Georgian National Electricity Regulatory Commission (GNERC) said on March 16 it had appointed “a special administrator,” which will manage the Kazakh-owned gas distributor company in the capital, KazTransGaz-Tbilisi, temporarily.

GNERC said that the move became required as the company, owned by the Kazakh state run KazMunaiGas, owes GEL 80 million in debt, including GEL 68 million to Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation, from which KazTransGaz-Tbilisi, had purchased gas.   

“A special administrator will remain in the company before the improvement of financial condition and before repaying cost of supplied gas,” Guram Chalagashvili, the head GNERC, said on March 16. “The special administrator, Temur Kopaliani, will be managing the company only temporarily and the assets will remain under the company’s ownership.”

KazTransGaz-Tbilisi, which acknowledges having the debt, said its immediate plan and goal was to provide unhindered supply of gas to Tbilisi consumers. “That’s all we can say at this stage,” Eka Saria, a spokesperson for KazTransGaz-Tbilisi, told Civil.Ge.

Kairgeldy Kabyldin, head of Kazakh state oil and gas company KazMunaiGas, told Reuters on October 7, 2008 that his company may look to sell KazTransGaz-Tbilisi, citing financial reasons.