Is the gov’t planning to back out of agreement with Anaklia Development Consortium?
The first phase of development of Anaklia port is due to be completed by November 20, 2020. Artist Impression: Anaklia Port.
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Anaklia Deep Sea Port project has once again become the topic of discussion, the main question now being whether the Georgian government is considering backing out of an agreement signed with the Anaklia Development Consortium in 2016.
- Find out more about the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project in the article ‘Project of the Century: Georgia starts to build Anaklia Deep Sea Port’ by Mariam Papidze on Agenda.ge.
The government of Georgia signed an agreement with White & Case on March 15, 2019 for legal advisory services in relation to amendments to the investment agreement executed between the government of Georgia and the Anaklia Development Consortium on October 3, 2016.
The firm will provide an analysis of the possible results of the government’s decision to terminate the investment agreement with the Anaklia Development Consortium.
The cost of the agreement is $47,000.
- Click here to read the agreement.
Anaklia Development Consortium said that construction works are developing according to a plan. Photo: Anaklia Port.
Once this agreement was signed local media and the opposition raised the issue of the connection between the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project and the ongoing money laundering investigation involving the founder of TBC Bank Mamuka Khazaradze, who is also the founder of the Anaklia Development Consortium.
Khazaradze commented on the reports that the government is looking for a new company to replace the Anaklia Development Consortium today, and said that the state has the right to study all the risks and “I do not see anything special in it”.
Just why it is happening today and in this situation, this fact raises questions and let’s wait for further developments”, he said.
Khazaradze added that he came back from the United States today where he had a meeting with his American partners.
A cutter suction dredger ship, the Athena, arrived in Anaklia on September 17, 2018 to dredge the port bed and bring up some five million cubic meters of mud out of the sea. Photo: Anaklia Port.
The mood of the Americans and the banks is very mobilised [sic]...I think that the goal, efforts and purpose of all the involved parties, the state, the consortium and the people of Georgia should be directed and mobilised towards the implementation of this project. I call on all sides to do everything to lead this project to victory”, Khazaradze said.
On the other hand Georgian Economy Minister Giorgi Kobulia explained that the government is interested in learning about the legal risks if the consortium fails to attract investments on time.
[Should the] Anaklia Development Consortium fail to eventually attract the amount of capital outlined by the contract or if negotiations with international financial institutions are not held... in this case we should be interested in and it is absolutely acceptable for us to learn about the legal risks”, Kobulia said.
Kobulia added that there is no discussion underway regarding other investors at this moment.
The Anaklia Development Consortium has published a statement responding to yesterday’s speech of the Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Maya Tskitishvili in parliament, where she said that investors in the project have eight demands before moving forward.
Georgian Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure Maya Tskitishvili says international financial institutions have eight demands that should be fulfilled in order to invest in the project. Tskitishvili said that the investors demand a feasibility study of each phase and say that the port development should not be linked to any specific date and should start only after the feasibility study is done.
Georgian Infrastructure Minister Maia Tskitishvili says that there is no connection between the Anaklia deep sea port project and the ongoing money laundering investigation involving the founders of TBC Bank. She says that Anaklia Consortium, had faced problems in attracting funds for the 2.5 billion USD project before the investigation was launched involving TBC Bank.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze says that statements [by the opposition and others] that the Georgian Dream government does not want the Anaklia deep sea port to be constructed are “cheap and irresponsible political speculations."
What issues remain unsolved between state, financial institutions?
Representatives of the Georgian government, the Anaklia Development Consortium and international finance organisations (EBRD, OPIC, ADB, AIIB) met today to discuss the details of the Anaklia Deep Sea Water project development.
A deep sea port in Georgia’s Black Sea port town of Poti will not be built as the construction permit for the port has been cancelled, says Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava.
The government of Georgia will prolong the term for submitting financial closer documents for the The decision to extend the deadline to accumulate the necessary funds was made at today’s government meeting. Georgian Infrastructure Minister Maya Tskitishvili said this is the sixth time the term has been prolonged.Anaklia Development Consortium, which is overseeing the Anaklia deep sea port, by six months.
Georgian Minister of Infrastructure Maia Tskitishvili has spoken about the importance of the Anaklia deep sea port, which aims to help establish the shortest route between Europe and Asia, at the ongoing 16th Batumi International Conference. She said that the government is doing all it can to support the private consortium which has the responsibility of attracting funds for the construction of the port.
One of the largest construction companies in Europe, French company Eiffage, will be the key contractor of the Anaklia Development Consortium to carry out the first phase of construction work of the Anaklia Deep Sea Port with Swiss ABB and Georgian CRP, IPN cites the Anaklia Development Consortium as saying.
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The Anaklia Development Consortium, overseeing the construction of Anaklia deep sea port, will have three new members in its supervisory board, which are expected to be approved at the consortium’s meeting of shareholders scheduled for later this month.
The term given to Anaklia Development Consortium by the government, a state-tender winner to build a deep-sea port in Anaklia, western Georgia, to attract 520 million USD from a potential investor and four international banks, has expired today. The statement released by the consortium earlier today reads the "necessity and the lack of governmental support."
The Anaklia Development Consortium, which has been overseeing the Anaklia deep sea port since 2016, announced yesterday that it “remains committed to finding a way forward for the future success of the project” and hopes that it may be possible to resolve its dispute with the Government of Georgia amicably.