During the Ministerial Hour, the Parliament heard from Irakli Karseladze, the Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure, who presented the Ministry's annual report for 2022 to the Parliament.
According to the Minister, the construction of highways and the development of road infrastructure remained a crucial focus of the Ministry's activities in 2022. The Ministry was involved in 287 projects with a total value of up to 7.4 billion GEL, of which 120 projects had been completed by the end of the year.
In 2022, construction work was in progress on 192 km of main roads, including the East-West, Kakheti, and South-North directions. As part of these efforts, a 15-km section of the Samtredia-Kobuleti road was opened to road traffic in 2022, and in 2023, a 27-km section of the Rikoti highway is scheduled to be completed.
The Minister also noted that construction of 108 km of the East-West International Highway is ongoing, with the main sections expected to be finished by the end of 2024. Additionally, progress has been made on the Kvesheti-Kobi road and tunnels project, with 7.7 km of the 9 km tunnel already excavated.
In 2022, significant work was carried out on the road infrastructure in Kakheti, including plans to complete the first 4 km section of the 35 km Tbilisi-Sagarejo high-speed highway in 2023. Furthermore, the construction of a 17 km long section from Sagarejo to Badiauri began in 2023.
The Minister highlighted the completion of a new 4-lane, 160-meter-long "Friendship Bridge" on the Debeda River at the Sadakhlo-Bagratasheni checkpoints of the state border between Georgia and the Republic of Armenia in 2022.
Lastly, Minister Karseladze discussed projects related to water supply and drainage systems, noting that projects worth 3 billion GEL are currently underway.
"In 2022, construction and rehabilitation work on 79 schools was in progress. As of today, construction and rehabilitation have been completed for 57 schools, while the remaining schools are scheduled for gradual completion between 2023 and 2025. Additionally, in 2022, significant projects related to sports infrastructure were underway. These projects included the construction of the Kutaisi Olympic pool, sports complexes in Rustavi, Akhaltsikhe, Zugdidi, and Arkhiloskalo, a football stadium in the city of Marneuli, and multi-purpose sports halls in Bolnisi and Tsnori", - the Minister said.
According to the report, the outcomes of the activities undertaken by the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure in 2023 are projected to surpass the results achieved in 2022, both in terms of completed and ongoing projects.
This expectation is based on the 9-month implementation indicator of the 2023 state budget by the Ministry, which reached 108.5%.
