21 May 2021

A high-profile and rancorous dispute between Frontera and the Georgian Government has broken out, a dispute which has included the company’s Georgian employees being left out-of-pocket. Eighty-five employees have sued Frontera for unpaid wages...meanwhile, Frontera has found the money to lodge a concerted lobbying campaign in Washington, one that has threatened to impact Georgia’s strategic relationship with the West.

In 2018, the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation took Frontera to international arbitration over material breaches of its production sharing contract, including refusing to return exploration territory, referred to as Block XII, to the corporation.

In response to the Georgian state Oil and Gas Corporation’s arbitration bid, Frontera sought to defend its business by mounting a public campaign over Block XII, employing lobbyists and using US congressmen to pressure the Georgian government into withdrawing their claims, according to lobbying records and internal management correspondence reviewed by the authors.