Page 49 - GEORptNov20

The decline in tourism revenues in September amounted to $303mn, on top of the $397mn drop in August. The central bank attempted to maintain balance in the foreign exchange market by selling FX from reserves it built up to be robust, but it is hard to offset such a deep drop in inflows.
In 2019, Georgia received a record number of visits from international travellers, some 9.36mn, of which 5mn visits were tourists. The tourists spent more than $3bn in the country. Georgia expects to receive $1.5bn in external financing this year, part of which will be used by the central bank to try to maintain a satisfactory nominal exchange rate.
A total of 50,499 international visitors crossed into Georgia in September.
The number was 94% down year on year.
A very small number of this year's international visitors in September were classified as tourists.
In September, the largest number of visitors, namely 18,540, came to Georgia from Turkey. On an annual comparison, the number of Turkish visitors dropped by 80%.
9.1.5 ​Infrastructure and construction sector news
Anaklia port investor accuses Georgian government of links to controversial interests in developing rival port Poti
Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC), which saw its contract to develop a $2.5bn deep-water port in Anaklia on Georgia’s Black Sea coast terminated earlier this year by the government, has in a public statement​ accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of supporting the development of a rival port in Poti because of private interests held by some of its politicians.
The statement released by ADC comes after the operator of Poti Sea Port, APM Terminals Poti (APMT), and Poti New Terminals Corporation (PNTC), announced​ that they had signed an agreement for the joint development of the dry and bulk cargo facility on the northern side of the Black Sea port, where a major expansion project—sometimes referred to as a new port—is being planned.
According to APTM, ​a construction permit​ was issued by the Georgian authorities for the first stage of the so-called deep-water port at Poti. Interestingly, the permit was issued on March 27 this year, amid the toughest stage of the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown after previous documents claimed by APTM as entitling it to build the port were cancelled by Georgian authorities last year.
According to ADC, recent statements made by the government around the Poti port indicate that “they have turned their backs on the Anaklia deep-water port project and now support the Poti port,” which would be a situation contradicting statements made by the government in the past.
At the same time, the ADC statement mentions alleged business interests of people close to oligarch and Georgian Dream party chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili as regards the Poti port.
Poti port is not an alternative to the proposed Anaklia deep-water port, ADC argued.
“The decision to develop Anaklia was made in 2013, after the government hired a consortium of international experts to compare different opportunities for the development of deep-water ports in Georgia. Anaklia was selected for a number of advantages, including the geo-technical conditions of the area, financial feasibility and, most importantly, the significant economic, social and geopolitical impact that the project will have, both in the Abkhaz region and throughout the country,” according to ADC’s statement.
49​ GEORGIA Country Report ​November 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com