Frontera obstructing MEGOBARI Act in US Congress with help of hired lobbyists, opposition figure

Opposition politician Roman Gotsiridze has accused Texas-based company Frontera of obstructing the passage of the MEGOBARI Act in the US Congress, alleging that the company was acting in coordination with the Georgian government and US lobbyists hired by ruling Georgian Dream party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Gotsiridze claimed Frontera, which previously blamed the Georgian Dream government for its bankruptcy, had now allegedly aligned itself with the authorities and for more than a year had been hindering the adoption of the MEGOBARI Act with the assistance of a Republican congressman whose election campaign it financially supported.

Gotsiridze claimed that Frontera and American lobbyists hired by Ivanishvili were blocking initiatives in the US Congress aimed at countering the establishment of an “authoritarian regime” in Georgia.

He described Frontera as a “fraudulent” company, alleging that it had misled shareholders for years by claiming the existence of vast oil and gas reserves in Georgia, artificially inflating share prices and extracting funds from investors. According to Gotsiridze, the company simulated oil and gas production for nearly three decades and eventually failed even to pay workers their wages.

Gotsiridze further added that Frontera squandered funds raised from shareholders and, after its share price collapsed and it was delisted from the stock exchange, filed a claim against Georgia in international arbitration, demanding USD 3.5 billion. He argued that the lawsuit was intended to deflect blame for the company’s failure, but ultimately Frontera lost the case.

He concluded by expressing hope that “healthy forces” in the US Congress would prevail over hired lobbyists and “bribed congressmen” and support legislative initiatives aimed at preserving and strengthening democracy in Georgia.