"It is a sovereign right of the Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) to start an arbitration, however, the government is not going to renew the agreement with them to build the Anaklia Deep Sea Port," said Natia Turnava, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, according to Georgia Today. 

She added that the Consortium had not fulfilled its obligations for years and that the government had no other way than to terminate the contract. However, it is not planned to renew the contract with the Consortium.

The Minister said that the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project remains a priority for the country's economy and the government welcomes the involvement of American or European investors in the project.

“The Anaklia Port Project is, has been and remains our strategic priority, we are working on it very actively and according to the government's decision, we are pre-preparing the tender.

"We want this tender to be held at a very high level, which is why we want to involve consultants from some of the international financial institutions in the process, as it is more transparent and convincing.

"We would welcome and support the involvement of American investors, US companies or any strong European investor in this project. We are negotiating with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, however, the decision has not been made yet.

"Also, we do not rule out talking to other financial institutions, such as the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, those financial institutions that have general practices to help the country in re-announcing tender and finding investors,” Turnava said.

The Anaklia Development Consortium said on February 12 that it was ready to apply for international arbitration in Geneva and that the international investors of the consortium would start proceedings against the Georgian government. Levan Akhvlediani, head of the Anaklia Development Consortium, said the government was taking no steps to avoid the arbitration dispute.

The Georgian government officially terminated the contract with Anaklia Development Consortium on January 9 this year. The Ministry of Economy is preparing to announce a new tender for the implementation of the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project.

The Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) was to fulfill its duties by December 31, after the government postponed the term for reaching an agreement with potential investors, and international banks (EBRD, OPIC, ADB, AIIB) for a loan of $400 million.

The ADC was also expected to have signed a contract with construction contractors but the Georgian government said the Consortium failed to meet its obligations.

“The Georgian government is looking for a new investor for the construction of the Anaklia Port," noted Maia Tskitishvili, Georgia's Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure, emphasizing that Georgia needs the deep-sea port by all means.

17 February 2020 / 21:12