Environmental Group Sues BTC

(Tbilisi, June 28, 2003, Civil Georgia) – Tbilisi District Court accepted a law suit of Georgian environmental NGO Green Alternative against the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources concerning the permission to construct Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.

Georgian Ministry of Environment gave its go-ahead to construction of the Georgian sections of the BTC on November 30, 2002.

The Green Alternative claims that the permission was issued with the violation of law, as the decision-making process was not transparent for public.

Keti Gujaraidze of the Green Alternative told Civil Georgia that the governmental agreement between Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan over the construction of the BTC was not published as it is required by law.

No date for the court case has been set so far.

The environmental groups fear that there are no sufficient guarantees that the BP-led project would not have negative impact on the fragile ecology of the region. Environmentalists especially fear over the 17 kilometer-long portion of the route, which runs through Georgia’s Borjomi valley, famous with its mineral waters.

The US-backed BTC project, with development costs up to USD 3 billion, should carry Azeri oil to the western markets via Georgia and Turkey.

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