Borjomi mineral water on the supermarket shelf. File photoTBILISI, Jun 13Negotiations between the Borjomi mineral water bottling company and the government of Georgia have been successfully completed, the state will become its shareholder and co-owner, and the problems with the striking employees of the factories will be resolved, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said at a government meeting. «I want to inform you that today we have successfully completed negotiations with the shareholders of Borjomi. Our state, the government of Georgia will become a shareholder of the group that owns the Borjomi factories. Shares will be transferred to us free of charge and after that our state will become a co-owner of the Borjomi factories — our national treasure and pride. All problems , which were both in the direction of employee management, as well as in operation, functioning, will be removed,» the prime minister said.South Ossetia will open the border with Georgia for several days. According to him, the Georgian authorities agreed on this issue with international partners, held consultations in the UK. Garibashvili added that the deal was executed in full compliance with international legal norms. «Congratulations to each employee. It is known that dozens of employees believe that the administration behaved dishonestly. 50 employees were fired … we will solve all problems,» the head of government added .Employees of the company have been on strike since May 31 demanding better working conditions, they had previously blocked the entrances to both plants, claiming that the company's administration had begun hiring new employees. Prior to this, the «Association of Trade Unions of Georgia» reported that an indefinite strike of the company's employees will start on May 31. They demand the return to their previous jobs of 50 illegally, in their opinion, dismissed colleagues, payroll, return to the previous working conditions, increase in wages by 25%, exclusion of blackmail, threats and coercion by firing and holding people accountable, as well as conclusion of a collective agreement. 800 employees of both plants are on strike. Since April 29, the Borjomi company has temporarily suspended production at both plants in Georgia due to financial problems caused by the situation in Ukraine. The Russian Alfa Group has owned 60% of IDS Borjomi since 2013. The founder of the group, Mikhail Fridman, is under Western sanctions, 40% of IDS Borjomi is owned by minority shareholders. On May 19, IDS Borjomi International announced that it was ready to transfer to the Georgian government a controlling stake in IDS Borjomi Georgia, which owns the Borjomi mineral water bottling plant, free of charge. Negotiations on the transfer of shares are still ongoing.
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