Georgian gov’t to hire consulting group for building Anaklia port

The Georgian Government has plans to hire a consulting group which will ensure aid in selection of investors and other mandatory procedures for facilitating the construction of the deep sea port in Georgia’s Black Sea town of Anaklia, Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili said. 

Davitashvili announced the plans that follow the failure of a previous consortium unveiled as the winner of a related tender to attract $2.5 billion in funds to construct the port.

Speaking to media following the Government cabinet meeting, Davitashvili said the 2014 tender for selecting investors for the project and completion of a number of mandatory procedures over five years until 2019 meant authorities could skip several stages and “speed up” the construction process by selecting new partners with the help of consultants. 

Now the Government is in need of a consulting group or groups which will draft conditions for selection of investors very professionally”, Davitashvili said, noting the Government “already has sufficient information” to correctly formulate the conditions and choose “right partners”. 

In comments over investors, the Minister said several large investors from Abu Dhabi, Persian Gulf and Central Asian countries were interested in the constitution of the deep sea port.