Georgia to build anchovy fishing boat in Turkey with support of Enterprise Georgia

In order to support the fishing sector and increase the production of fish in Georgia, the export promotion agency Enterprise Georgia will fund the construction of a new fishing ship.

The first three-party memorandum has already been signed between Enterprise Georgia, TBC Leasing and the owner of the fishing ship.

The fishing boat will be built in Trabzon, Turkey. It will be equipped with modern technologies and a fishing net designed for fishing in the Black sea for the European Anchovy.

Businessman and fisherman Gocha Labartkhava will make use of Enterprise Georgia's financial support mechanism, as part of which the agency will co-finance the fishing ship's leasing interest rate for the first three years. 

The total investment of the project is going to be 2.15 million GEL.

Labartkhava said that the yearly production of fish will exceed four tonnes. After initiating the fishing activities, the company will employ 18 people. Labartkhava is also planning to develop a fridge for storing European anchovies, which will allow him to export the product to Turkey during the low-supply months.

Supporting the fishing sector as a segment of the maritime industry is now one of Enterprise Georgia’s priorities.

Enterprise Georgia announced that fishermen today rent out fishing ships from other countries because Georgian ships are in dire conditions. 

"Today, we have 30 fishing ships on which under 500 fishermen and sailors are employed. Due to the relatively dysfunctional ships existing on the local market, fishermen and sailors are not able to get properly retrained either", said the agency.