BP and Georgian National Paralympic Committee extend partnership through to 2020

BP in Georgia  announced yesterday that it has extended its partnership with the Georgian National Paralympic Committee (GNPC) and the Georgian Paralympic athlete ambassadors through to the end of 2020.

The extension of the partnership was made official during the signing ceremony with BP General Manager in Georgia, Mr. Chris Schlueter and President of the Georgian National Paralympic Committee Mr. Shalva Maisuradze at the Parasports Development Center.  BP has extended its official partnership with the GNPC beyond the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games until the completion of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Within the renewed partnership agreement BP will continue to support the Georgian National Paralympic committee and BP’s three athlete ambassadors - Zviad Gogochuri, winner of the gold medal in Blind Judo at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games; Nika Tvauri, swimmer and Irma Khetsuriani, wheelchair fencer – to help promote Paralympic movement in Georgia and prepare for the major Paralympic event to be hosted by Tokyo in 2020.  

Chris Schlueter, General Manager for BP in Georgia said:  ‘Great energy and success of our world-class Paralympic athletes is an inspiration for me, my colleagues at BP and Georgian society. BP is privileged to be the first official partner of the GNPC since the 2011. We are happy our partnership has contributed to the development of the Paralympic movement in the country. We continue our partnership with the Georgian National Paralympic Committee and our athlete ambassadors to build on the success Georgia’s Paralympic team achieved on the international arena at the Paralympic games in Rio. ‘  

Shalva Maisuradze, President of the GNPC said: ‘For the Georgian Paralympic Committee it is very important to be supported by the strong company like BP in Georgia. BP was the first official partner of GNPC and we are delighted that we continued this partnership until 2020. This will help Paralympic movement develop at a pace in Georgia. BP’s athlete ambassador program is equally important and unprecedented in its right supporting Para athletes. We believe this partnership will serve as a role model and other companies will also express a desire to become a partner of the Georgian Paralympic Committee.

To our satisfaction we are already working with the VTB bank in this direction. They were the first to support winter Para sport development in Georgia. Under this sponsorship 2 Para athletes and 2 coaches attended theoretical and practical courses in alpine skiing and cross country skiing at the ski resort in Poland. VTB has already supported purchase of 2 wheelchairs for wheelchair skiing.

BP in Georgia is an official partner of the Paralympic committee and official partner of the Paralympic athletes since 2011. BP in partnership with GNPC has supported Georgian Paralympic team with the development and preparation for the Paralympic games in London and Rio. BP is also an international partner of the International Paralympic Committee, the governing body of the Paralympic movement.

BP first came to Georgia in 1996. Together with our business partners, BP has been operating major oil and gas pipelines in Georgia for more than 20 years. BP’s activities in Georgia feature three major energy projects, in which we are the lead investor and operator: The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, Western Route Export Pipeline (WREP) and The South Caucasus gas Pipeline (SCP) and ongoing expansion activities. BP invested more than $3 billion into energy business and social projects in Georgia and beyond including the jobs we create and the taxes we pay.

Major part of our contribution to Georgia is in providing gas from SCP for domestic use, which provides great value to the country and additional gas volumes when the new SCP Expansion (SCPX) project facilities come on stream. Today more than 3800 Georgian citizens are employed on SCPX project in Georgia.

BP employs 500 people within its operations in Georgia and generates business for local suppliers and contractors.  Over the past years, BP has contributed to a wide range of projects in Georgia which have sought to help local communities, promote business development, support education and protect Georgia’s cultural and natural environment.