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relevant research. The investor, ADC, should not be obliged to build another phase if there is no sufficient activity to support it.
2. The state will insure the risk of insufficient freight throughput (this is the condition not agreed by the government). The state will insure the difference that will be needed by the consortium to service the bank loans as scheduled. The government must lend this money to the consortium. After satisfying the banks’ demand, the consortium will have to pay back this loan.
3. The government will pay compensation for railway and road construction, if it is delayed. If the road and railway development is delayed and the port can not start operations, generating losses for investors, it will be the responsibility of the government to reimburse the loss.
4. The borrowing procedure by the consortium is flexible. The lenders can pass the contract to a third party. The government insisted that the loans should not be passed to an entity that may generate risks to national security and the banks agree with this detail.
5. The state's golden share right shall be restricted.
6. The state shall issue compensation in the event of political force majeure. 7. The government will compensate and protect investments from negative legislative amendments.
8. In the event of the termination of the contract by the government, the $400mn loan will be serviced by the state.
Three new cable car routes are planned for the Georgian capital Tbilisi, the city’s mayor Kahka Kaladze announced at a meeting on April 24. Tbilisi already has two cable car routes. One runs from Rike Park on the left bank of the Mtkvari river to Narikala Fortress, while the other, which reopened in 2016 after a seven-year hiatus, connects the city centre to Turtle Lake. Tourism is a growing sector in the South Caucasus country, where the most recent data from the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA) shows the number of international tourists visiting in 1Q19 moved up by 2.2% y/y. Tbilisi is one of the main attractions, along with the Black Sea coast and the mountains.
If construction goes ahead, the new cable cars will operate on the Samgori-Vazisubani, Akhmeteli-Temka and Sameba-Makhata Mountain routes, according to a statement from Tbilisi city hall.
The first step will be a technical and economic study that will cost around GEL750,000 (around €250,000) and take five months to prepare, Kaladze said. “The cable car theme is very important in the development of our city's transport infrastructure,” Kaladze commented.
“We talked about this issue a few months ago at the government session when the task was given to allocating specific areas where cable car projects could be implemented. The investigation revealed that there are three interesting directions—Samgori-Vazisubani, Akhmeteli-Temka and Sameba-Makhata Mountain. Therefore, we need to prepare technical and economic research and a justification, after which we will have a complete picture "
9.1.6 Agriculture sector news
The US Department of Agriculture is to award a $10mn grant under the five-year Food and Progress programme to improve food safety and quality from ‘farm to fork’ in Georgia’s dairy and beef production chains, Agenda.ge reported .
Under the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the European Union, Georgia’s farmers can sell products on the European
43 GEORGIA Country Report July 2019 www.intellinews.com