Gov't to cancel deal with Anaklia Development Consortium to build deep sea port

The Georgian government will begin procedures to cancel the investment agreement signed with the Anaklia Development Consortium on October 3, 2016 to build the Anaklia Deep Sea Port.

The consortium has been unable to obtain the needed $400 million in loans from international financial institutions and $120 million from potential investors by the official expiration of the term limits at the end of 2019.

Procedures will start to prepare a new tender for further development of the Anaklia Deep Sea Port, says the Ministry of Infrastructure.

Tskitishvili says that Georgia needs the Anaklia Deep Sea Port and it will be built in any case.

Georgia needs the Anaklia Deep Sea Port for its economy, safety and use of logistics potential,” says Tskitishvili.

Minister of Infrastructure Tskitishvili said that the government is starting a search for a new partner to build the Anaklia Deep Sea Port.

The opening of the port and the receiving of ships in Anaklia was planned for 2021. Photo: Anaklia Development Consortium. 

The consortium claims that the government has not helped, but rather sabotaged the project.

Instead of supporting, the government has practically sabotaged this project in the last several months," said Levan Akhvlediani, general director of the Anaklia Development Consortium on October 15, 2019. 

Akhvlediani also announced in December 2019 that if the Georgian government were to cancel the agreement with Anaklia Development Consortium, the consortium would bring the case to arbitration.

Akhvlediani then added that negotiations with investors were ongoing but it had some difficulties because of recent months’ developments around the project.  

The deadline for obtaining the funding has been postponed six times.

The Georgian government did not cancel the investment agreement with Anaklia Development Consortium on October 15 despite the expired deadline for the consortium to fulfil its interim obligations.

The Anaklia Development Consortium won a state tender to construct the port and signed a deal with the government in 2016 with TBC Holding as its principal partner, but has faced problems in attracting the $2.5 billion in funds needed to construct the port.

Construction of Anaklia Deep Sea Port started in 2017.