary from around ₾900 ($

Georgia

Tkibuli miner self-harms in director’s office over salary cut

by OC Media

•3 min read

A coal miner in the Georgian town of Tkibuli has purposefully injured himself in the mine’s director’s office in protest over a reduction in his salary. On Tuesday, Amiran Bochorishvili cut his wrists in the office of the town’s Mindeli Mine. Following the incident, Bochorishvili told journalists that as the only breadwinner in his family, was unhappy that his pay had been reduced from ₾900 ($290) per month to ₾300 ($97) after the management moved him to a new position. He was transferred afte

Georgia

Tkibuli miners demand safety guarantees after surviving accident ‘by pure luck’

by OC Media

•3 min read

A group of coal miners at the Mindeli and Dzidziguri shafts in the west-Georgian town of Tkibuli refused to work on Wednesday citing dangerous workplace conditions. The main catalyst for the stoppage, according to them, was a ‘near-death’ incident involving 22 workers at 00:40 on Monday morning. Imereti-based news site Top News cited miner Gaga Isakadze as saying that a lift bringing 22 miners to the surface malfunctioned, violently dropping several times. ‘The miners tried to calm each

Temur Chubinidze (left), Tkibuli mayor, meeting with local miners on Monday. Image: IPN.

Georgia

Georgian miners in Tkibuli demand safety promises be fulfilled

by OC Media

•3 min read

Several dozen coal miners in the western Georgian town of Tkibuli staged a protest against Steel International Trade Company, their employer, demanding concrete information about the safety of the mine shafts. Several workers had been poisoned in a mine shaft the previous week. This latest protest, on 16 March, followed the poisoning of five workers in a mine shaft on 9 March. Three workers were hospitalised. Ruslan Butskhrikidze, the leader of the initiative group, told OC Media, that he

Mine workers inside the Mindeli coal mine in Tkibuli, Georgia. Photo: Lana Kokaia/OC Media.

Feature Stories

Stuck between a rock and a hard place — the miners of Tkibuli

by Lana Kokaia

•7 min read

When an explosion in the Mindeli mine in the west-Georgian town of Tkibuli killed four and injured six, coal mining in the town briefly shut down. In the interim, some miners have sought work abroad, while others stayed to work for new owners. In either case, the miners found little respite. Khvicha Gabunia, 32, is an economist by training. Ten years ago, after failing to find a job in his field, he started working in the Mindeli mine — the only operating mine in Tkibuli, and its largest em

Georgia

New investor to take over Tkibuli mine ending workers’ hunger strike

by OC Media

•3 min read

Coal miners in the west-Georgian town of Tkibuli have ended their protest after Economy Minister Natia Turnava announced that overdue salaries would be paid and that the mine would soon restart operations. On 26 September, Turnava announced that a ‘new company’ would take over the coal mines in Tkibuli. Speaking after the joint meeting with the current owners of the mine, Saknakhshiri, the new company, and workers, Turnava said that the new investor was a Georgian company that had ‘Ukrain