Dredging work has begun in the port of Anaklia.

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A special vessel has entered Anaklia to carry out dredging work, which is planned to be completed by May next year. According to the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, the construction work on the port is being accelerated to the maximum.

"Caucasian Knot" reported that on August 1, 2022, the agency for the development of the deep-water port of Anaklia announced the procurement of services for studying the conditions for the construction of the port on the Black Sea coast. It was also revealed that the construction will be undertaken by a Chinese company that is under American sanctions.

A special vessel from the Belgian company Jan De Nul has entered Anaklia, which will begin dredging the port's water area and creating an access channel, writes "Georgia Online" on August 2, citing the Ministry of Economy of Georgia.

According to the agency, the vessel will increase the depth of the sea day to 17.5 meters. The next stage will be the construction of a breakwater 1380 meters long.

It is reported that construction is on schedule, and dredging work is planned to be completed by May next year. The first phase of construction will be completed by 2029, by which time the port will handle up to 600,000 containers per year.

In July, the government of Georgia announced a transition to the so-called "landlord model." The state will retain a controlling stake, key infrastructure, and land, while private businesses and international partners will be involved as operators of individual terminals. According to the Minister of Economy, Mariam Kvrivishvili, abandoning the scheme with a single investor will allow for the diversification of cargo flows and faster integration of Anaklia into international logistics.

Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze stated that the port of Anaklia has greater prospects, with interest from Central Asian countries, neighboring states of Georgia, Middle Eastern countries, as well as European companies, reports "Interpressnews".

According to Kobakhidze, the construction work on the port is being accelerated to the maximum. "We had a certain delay due to the revision of the contract. The cost of the contract was reduced by about 50 million dollars, for which I would like to thank the Ministry of Economy and personally the Minister of Economy again," the publication quotes him.

It should be noted that the construction of the deep-water port of Anaklia on the Black Sea coast of Georgia began in December 2017. The "Anaklia Development Consortium" (ADC) received exclusive rights to construct, develop, and operate the port, which will be part of the maritime corridor from China to Europe. The operator of the port terminal was to be the American company SSA Marine. The agreement stipulated that the government of Georgia would invest 100 million dollars in construction, while the total cost of the project is estimated at 2.5 billion dollars. In January 2020, the authorities of Georgia stated that the "Anaklia Development Consortium" failed to complete the construction of the deep-water port within the established deadlines, and that the agreement for the construction of the deep-water port was terminated. The opposition considered this decision political. On August 1, 2020, the "Anaklia Development Consortium" filed a lawsuit against the authorities of Georgia, demanding compensation of one billion dollars.

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