PM, Georgian Railway Director highlight company’s “record-high” profit, outline plans for 2023

Georgian Railway hit a “record-high” profit of ₾283 million ($106mln) in 2022, with the annual growth of its freight marking a 22 percent increase, Director General Davit Peradze told Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday.

The Government Administration said the meeting - which also involved Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili and his Deputy Guram Guramishvili - discussed the agenda of the company for 2023.

At the meeting Peradze noted the company was currently capable of carrying 27 million tonnes of freight per year, adding the figure would reach 48 million after the completion of its modernisation project by the end of 2024.

The meeting noted “large-scale” works were being carried out to update the company’s fleet of carriages and improve infrastructure. 

One hundred Georgian-made carriages have been delivered to the company. The modernisation of the railway and the improvement of the infrastructure will continue this year as well, and its operation will become more efficient”, the Administration said in its release.

The officials also discussed the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project, which facilitates the transport of passengers and goods between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, and noted the route was expected to become “fully operational” next year, with 87 percent of the project completed at this stage.

Plans for 2023 also include reforming the railway transport sector of Georgia in a bid to make it “more competitive” and bring in compliance with the European standards, the meeting noted.