Agara Sugar Factory Resumes Work after 7-Month Pause

After a 7-month break, the sugar factory in Agara, central Georgia, has resumed work.

Levan Kalandadze, Deputy Business Ombudsman, Chairman of Supervisory Board of Agara Sugar Company, Savash Uzan, representative of Agara Sugar Company, Nikoloz Natbiladze and Shida Kartli government members attended the ceremony of the factory re-opening on June 2. At the event, the best employees of the company were awarded.

"Today is a very important day for Agara Sugar Company and in general for the town of Agara. The factory was not working for months and now it has resumed at full capacity. This is a good example of how the government's economic team and Business Ombudsman's Office has been engaged in negotiations together with the investor,” Levan Kalandadze stated.

He added that if the factory had not become operational again, families of 500 employees would have been left without an income.

The factory stopped working on November 1 due to financial difficulties. The employees of the company held several protest rallies in both Agara and Tbilisi, asking the government to solve the problem as the factory is the only source of income for the local community.

On April 18, the workers of Agara Sugar Factory started a demonstration from Agara and walked 110 km to Tbilisi. The workers and representatives of the trade unions organized a protest rally in front of the Government Chancellery building, demanding a meeting with government representatives.

Ombudsman Lekvinadze promised the protesters that the problems at the factory would be resolved through state involvement. After some time, negotiations took place between the government and the founders of Agara Sugar Company, involving the Business Ombudsman's Office.

The parties reached an agreement on resuming work in the factory. The package of support for Agara Sugar Company was developed and, as a result, the factory resumed work from June 2.

By Thea Morrison

04 June 2018 19:14