Page 48 - GEORptNov19
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9.1.3 Transport sector news
A partnership agreement has been signed for the route linking Constanta port in Romania with the Port of Batumi in Georgia, Georgian Railways announced. Direct access to the EU market through Georgia is an advantage of this route, Georgian Railway stressed. The transit time from China to the European market will be reduced to 15 days.
A trilateral agreement was signed between Georgian Railway's subsidiary GR Logistics and Terminals, the Azeri state-controlled shipping company Azerbaijani Caspian Sea Shipping and the Romanian private railway operator Grampet.
A special memorandum of understanding between GR Logistics and Terminals and Grampet aims to establish the regular Constanta-Batumi route. According to the memorandum, a new regular container ship will connect the port of Batumi with the port of Constanta in Romania as soon as possible. Simplified shipping procedure will help increase the freight volume in the corridor. Grampet, controlled by Romanian businessman Gruia Stoica, is one of the leading companies in the field of rail freight in Europe. It transports almost 22 million tonnes of cargo annually.
The move serves Grampet’s target of establishing freight flow along the route from China to Western Europe, Stoica s aid.
The project is a new stage by which the member companies of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor) project collaborate to increase the freight flow along this route, and it is part of Grampet’s strategy to operate the first freight rail transport between China and Western Europe, through Romania.
Regular container ship traffic between ports in Georgia and Ukraine has commenced, Georgian Railways announced, as quoted by Business Media. “The support of the international company Maersk has played an important role in the implementation of the project," read a statement released by Georgian Railways. Notably, Maersk group operates the Black Sea port of Poti—which recently started an expansion project aimed at giving with capacities needed to make it accessible to large-size ships. To some extent, Poti port has been seen as potentially competing with the proposed Anaklia deep water port a little further north. The development of the Anaklia port is currently in a limbo since it is struggling to secure financial and strategic investors by the end of the year in line with an extended government deadline. The first container ship entered the port of Poti on the new route on October 18 and will operate weekly, Georgian Railways announced.
Container ship traffic between Georgia and Ukraine will to increase demand for Georgia's rail corridor and increase its competitiveness.
The newly-designated container ship links between Georgia and Ukraine will reportedly offer favourable tariffs. European and Asian transit cargoes will be relocated on this route, which in turn will increase Georgia's role as a country at the crossroads of Europe and Asia connecting the two continents.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on September 9 announced a new tender within the framework of the Tbilisi Urban Transport Renewal Project, for the purchase of 110 buses to run on compressed natural gas.
According to the project, the contractor will supply 30 new buses to Tbilisi by March 31, 2020, and all other buses by September 30, 2020. The buses are 12m-long vehicles.
48 GEORGIA Country Report November 2019 www.intellinews.com
