PRESS: Inter RAO units file $175 mln suit vs Georgian govt

MOSCOW, Aug 8 (PRIME) -- Gardabani Holdings B.V. and Silk Road Holdings B.V., Dutch affiliates of Russian power holding Inter RAO, have filed a new U.S. $175 million suit against the Georgian government for a refusal to raise power tariffs due to the lari depreciation, Kommersant business daily reported Tuesday.

The suit was submitted to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in London. Inter RAO declined to comment.

Silk Road Holdings B.V. bought 75% in Georgian power grid company Telasi in 1998 and Gardabani Holdings B.V. acquired 100% in hydropower plants Khrami-1 and Khrami-2 in 2011. The purchase contracts say that Telasi and Khrami-1’s tariffs were to increase, if the lari depreciates against the U.S. dollar and Khrami-2’s will rise if the lari depreciates against the Japanese yen. But in 2014, the Georgian regulator created a tariff calculation methodology that reneged on the obligations.

The conflict started in 2015 when Silk Road Holdings B.V. and Gardabani Holdings B.V. demanded that the Georgian regulator sharply raises power tariffs due to the lari depreciation and increased costs of power production caused by a hike of gas prices, but the regulator refused.

In June, the companies filed suits with the Stockholm Arbitration Court seeking $125 million compensation from the Georgian government.

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