The job of building a deep-water port in the Caucasus state of Georgia has gone to the project’s only bidder, China Communications and its China Harbour Investment subsidiary.
Levan Davitashvili, the economics minister, said the official announcement would be made in the coming days, Georgia Today reports.
He said: “We received proposals only from the Chinese consortium. In this case, the detailed application proposal is complete and the relevant bank guarantees have been presented.
“Therefore, in the coming days we will clarify the details, after which we will declare the Chinese consortium as the winner and start negotiations on the partnership agreement. I think this is a very important stage. This project is of great importance, and will employ many people.”
The project to build Anaklia port was launched in 2016 with a budget of $2.5bn.
It was to be built by a consortium of America’s Conti International and Georgia’s TBC Holding, but the project was abandoned in 2019 after political controversy and arbitration actions between the government and consortium members.
The project was revived in December, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
One effect of the conflict has been to divert trade routes to the “Middle Corridor” that passes through Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and Kazakhstan. However, up until now Georgia has been unable to capitalise fully on the opportunity.
Anaklia is intended to remedy that by accommodating ships carrying up to 10,000 20ft-equivalent containers.
Irakli Garibashvili. Georgia’s prime minister, said the government would hold a 51% stake in the port, with the remainder offered to investors.
The government has already established a company to carry out dredging and breakwater construction work.
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