The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode with Inclusive Asset Management's Alexandra McGuigan has just been released. Listen here.
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EkXoc ,
Good post !
Its also about the 202TCF of gas and Billions of barrels of oil that might eventually come out of the ground from Block 12 over the next few decades...
Iconias 10 mil loss was probably not worth making a diplomatic incident about, I can't find figures for georgia mining liss, however I think 500 mil loss for frr is prob impossible to ignore, I can't see the US letting that drop. However the other cases add to a dossier that makes pretty bad reading from a strategic ally of the US. I have little doubt the US are ready to issue sanctions, the question is is there enough will internally in georgia to turn this around? I suspect put in want sanctions levied and ties cut with the US really the question is can this avoided for everyone's benefit? Recent silence after so much activity is intriguing but may be nothing more than silence. I would imagine the US are doing everything they can to get dialogue going
Don't forget Georgian Mining too. They had a great business to start with and as soon as they discovered gold etc the government ministries got involved and denied them licences etc much in the same vein as FRR and Iconia.
They have had to completely alter their business and name and pull out. Guess who funded the discoveries? Oh yeah foreign investors. Seems to be a picture building here where foreign investment is welcomed to discover the minerals etc and then the rug is pulled so corrupt officials become mini oligarchs thus leaving the initial investors i.e. US ripped off.
Good thing is we have state backing it seems.
Actually, is more than just cofortimng that others are going through what FRR are going through.
Iconia is evidence of the fact of there being (within Georgia) undue. unjust, politically motivated structural and systemic barriers - indeed, prejudices - towards Western/ foreign investors (be they US, UK etc.). We could imagine what we would be saying US companies like Iconia were flying and it were just FRR getting slaughtered. So, what FRR are going through can be quite easily argued as something out of their control, outside normal business and outside due process - which I absolutely believe.
The fact of Iconia (and perhaps others), means that the US has the evidence it needs (of undue, unjust contraints on US investment) to harden its position on Georgia (I do not say this lightly as I am not natural a supporter of US foreign policy).
I continue to understand what ZM meant when he talked about '...the truth' - that, in this case, there was overwhelming evidence against GG/ in support FRR (and others), meaning it was much easier getting the political establishment on board and in signficant weight. And this is what has happened.
As others have said, let's hope the relative silence these last few days is because they are finally at the table with no daft strings or conditions attached.
Good luck to all the genuine folks here.
This makes for very grim reading and highlights how many obstacles there are still to overcome above and beyond court cases, financial woes and geology. Wish I’d been aware of this company and the reality of doing business two years ago. Of course, the warning signs were there but perhaps we were too ready to believe that Zaza, as a Georgian, could negotiate all of this.
Feel so proud of myself to have put my savings into a a small company surrounded by a corrupt country full of dodgy people of power and disgusting behaviour. Let’s hope someone gets a grip of this
Wish I had researched Iconia and Georgia a lot more than I did before using my hard earned to invest in this . Thanks for the link .
On what Iconia have said in that statement of which includes a former Supreme Court Judge trying on f.ck.ing them up.
Would say that it cannot get much more serious then that, if at all.
Bloody heck. This is one of the most combative corporate statements I’ve ever seen.
A stark picture from Iconia. Why couldn't Zaza have put something like this on the FRR webpage to let us know what they've been up against. At least it would have helped us understand their actions over the past 18 months.
Wow....makes you so pleased you invested in Georgian oil exploration. No it doesn't !
https://www.iconiacapital.com/iconia-under-attack-in-georgia.html
Sorry using phone but take a read of the statement on their homepage for a summary of events.
It is now properly looking like ZMs words on how GG/ GOGC has been playing all this have been right.
So now we have not heard anything from ZM for around 10 days, let's hope that is due to talks going on
Am guessing the below link got posted long ago - apologies - but thought I'd post anyway (having just looked them up as not knowing anything about Iconia in Georgia):
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https://investmentpolicy.unctad.org/investment-dispute-settlement/cases/984/iconia-v-georgia
"Details of investment
Investments in a 2,405 m2 land plot for a real estate development project in the Vake-Saburtalo district of Tbilisi, Georgia.
Summary of the dispute
Claims arising out of alleged measures by Georgian courts and government officials to delay and halt the claimant’s project to construct a commercial-residential apartment complex in the city center of Tbilisi. Allegedly, this included attempts by local opposition to take over the claimant’s land plot, harassment of the claimant’s employees and a refusal to issue construction permits."
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Agree
Excellent work
Let's see, if there is meaning to those couple of words, "near furure".
Phenomenal work Looed!! :-)
Great effort Looed, as always.
Bezzy
This is the company that recently held a press conference with Zaza, and a few days ago I posted some material from their website and a documentary they had made. Somewhere it said something along the lines of "cannot be used without permission". As a courtesy, I sent a quick email saying I was an FRR shareholder and had shared the video with fellow SH's as we had been following their story for some time, and a quick congrats on your recent win. I thought that would be the end of that.
So I was very surprised when the guy from the video sent me a message. I won't copy the message as I assume his expectation was that this was a private message. He basically says the interference is continuing and the courts are doing nothing to help. He is determined to stand with others, such as FRR, to hold individuals to account and resolve these matters "in the very near future".
There is no other info or mention of FRR. Hopefully the "very near future" means good news for Iconia and FRR.
I thanked him for his reply, hoped he is able to resolve matters for his company and the other US companies involved soon, and we would keep following his progress.
Very nice of him to reply.