Looking down from the famous cross-path of the Georgian Military Highway, you will notice a beautiful little lake that was not there six years ago. The lake is a small reservoir that supplies power to the 8 MW Aragvi HPP. On May 19, the ISET community and guests from professional circles in the energy sector heard the story behind this hydropower plant in a seminar entitled “Small Hydropower – what’s special about it and how to implement it?” delivered by Hanness Posch, a civil engineer and entrepreneur working on hydropower projects in Georgia.

ეს სტატია უაღრესად ტექნიკურ თემაზეა. თავიდანვე რომ არ დავკარგოთ ძვირფასი მკითხველი, ნება მოგვეცით, სტატიას წავუმძღვაროთ მონტესკიეს ცნობილი დოქტრინა: Les lois inutiles affaiblissent les lois nécessaires – „უსარგებლო კანონები ასუსტებს საჭირო კანონებს“. ეს პრინციპი ყოველთვის უნდა გაითვალისწინონ კანონმდებლებმა და პოლიტიკოსებმა. თუ რეგულაცია არ არის სასარგებლო, უნდა მოვიშოროთ თავიდან. ბევრმა ჭკვიანმა ქართველმა მიმართა ამ პრინციპს. მაგალითად, კახა ბენდუქიძეს ხშირად აქებენ ქართული კანონმდებლობიდან ბევრი უსარგებლო კანონის ამოღებისთვის.

Borjomi was the final stop and the highlight on a four-day anticorruption program ISET organized for students and faculty of its partner university, the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) in Bergen. The tour was hosted by Borjomi LTD, producer of Georgia’s most famous mineral water – the “Coca Cola of the Soviet Union”, in the words of Jacques Fleury, the company’s former CEO.

Held on April 8, this discussion was a part of the four-day anti-corruption program ISET organized for a large group of students and faculty from ISET’s partner university, the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) in Bergen. The expert panel included Jacques Fleury, former CEO of Borjomi LLC and JSC Château Mukhrani; Mariam Dolidze, Senior Economist at World Bank Georgia; Archil Bakuradze, Chairman of Supervisory Board at JSC Crystal Georgia; Bruno Balvanera, Resident Representative of EBRD Georgia; Giorgi Oniani, Deputy Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia; and ISET President Eric Livny, who also moderated the discussion.

Facilitating cooperation among Georgia’s smallholders is in the focus of EU’s 52 mln Euro ENPARD project, of which ISET is a (small) part. An evaluation effort, coordinated by the ISET Policy Institute, has uncovered some interesting facts and figures.