Paata Tsagareishvili, founder of the Transport Corridor Research Center, says that if the Anaklia deep-water port is built, then the expansion of Poti port loses its meaning.
"If Anaklia develops, expansion of Poti port will lose its meaning. Moreover, we now have the prospect of a dry port in Tbilisi. This is one of the important point when we talk about the development of the middle corridor. China has acquired more than a hundred ports in 50 countries worldwide (fully or partially), of which 20 ports in Europe. It is considered one of the largest maritime countries. There's also a question whether the Anaklia port is an additional processing point that will serve 13 Russian ports located in its vicinity. [China] can use the port for redistributing cargo to Russian ports," -Tsagareishvili told BMGTV.
Last May, the government transferred 49% of the strategic project of Anaklia deep-water port to a Chinese state consortium. The 49% share of the port will be taken over by the Chinese-Singaporean consortium.
The consortium includes:
CCCC - "China Communications Construction Company Limited" (registered in China)
CHI - "China Harbour Investment" (registered in Singapore); although CHI is registered in Singapore, it is also a Chinese state company.
