Kazakh-Georgian JV to build $10 mln multimodal terminal in Poti

ALMATY. June 2 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's PTC Holding Group on June 2 signed an investment agreement with Georgian partners on the construction of a multimodal terminal in Georgia for the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), the company press office said in a statement.

Joint venture JSC Poti Transterminal was set up on a parity basis, in which the Kazakh side represented by PTC Holding and Georgian partners each own 50% of shares. The project is estimated at around $10 million, the statement says.

The terminal will occupy an area of 8 hectares with an annual capacity of 80,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, according to the statement.

The construction completion is scheduled for October 2023.

"The construction of the port terminal will be the first Kazakh infrastructure project to be implemented in Poti, one of the largest ports in Georgia, which is a TITR anchor point and extremely important for Kazakh operators in the current global geopolitical situation, as well as for diversification of logistics routes," the company said.

As far as the concrete deadline is concerned the terminal is to be built within 4-5 months of the signing the agreement that is in October-November this year, according to Development Director of PTC Holding LLP Olzhas Arykbaev.

It is reported that since the port of Poti is the end point for the transportation of goods via TMTR on the Black Sea the construction of a container terminal will allow Kazakh businesses to participate in the formation of cargo flows and create favorable tariff conditions on this route for Kazakhstan's exporters and attract additional volumes of transit freight through Kazakhstan.

PTC Holding is one of the largest owners and operators of railway rolling stock and infrastructure in Central Asia. It offers a wide range of transport and logistics services. The group, according to its website, delivers goods across Kazakhstan, to China, the countries in Southeast Asia, Russia, other countries of the Eurasian Economic Union and the EU. PTC Holding accounts for 15% of transit container traffic in Kazakhstan, owns a multimodal container terminal at the Dostyk railway station on the border with China.