We call on the government to stop damaging propaganda campaign

"Government of Georgia has curiously not announced to the media or to U.S. officials the complete story" - reads the letter by Frontera, that has been published on 28th of July.

The full statement:

Last week, on July 23 , the Government of Georgia suddenly announced to the media that it had decided not to cancel our contract on July 27th as it had been threatening to do since April.
This week, the same message has been further distributed by Georgia’s Embassy in the United States to somehow give the impression that it has magnanimously decided to stop its illegal expropriation effort in the name of positive U.S./Georgia relations.
However, the Government of Georgia has curiously not announced to the media or to U.S. officials the complete story. On the very next day, July 24th, after the Prime Minister’s announcement, it sent us a legal notice to indicate that it would still pursue an effort to cancel our contract and would only “temporarily suspend” its efforts to do so.

We once again call on the Prime Minister and his government to please stop this intentionally deceptive, damaging and disingenuous propaganda campaign and, instead, engage honestly with the public, U.S. officials and work directly with our company to advance a true spirit of substantive partnership. We wish to once again be clear that no legal basis has ever existed for the unilateral cancellation of our contract on July 27th or any other date.

Since April of this year, we have requested numerous meetings with the Government of Georgia that have either been rejected or ignored. Now, after senior officials make a public announcement without making an effort to meet with our company, a contradictory notice is quietly sent to us in order to continue intimidation of our business.

The Government of Georgia must know that this is not normal behavior when it comes to working with the largest private-sector U.S. investor in Georgia. Nor is it an encouraging advertisement for potential private sector investors from the United States who are watching this public theatre of intimidation.
A spectacle that has come complete with a slanderous media campaign that has served to defame the character of our company and advance false statements about our work.

We once again call upon the Government of Georgia to abide by the recent Arbitration Tribunal ruling, honor the terms of our contract, constructively meet with us and guarantee our return to work without continued threats, intimidation and new conditions.- reads the statement.

Recall that the Georgian government, in the light of the decision of the Hague Arbitration Tribunal, still extended the contract with "Frontera" and allowed the company to continue operations in the part of the original contract area where oil production was still underway since the Soviet era. The Georgian government justified this decision with the strategic tasks facing the country, in particular, the need for Georgia to have a positive reputation as an investment country and to maintain a positive relationship with the United States.