Georgia to start construction of new seaport and airport this year - PM

TBILISI. Jan 18 (Interfax) - Georgia will continue to develop infrastructure projects this year, positioning itself as a regional aviation hub, among others, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said during the "New Dawn for Eurasia?" panel discussion at the Davos Economic Forum.

"This year we want to start building a new deep-sea port in Anaklia, on the Black Sea coast of Georgia. (...) We are also planning to build a new airport because we want to position the country as a regional aviation hub. Georgia's location also contributes to this. We have the full potential to become a regional aviation hub," Garibashvili said.

In addition, modernization of the railway will be completed this year, doubling its capacity and increasing it to the level of 48 million tonnes of cargo per year, he said. The East-West Expressway is also planned for completion this year.

"Two years ago, we signed a very important road map together with our Kazakh and Azerbaijani colleagues. We, that is Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, have a very clear and specific plan for the development of this corridor, and we know what needs to be done: expand port infrastructure, productivity development, railway modernization, and the development of our airports and road infrastructure," the prime minister said.

The deep-sea port project in Anaklia had previously been attempted, but without success. The Georgian government decided to terminate the 2016 agreement with the Anaklia Development consortium in 2020 because it had not fulfilled its obligations, the government said.