IDS Borjomi International

An international company, as of November 2018, uniting enterprises for the production of bottled mineral water in Georgia, Ukraine and Russia.

2022: Alfa Group gives a controlling stake in the producer Borjomi to the Government of Georgia for free

On May 19, 2022, IDS Borjomi International announced the transfer of a controlling stake in Alfa Group to the Georgian government. We are talking about a free transaction.

This step will allow the Georgian government to participate in the management of IDS Borjomi International and will help preserve jobs at enterprises, the Borjomi mineral water producer said in a statement. According to Elkhan Alnazarov, a representative of Alfa Group shareholders on the board of directors of IDS Borjomi International, this step is "the only correct decision in the current situation."

Alfa Group gives a controlling stake in the producer Borjomi to the Georgian government for free

This will help the group restore the operation of plants in Georgia and maintain a leading position in the market of mineral waters and drinks in all regions of presence, "he said in a conversation with Forbes.

At the end of April 2022, IDS Borjomi Georgia issued a statement on the suspension of two of its mineral water bottling enterprises. The company was in a difficult situation after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine. Some countries refused to purchase mineral water from the company for political reasons.

The founder of Alpha Groups, Mikhail Fridman, was included in the sanctions list. The difficult situation in major markets has been exacerbated by limited access to bank accounts. Because of this, IDS Borjomi Georgia lost the opportunity to receive foreign exchange revenues and settle with creditors.

According to Kommersant, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and members of his cabinet conducted intensive behind-the-scenes negotiations with Western partners to develop such a modality for solving the Borjomi problem, so that, on the one hand, the United States and the EU do not take the new approach as a violation of sanctions against Alfa Groups, on the other hand, Georgia did not spoil relations with the Russian side and did not lose the Russian market, and at the same time Borjomi resumed work.^[1]

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