Yet the reality for the roughly 100 Frontera workers has been less rosy. For the past two years, Frontera workers in eastern Georgia have not received their wages on time - either being paid late or not at all. As several workers have told me, this has led to a situation where some employees are owed up to 11 - and even 14 - months of wages. They were patient at first, thinking this was temporary. After unsuccessful attempts to get their unpaid wages through the company, in November 2019 Frontera workers held two protests in Tbilisi. A couple of weeks after these protests, which were not well covered by the media, Frontera laid off 84 workers. Eight office workers lost their jobs before this, having refused to go on unpaid leave. Instead of receiving their wages, they are facing unemployment.

Oil and gas extraction not only employs workers in Dedoplistskharo, it sustains their families as well. There aren’t any other jobs in this part of eastern Georgia: the town’s surrounding villages completely depend on oil and gas for survival and self-realisation. At a time when most villages in Georgia are emptying due to lack of jobs and opportunities, this part of the country has felt relatively safe, shielded by the bounty of natural resources. It’s also one of the last places where the higher-educated workforce, such as engineers, are in demand - rather than service and hospitality work like the rest of Georgia.

But the issue goes beyond non-payment of wages. As it turns out, despite the best efforts of the Georgian government to shy away from holding any company accountable (in order, perhaps, to impress international economic freedom rankings), the Georgian government has been forced to sue long-time top investor Frontera and take it to arbitration.

This process, regarding a breach of contract over financial obligations, may have begun in 2017 - but it was only revealed to Frontera workers on 25 December 2019. At a large town hall meeting where workers spoke of their grievances, people talked of the prospect of long-term unemployment (especially true for older employees), how holidays were coming up and they had no money. Many spoke of their utilities getting cut off due to their inability to pay, as well as bank fees because they weren’t able to make payments.