The Roads Department of Georgia will hire foreign lawyers for GEL 4.7 million in 2024 to protect its rights in international arbitration disputes with its foreign contractors.
The Roads Department has already applied to the procurement agency for concluding contracts with lawyers in a simplified manner.
The Roads Department's does not list the contractors, with who they hold dispute. However, disputes are ongoing with the East-West Highway construction company "Sinohydro", which is engaged in Zemo Osiauri - Chumateleti road project with a value of GEL 265 million. Also with the same company in connection with the GEL 95 million Khulo-Zarzma road. The legal process is also ongoing with the "23rd Bureau of Chinese Railways" regarding the construction of Samtredia-Grigoleti road with a value of GEL 113 million. In 2023, the department hired the international law firm Hogan Lovells for 1.35 million EUR for legal representation in these three disputes.
In addition to this, a legal dispute has been going on for many years with the company "Altcom", which was supposed to build the first section of the Samtredia-Grigoleti road for GEL 153 million. In this arbitration dispute, the interests of the state are represented by the company White & Case, with which a purchase worth USD 354,000 was signed in 2023. The dispute concerns Prominvestmentbank, which acted as a bank guarantor in the contract with "Altcom".
