On 17 December, the Georgian Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development stated that the interim deadline for the Anaklia Development Consortium to submit bank loan agreements has expired. The official deadline to submit the relevant documents is 31 December. Should the consortium fail to deliver the documents, the government has not planned a postponement of terms.
The consortium issued a statement in response to the Ministry’s statement, saying that a potential investor still exists. “Despite [that] the current situation… is outside the control of Anaklia Development Consortium, we have identified an investor who is still interested in the project. We informed the Government’s representatives during our meeting last week at the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia. As we have made clear to the Government’s representatives, the potential investor needs to see direct support and approval from the Government for the project as well as for them. So far, the Government has not provided such direct support and approval. We are therefore waiting on the Government, given this situation is outside of our control, while we actively provide what information we can to the potential investor,“ read the statement. The statement also said that the consortium will wait for the government’s support in order to avoid legal disputes.
On 7 December, the Georgian Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Maia Tskitishvili called on founders of Anaklia Development Consortium to admit that they are not able to implement Anaklia’s deep-water port project. Tskitishvili said that taking into consideration that the country needed a deep-water port, the project had to begin functioning as soon as possible. According to Tskitishvili, it is regrettable that Anaklia Development Consortium has faced problems in the attraction of finances for the last 2 years.
In response to the question whether Anaklia Development Consortium would be able to present an investor before December 31, Tskitishvili said: “The issue does not have to do with the attraction of a new investor. This is about the total credit taken in the amount of USD 600 million to launch the project. Unfortunately, the Consortium has no resource to begin implementation of the project,” the Minister said and added that making a prompt decision was needed. The Minister explained that the government would present a plan for the implementation of Anaklia deep-water port after expiration of contract terms with Anaklia Development Consortium on 31 December 2019.
The last investment development related to the deep sea port was recorded on 28 October when Meridian Capital NL B.V declared in an open letter to the Georgian Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development that it would be unable to invest in the Anaklia deep-sea port venture as a new potential major investor after the American Conti international dropped out of the project (Caucasus Watch reported).
