In the Iveria hotel, the deadline to evacuate the rooms was set for August 20th. But first, the families had also to sign a « contract ». Doing so, they agreed to tacitly evacuate the hotel for a compensation of 7,000 dollars. But some families chose to break the silence and to denounce it as second « Abkhazia » with regards to the imposed conditions of their moving.

The press, Abkhazian spokespersons and foreign observers monitored closely the evacuation of refugees. In November, it was up to Ucha Nanuashvili, the executive director of Human Rights Information and Documentation Center, to take position. As reported in the press, he said to be indignant at the violation of the refugee rights. He also asserted that high-ranking officials of the Georgian had direct and personal interests in the Iveria and Adjara hotels – this would indeed explain the motivations to put pressure on the refugees so that they quickly and silently evacuate those places. Indeed the financial stakes are enormous.

According to the Georgian subsidiary of the British company Salford which holds the monopoly for the rebuilding of the Adjara hotel, the establishment could be turned in a three stars hotel complex. The company declared to be willing to invest as much as 25,000 dollars by room.
In an interview given to the news agency Ria Novosti in September 2004, David Shengelia, representative of the Silk Road Group, the society owning the Iveria hotel, was reminding that such an investment required a thorough hotel and tourism market study in Tbilisi. Immediatly adding that the company HVS International had been hired to make a business plan and a market study of luxury hotels.
Nevertheless, Shengelia, as well as the mayor of Tbilisi, announced to be also open to building projects in case the implementation of an hotel complex turned out to not be profitable.

Specialized in oil and petrochemicals transportation in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea, the Georgian company Silk Road was yet undermined early May 2004 by a scandal. One of its shareholders, Giorgi Ramishvili, a former member of the Mkhedrioni paramilitary group, best known under the pseudonym Zarala, was arrested by Georgian Interior Ministry for illegal possession of arms. Apparently this incident did not have any consequence on the projects assigned by the Georgian government to Silk Road for the lucrative market of the renovation of downtown Tbilissi.

«The decison to renovate the whole Republic square {overlooked by Iveria hotel} was taken in May 2004», mentions Zurab Tchiaberashvili, mayor of Tbilisi, from its office on Freedom square, two steps away from the Parliament. «The owners of the hotel Iveria – the Georgian company Silk Road Group- asked our city government to act as a mediator with the refugees for setting up their departure and compensating them.».

Tbilisi’s mayor asserts that the eviction of the refugees was before all motivated by «the restoration of the hotel and historical downtown, so that the capital’s economic development can be considered.»
Therefore, what is the implicit political level given to the sensitive issue of the refugees ? Zurab Tchiaberashvili answers skilfully that «this decision is not direcltly related to the Abkhazian issue. If one should give a political meaning to the matter of the families’ eviction and the renovation of this square, then Yes Silk Road with the agreement of the city government decided to renovate this square in order to pull down the Andropov monument, this disliked Soviet remnant. But also so as to renovate the Iveria hotel and put an end to what symbolizes one of the greatest national tragedies of this past decade. But our decision was before all motivated by economic reasons: to enable downtown’s economic expansion. »

Silk Road has invited bids from possible operators –notably the German chain Kempinski Hotel and Resort. However the city of Tbilisi monitors very closely the restructuring project for one of the capital’s key locations. Indeed the reinstatement plan was set up by a committee of designated architects and town-planners.

As for the government’s involvement, the mayor adds that «the city government could not have been the mediator in a matter such as the refugees’ one that is before all relevant to the nation and so to the government, without the approval of the government.»
Set up mid-2004, the Special Commission on the reinstatement of the refugees of hotels Iveria and Adjara was to follow this matter. And yet given the rise in the Real Estate market in Tbilisi, 7,000 dollars is definitely not enough to rehouse families which are for some of them as large as ten members. It was also unthinkable to buy anything downtown. Another issue : who had to be compensated ? The families of the first wave of refugees in 1992 and supposed to be living there, or the ones that either unofficially bought or have rented the room for years ?


Privatizations and law of the market

And yet, as regards the matter of the Abkhazian refugees of Iveria and Adajara hotels, the cards are put on the table. The stakes are before all financial. This opened up a market estimated at 50 millions dollars only for Republic square. With the approval of the country’s and city’s governments, the private company Silk Road has become the owner and the main shareholder of the Iveria complex in Spring 2004.
Iveria hotel was until then a State property. And as heard in the hallways of local redactions, it was also belonging to some members of the government.

The decision to evacuate the two hotels is part of the policy announced by Saakashvili to initiate a wide-scale wave of privatization of the State Assets : companies as well as Real Estate. Implemented by the Georgian Minister of Economy, K.Bendukidze, this privatization plan includes more than 1,800 all-sized companies – from hydroelectric centrals and wineyards to an airport.

Swallowed up in this wave of reforms, the Iveria hotel already lost its makeshift balconies. Its walls are covered with green scaffoldings, with giant billboards advertising for sponsors such as Geocel or Silk Road. What is the future for Iveria? Demolition or renovation? If some people say it will be a luxury hotel complex, others say it will be a business center. But everybody agree to see there a U-turn toward modernity and high standing. Thus if this project is about integrating the refugees, it is above all about putting back on the Real Estate market a priceless property.

Under the aegis of the city of Tbilisi, Silk Road and the Georgian society for Reconstruction and Developement, a foundation for the developement of Republic square was even created. With an initial capital of 100,000 dollars, this foundation will organize soon an international contest for the reinstatement of downtown Tbilisi.