Georgia energy, privatisation in a socialist state

[paul_oshea]

from:

http://www.paconsulting.com/news/abo...improbable.htm

Mission improbable
By
Isabel Gorst

A tale of multi-million dollar debts, theft, gunshots, car chases, a knife fight, cash in paper bags and an abandoned baby, all in one of the most corrupt places in the world

Financial Times, 20 November 2006

A project in one of the most impoverished and corrupt places in the world immersed PA Consulting staff in a tale that is very far removed from the usual run-of-the-mill day at the office. The project was to turn round the United Energy Distribution Company (UEDC), the state-owned electricity utility in Georgia. It was so successful it won PA Consulting the gold and platinum medals at the 2006 MCA Management Awards in London earlier this year.

The contract was awarded by the Georgian government and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in an emergency response to the impending collapse of the electricity industry in Georgia, an impoverished republic in the southern Caucasus.

When PA Consulting moved into the company in February 2003, UEDC was regarded as a complete basket case.