Poti failing to live up to expectations

The Georgian leadership has pinned its hopes on the economic redevelopment of the Poti port, but their efforts may have been in vain.

Poti became a free industrial zone in 2008; however this designation has yet to yield significant results. Business at the port remains slow, and the region has struggled to attract companies in the wake of the war with Russia and the global financial crisis.

Rival ports have offered successful alternate routes, although they may add time to a shipment’s journey. Azeri cargo is often sent to Iran’s Bandar-Abbas port on the Persian Gulf.

Critics suggest that the Poti project was ill-planned, and its strategic value overestimated.