Tender for construction of the Anaklia Deep See Port announced in Georgia
A joint company is to be established with the state to own 51% share, while the private partner to hold a 49% share
The Government of Georgia has announced a tender for construction of the Anaklia Deep See Port. The relevant decision was made by the inter-agency commission at the session held in the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. The commission session chaired by the Vice Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili was attended by the heads of the state authorities, according to the Ministry’s press release.
According to the decision of the commission, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development will identify the best investor for the project in a few months with the involvement of international consultants. At the same time, the state will update the existing engineering/environmental studies and start certain preoperational construction works required for the port.
Following the revealing of the winner of the expression of interest, a joint company will be established together with the selected investor, where it is planned that the state will be the owner of a 51% share, while the private partner will be the owner of a 49% share. It will be an institutional public-private cooperation format, within the framework of which the joint company will ensure the raising of funds necessary for the implementation of the project, bring the construction works of the port to the end and start its operations.
It should be noted that the authorities of Georgia have been trying to find an investor for the construction of Anaklia port for several years. The port construction began in December 2017 but was suspended later. In 2020, the new port project contract with the Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) was cancelled by the government due to the investor’s failure to meet its financial obligations.
There are two ports operating in Georgia today, Batumi and Poti, with major cargo flows going via Poti. However, the port’s depth is not sufficient for handling ships of over 1,500 TEU in capacity.