The creation of a state-owned road maintenance company has raised concerns among private sector players, who say the move could distort competition and create uncertainty in the market. According to Tite Jishishvili, director of the Georgian-Austrian company “Caucasian Infrastructure Technology,” the initiative was met with immediate dissatisfaction from businesses already operating in road maintenance.
He argues that private companies see the state entering the sector as a direct competitor, potentially putting at risk millions of lari invested in equipment and infrastructure. While the government says the new company will initially manage only the 105-km Rikoti highway section, Jishishvili warns that state expansion in business activities is easier and could gradually squeeze out regional contractors.
A key concern, he says, is a conflict of interest in quality control, as it remains unclear who will supervise a state company if it is both the executor and, effectively, part of the same system. “I cannot imagine how you build or maintain something and then inspect it yourself,” he said, questioning accountability mechanisms under the proposed model.
Jishishvili also highlighted the risk of skilled labor moving from the private sector to the state company due to potentially higher wages. While he supports the idea of a strong state technical reserve for emergencies and infrastructure crises, he argues that daily commercial road maintenance should remain in the private sector to preserve competition and sector development.
