On November 6, 2019, eleven mines in the village of Shukruti, Chiatura municipality, were shut down. Residents had blocked access to the mines, preventing the company Georgian Manganese from continuing extraction.

According to local resident Giorgi Neparidze, mining operations had been damaging homes, the local school, and the village church for years. The community demanded compensation for the destruction.

Earlier, in September 2019, residents had also protested over the same issue but suspended demonstrations after reaching an agreement with company representatives to form a working group to assess damages and start compensation payments. Neparidze, who joined this group, said that although the commission documented damage to 282 households, as well as to the school and church, the final report was never shared and payments never began.

Georgian Manganese responded by claiming that the damage was unrelated to its recent operations, attributing it instead to Soviet-era mining. The company stated that all proven damages caused by its activities had already been compensated.

Resident Tamuna Kupatadze later recalled: “Then they broke up the village — some got 3,000 lari, others 5,000. Some were told they’d get work in the mines, some were promised we wouldn’t dig under their homes. Many signed memorandums and never came back to fight. Those of us who stayed continued protesting in 2020.”

Protests resumed on February 14, 2020, with residents again blocking the mine. The Public Defender of Georgia visited and later reported that nearly all homes in Shukruti were damaged — cracked foundations, walls, and floors — and that farmland, vineyards, and even cemeteries had collapsed or dried up due to environmental degradation caused by mining. The Ombudsman urged the Ministry of Economy to intervene directly in negotiations to protect residents’ rights to property and a healthy environment. The Ministry of Environment had reportedly not inspected Georgian Manganese’s operations for over four years.

That June, after months of protests, a new contractor, Shukruti+ Ltd, was registered and promised to assess damages and pay compensation within six months. The plan was to review all 285 households, calculate losses, and prepare a compensation schedule. However, when that didn’t happen, locals resumed protests in February 2021, again demanding full, fair compensation. Media outlet Mtis Ambebi noted that the company feared that meeting Shukruti’s demands might trigger similar protests in other Chiatura villages.

Shukruti hunger strike, 2021

On May 11, 2021, ten residents began a hunger strike near the Korokhnali mine, three of them sewing their mouths shut. Their banners read, “Don’t destroy our homes” and “No to slavery, no to GM.”

On May 20, Georgian Manganese said it was ready to involve the Levan Samkharauli National Forensics Bureau to assess property damage — but only if negotiations moved to a legal process. The company continued to deny responsibility and claimed to have already distributed about 2 million lari in compensation. Locals said most families received only 30,000–40,000 lari each.

On May 24, after 98 days of continuous protest, three more women sewed their mouths shut. Two protesters, Sergi Modebadze and Giorgi Neparidze, were hospitalized but later returned to continue striking.

To draw attention, Shukruti residents traveled to Tbilisi on May 30, staging protests outside the U.S. Embassy. Solidarity rallies were held in Pushkin Square on June 6.

Finally, on June 9, 2021, the residents reached an agreement with Georgian Manganese, ended their hunger strike, and returned home. However, unresolved issues persisted.

Renewed protests in 2024

On March 13, 2024, Shukruti residents again protested, saying the company had failed to honor its commitments. They demanded fair compensation proportional to their losses. Georgian Manganese insisted most had already been paid.

On July 31, prosecutors charged three protesters — Giorgi Neparidze, Roman Megrelishvili, and Malkhaz Labadze — with disrupting industrial operations. The Sachkhere court fined them 1,000 lari each and later banned twenty other villagers from picketing the Korokhnali mine.

After being barred from the site, residents attempted to protest on August 24 in Chorvila, the home village of ruling party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, but were blocked by police and local men who prevented them from entering.

By September 1, three protesters had again sewn their mouths shut. Within days, the company fired three Shukruti residents — Giorgi Tsartsidze, Malkhaz Labadze, and Roman Megrelishvili — who had been participating in the demonstrations. The number of hunger strikers grew to five by September 7.

On September 11, the 183rd day of protest, demonstrators moved to Tbilisi, camping outside Parliament and later the Public Broadcaster and Bidzina Ivanishvili’s residence in Sololaki, demanding televised debates with company officials.

As the October 26, 2024 parliamentary elections approached, protesters decided to leave the capital after months of camping outdoors without tents or shelter. On October 14, the 43rd day of hunger strike, several participants were hospitalized. Two days before the election, they packed their banners and left the steps of Parliament.

The protest — lasting over six months — ended without results.