Anaklia to be developed as new gateway for Georgia and beyond

News 25 Aug 2014 by WCN Editorial

The Georgian port of Anaklia is to be reconstructed and new container and dry bulk-handling facilities developed.

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The port, which is located in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region about 30km north of Poti, could have the capacity to handle 40Mt within 12 years and has the potential to be the largest maritime gateway in the country.

In July the Georgia Government issued an Expression of Interest document detailing the design, build and operational elements of the project. Parties planning to pursue the opportunity, which is for an initial 49-year period, have until October 1, 2014, to submit their bids and qualifying materials.

Georgia has been one of the fastest growing economies in the Black Sea region in recent years and also handles transit cargo to/from Azerbaijan, the Central Asia Republics, Armenia and Iran.

This growth is putting pressure on ports such as Poti and Batumi where APM Terminals and International Container Terminal Services Inc, respectively are involved. The former port is being expanded as APM T expects the facility’s current handling capacity to be exceeded by 2017. Current capacity is 600,000 TEU and APM T wants to increase this to at least 1M TEU and prepare the terminal for 9,000 TEU vessels. In 2013, Poti handled just over 330,000 TEU.

The Georgian Government, which sees the development of Anaklia as a catalyst in reviving the old silk road trading corridor between Europe and Asia, believes it offers the private sector an immense opportunity.

Giorgi Kvirikashvili, the country’s economics minister, explained: “We believe the construction of the Anaklia sea port will be one of the most important projects in the economic development of the country. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be invested in this project by international and local companies and Anaklia will become one of the main maritime gateways for Georgia and one of the main logistics centres in South Caucasia.”