After a one-year pause the Government of Georgia is going to revive the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project.

On March 5 Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that “the Georgian government will start the process of selecting a new potential investor for the Anaklia project.”

As he claims at the session of the government, the construction of the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project is one of the special priorities of the Georgian government.

Garibashvili said that the government had postponed terms for the Anaklia Development Consortium, the state-tender winner to build the deep sea port in Anaklia, western Georgia, to fulfill its obligations, however “despite repeated deferrals, the investor could not fulfill the obligations which led the government to cancel the agreement with the consortium.”

Ben Hodges, former commander of the US Army in Europe believes that it is “very realistic” to attract western investment for this project, however, he emphasizes that “the key is for Georgia to make itself more attractive to investment.”

“The U.S. and other nations are still investing abroad despite the pandemic. And this is only going to increase in the coming months. The key is for Georgia to make itself more attractive to investment - transparency in the legal system absence of any corruption in awarding contracts, strong liberal democratic institutions, tax incentives, and availability of talented, educated work force,” Hodges told the Accent.

According to him, “Georgia needs to work closely with Romania and Ukraine to further develop the east west corridor, collaborate in raising awareness of the economic potential of this corridor in Brussels and in Washington.”

“The U.S. government’s development finance corporation (DFC) is an excellent organization that helps with projects like this. If the government of Georgia is serious about the Anaklia project, it should be reaching out to the DFC, via the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi,” he told the Accent.

The Chinese interest in the Anaklia project is not new. But questions were raised especially after Garibasvili’s reappointment as PM. In particular, the questions are related to Garibashvili's activities in CEFC China Energy; as the Georgian public organization Civil Idea states, the Chinese conglomerate, which is involved in international corruption scandals, still owns a stake in a free industrial zone in Poti, Georgia, on the Black Sea.

“Chinese investment usually comes with requirements for Chinese labor, so the benefits of employment are limited for Georgia. There is also typically a significant debt-trap component, which would leave Georgia burdened for years with debt. But there is also risk for the West. Chinese control of so much transportation infrastructure across Europe could potentially disrupt NATO/U.S./Western efforts at crisis prevention or crisis response,” Hodges said.

He hopes that the Anaklia project will be implemented under the current government of Georgia.

“It would truly make Georgia the portal between Europe and Eurasia. Georgia would become a major logistics hub for Europe and Eurasian companies. Then those nations would start paying attention to security and sovereignty of Georgia because they’d have skin in the game of Georgia. Also, there would be lots of job opportunities and potential economic prosperity for the young people of Georgia”, Hodges said.

“But I haven’t seen the energy or political will get this done,” he added.