Refugees staying at Hotel "Abkhazia" in Tbilisi intend to challenge decision of their eviction in court

Refugees from South Ossetia, living in the Tbilisi Hotel "Abkhazia", continue to hold protests against their eviction, scheduled for August 15 by the Ministry for Internally Displacement Persons, Resettlement and Refugees in Georgia.

They claim that compensation, proposed to them by the government, is not enough for housing, even the one, equivalent to the conditions in which they live now. At the same time, the refugees intend to achieve cancellation of the decision on eviction through the court.

The reason for the eviction was the fact that the Hotel "Abkhazia" was privatized by a private company. Now the building should be given to the owner, whose name is not disclosed.

"We ourselves went to the Civil Registry Agency and received a certificate stating that on July 27 the building of the hotel was privatized by the company "Veladjio" headed by someone named Levan Kolmakhelidze," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Marina Meshvidishvili, a resident of the Hotel "Abkhazia", the head of the NGO "Tskhinvali Buduschego" (Tskhinvali in Future).

The company "Veladjio" is a subsidiary of the company "Wissoil", an importer of oil products in Georgia. The company has not yet commented on the situation.

"We are offered only 10 thousand US dollars per family. And our family consists of seven people; my sister has three small children. Where should we go? 10 thousand US dollars is not enough to purchase even a garage in Tbilisi.

There are talks that we will be provided with housing somewhere in the city of Rustavi – instead of 10 thousand dollars; however, nobody knows anything precisely! And what should we do in Rustavi? Here, with great difficulty I managed to find a job. In case if we are relocated, my family will be left without anything," says Yulia, a native of the city of Tskhinvali.

Koba Metreveli left Tskhinvali with his family, when he was 19 years old.

Today, he is 40 years old. In Tbilisi, he was educated and found job. "I found out already – a studio apartment costs at least 10 thousand US dollars. Banks denied giving me a loan. Even if they give me those 10 thousand US dollars, I still won't be able to take a loan. I cannot leave Tbilisi – then I will lose my job. So far, such conditions are absolutely unacceptable for me and my family," says Koba Metreveli.