The state authorities granted the company Adjara Energy-2007 the right to expropriate the real estate of 34 residents of the village of Maradidi in the Khelvachauri municipality — property that fell within the construction zone of the Khirnati Hydropower Plant (HPP).

The residents of Maradidi said that the company offered them 18 lari and 20 tetri per square meter of land, an offer they found unacceptable. According to them, the valuation did not take into account the trees and plants growing on their land or the agricultural activity that provided their main source of income.

Because of this, on December 11, 2019, they gathered in Batumi, in front of the building of the Government of Adjara, to protest the decision of the Ministry of Economy. Their banners read: “We will not sell our property for peanuts” and “The government must prioritize the interests of its people over those of investors.”

Negotiations with the Maradidi residents were being handled by the same ministry. Protesters said that about two weeks earlier, ten residents had traveled to Tbilisi to meet with ministry officials, but the parties failed to reach an agreement. Upon returning to Maradidi, they received a written notice that their property was being expropriated.

The Minister of Economy signed the decree authorizing the expropriation on December 3. Among the affected residents were those whose lands had already been flooded earlier that year during the dam construction. Locals had protested that incident as well, prompting the creation of a state commission, which, they said, produced no tangible results.

On January 14, 2020, Maradidi residents temporarily blocked the road leading to the HPP. They demanded a meeting with the Chairman of the Government of Adjara, Tornike Rizhvadze. During the protest, they told Jumber Vardmanidze, the mayor of Khelvachauri, that if their demands were not met within ten days, they would prevent the company’s construction machinery from passing through and would move their protest to the regional government building. Vardmanidze promised to act as a mediator.

On January 18, the residents met with representatives of the Government of Adjara. They demanded that their property be purchased at market value and that compensation be provided to those whose property was not expropriated but was being flooded or damaged due to the dam. They said the HPP had changed the local environment—moisture levels had risen, and their harvests had decreased compared to previous years.

By May 20, 2020, a report by Adjara TV showed that residents still had not received compensation for flooded or soon-to-be-flooded areas. About six families had failed to reach an agreement with the company on the buyout price of their land.

When the demonstrators demanded another meeting with the Chairman of the Government of Adjara, he did not show up. Instead, government staffers met them, prompting the protesters to leave the meeting. They then attempted to block Rustaveli Avenue in Batumi, but police prevented them from doing so.

Eventually, the state moved forward with the expropriation of private lands near the HPP site. By August 12, 2021, the construction of the Khirnati HPP was nearly complete. After the plant began operation, Maradidi residents complained that the heavy machinery traffic had damaged local roads and the football field. On July 9, 2024, they held another protest, saying that although they had been promised repairs two years earlier, those promises had not been fulfilled.