On January 13, 2014, vendors at Gori’s agricultural market began a series of protests. According to an agreement between the market administration and local authorities, the market was set to relocate outside the city, to the Tsmindatskali settlement, on January 20. The market’s private owner, the Georgia-Israel Company, had already completed construction of the new facility and, with the authorities’ support, was preparing to move the traders there. However, the vendors protested the relocation, fighting to keep the old market open. They argued that customers would not travel outside the city, that fees would increase, and that their livelihoods would worsen.

The issue of relocating the Gori market had first arisen a year earlier. The new government had postponed the move twice — first until May 2013, and then, due to upcoming elections, until January 20, 2014.

On the third day of protests, police detained one demonstrator, Ushangi Basharuli, during an attempt to block the central highway. Clashes between traders and police had already occurred several times before.

On January 17, the protest resumed near the Lomchabuki Memorial. Labor Party leader Shalva Natelashvili joined the demonstrators early in the morning, marching with them through the city and holding a rally outside the local administration building. Natelashvili demanded a meeting with local authorities to discuss the situation and also used the occasion to call for early parliamentary elections.

His political statements angered some participants, who urged him to stop using the protest for political gain, leading to a brief confrontation between members of the Labor Party and protest organizers.

Authorities promised the vendors that no one would be forcibly relocated to the new market and called for patience. The market administration also allowed two months of rent-free trading, but the underlying issue remained unresolved. Several small shopping centers had already opened in the city, while few customers visited the new market. Traders who had moved there reported a sharp decline in income over the previous three months. As a result, some decided to return to the old market and resumed selling there without authorization. This led to verbal and physical clashes between the vendors and market administrators. The old market, like the new one, was owned by the Georgia-Israel Management Company.

On April 13, part of the old market building collapsed. Vendors suspected that the administration had done it deliberately to eliminate their last chance to return, so they occupied the site and organized night shifts to guard it.

Local authorities maintained that the conflict should be resolved jointly by the traders and the market administration, with the government acting only as a mediator.

Ultimately, some vendors relocated near the old market area and continued their activities through informal street trading.