Director of Batumi Port Adelkhanov Continues Harassment of Employees

Since April 2018, when the then director resigned as a result of a strike at the Batumi Sea Port, the situation has not changed substantially.

One of the employees of the Batumi Port told "Banks and Finances" that the editorial office, for obvious reasons, does not disclose it at this stage.

According to the port official, many of the staff, especially those who were active at the events of 2018, are still under great pressure: "Our labor rights are not protected at any given time by the administration, according to new director Adelkhanov, who at his own discretion can dismiss employees unreasonably or create unreasonable reasons and force us to quit our job," the port official said.

He says nothing has changed for the better. “The new administration may be fired from the 20th of this month as well. The administration is threatening to release and intimidate anyone who is not afraid to oppress them. This is Director Adelkhanov's approach, and everyone knows it at the port. I have already filed one lawsuit, now I am filing a second lawsuit and this is all because I was a protester 2 years ago, I am 100 percent sure. This is no longer a port, but North Korea already. This is how the administration restricted me from accessing the work computer, in fact taking it away. From what I can tell, there is much I can say about what the port administration is doing illegally.

Specifically the harassment against me lasts more than a year. A few months after our victory in 2018, when we did not allow ourselves to be oppressed by the administration, my oppression began in three or four months. Of the other hunger strikers, there were 6 of us, one went out of his own free will, in protest, and probably slowly threw us all out. Conditions are created for us to quit. The rest of the staff, too, are terrified. No one wants to lose their job and they are not afraid to talk about problems loudly because of this, "said a port employee in an interview with Banks and Finance (audio recording of the conversation is kept in the editorial office).

Banks and Finance contacted Amiran Mikeladze, Chairman of the Confederation of Trade and Maritime Transport workers, about the situation at the port. He said he sees nothing alarming about the current standard of labor security and social security. However, he points out that there are still problems in various areas.

Banks and Finance tried to reach out to the Batumi Sea Port Administration for comment on the current situation and on the part of the staff, but the attempt to contact them did not work during the working hours at the contact number provided on the website.

We remind you that in April 2018, the port staff protested the possible reorganization and expected to downsize. The port was paralyzed for two days, leaving part of the strikers to resume work, with six continuing on hunger strike.

The director of the Batumi Sea Port then claimed that no one was fired and the possibility of reorganization was being considered to improve the port's financial and economic base. As a result of a wave of protests, then Port Director Daniyar Muhammad Rahim resigned.

Batumi Sea Port is operated by Batumi Oil Terminal LLC, owned by Kazakh company KazTransOil since 2008.