Khazaradze says State has no interest in success of Anaklia Port project
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Tuesday, October 15
According to him, if the consortium fails to fulfill its obligations, the Commission will discuss with the prime minister whether the contract with the consortium will be terminated or the deadline for fulfillment of obligations will renew.
“The consortium has time until the end of the day to provide appropriate documents, which confirms that the capital is filled, as well as initial non-mandatory documents, regarding getting loans from investor banks. After this, considering the results, the commission should gather and take an appropriate decision,” noted Javakhadze.
According to Javakhadze, “if the investor fails to fulfill his obligations, the state may extend the deadline, which has been repeatedly done so far, and in theory, the alternative is of course termination of the contract. The decision is made by a commission headed by Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. The commission includes all the ministers of the economic bloc.”
Levan Akhvlediani, Director General of the Anaklia Development Consortium, in turn, explained to the media that the consortium has submitted specific proposals for the project to the government and that they are ready to negotiate. According to him, the ball is on the side of the government and the consortium is waiting for a corresponding response.
"It is our absolute readiness to resolve all issues with regard to investors or others in the near future so that the project can be successfully implemented," said Akhvlediani.
According to him, the state has not yet given consent to the Conti Group's exit. Meridian Capital Limited, Van Oord and one other American foundation are considered to be one of the companies that could replace Conti Group.
Mamuka Khazaradze, one of the founders of the consortium, also made a statement regarding the Anaklia project today. Khazaradze said that as of today, the state is not interested in the success of this project.
“The last meeting between the bank representatives and the state officials was held a few months ago, after that there was no interaction, no question, no solution from the state… When you have only two meetings a year with the bank representatives and then sit in your cabinet and wait for a change… these kinds of projects are not done in this regime,” noted Khazaradze.
The need to find a new investor arose after the American Conti Group left the Anaklia Development Consortium.
Anaklia Development Consortium consists of specialized firms with diverse backgrounds, which together form a global business leadership team that works with the Government of Georgia to construct the port of Anaklia.
ADC’s vision for the Anaklia Port is to create a world-class port complex for Georgia and establish Anaklia as a focal point of trade to and from Central Asia and on the New Silk Road trade route between China and Europe.