Page 46 - GEORptFeb20

Georgia terminates contract for construction of Anaklia deep sea port and prepares to seek new partner
“The Poti Sea Port Expansion Plan, which was submitted to the government of Georgia, includes two phases of construction and development. The first phase involves the construction of a 1,700-metre-long mooring and multi-berth facility with dimensions of 400 meters [length] - 13.5 metres [depth]. The second phase envisages the 300-metre-long container wharf. The infrastructure will double the Poti port's container throughput to above 1 million TEU per year," said Keld Christensen, APM terminal general director in the release.
Christensen said the company is "confident in the support of the government". According to the company, the estimated construction time would be 24-30 months and the project "requires close cooperation with the Georgian government and their support to obtain all necessary permits in a timely manner".
The government of Georgia has decided to terminate its public private partnership (PPP) contract with the Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC), signed in 2016 for the development of a $2.5bn deep water port on the Black Sea coast, minister of regional development and infrastructure Maia Tskitishvili told reporters after a government session on January 9. A new tender would be prepared for an Anaklia deep sea port construction, Tskitishvili added. It is however unlikely that such a process will successfully end before the parliamentary elections due this year by October.
Tskitishvili explained that although the government gave additional time to ADC to fulfil its contractual obligations, the latter failed to replenish its capital with $120mn by finding a strategic investor to replace the US Conti Group, which pulled out from the project in 2019, and attract a $400mn loan from international banks.
If Georgian opposition parties do well in the polls this year—with one new party including the Lelo political vehicle founded by ADC’s main owner Mamuka Khazaradze—ADC might conceivably get a second chance to realise its Anaklia project. Political landscape changes could consolidate the confidence of foreign investors which apparently avoided entering the project under uncertain political circumstances.
Levan Akhvlediani, ADC’s CEO, the consortium would take the government to the international courts over the termination of the contract.
Khazaradze , also co-founder of Georgia's TBC Bank, blamed Bidzina Ivanishvili , the billionaire oligarch leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party for disrupting the Anaklia port project. Georgian prosecutors last year started investigations into alleged money laundering involving Khazaradze and co-founder of TBC Badri Japaridze. The pair stepped down from their top positions in the bank, one of the two major lenders in Georgia.
The Anaklia deep sea port project, focused on a location a few kilometres away from the Russian-occupied Abkhazia breakaway territory, has strong backing from the US.
9.1.6 ​Agriculture sector news
Swiss chocolate producer Chocolats Camille Bloch plans to set up hazelnut plantations in Georgia to produce crops dedicated to the production of its leading Ragusa brand, according to Agenda.ge. Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and CEO of Chocolats Camille Bloch, Daniel Bloch—the son of Camille Bloch who founded the company in 1926—reportedly discussed details of the project on January 23 at a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
46​ GEORGIA Country Report​ February 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com