On 4 March, Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated that the country’s government would start the process of selecting a new potential investor for the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project in the near future, reported agenda.ge.

He also said that the government had postponed terms for the Anaklia Development Consortium, the state-tender winner to build the deep-sea port in Anaklia, western Georgia, in regards to its obligations. Even with repeated deferrals, the investor is unable to fulfil its obligations, leading the government to cancel the agreement with the consortium. “In addition, the government handed over to the investor an investment area worth 58 million GEL. We have also undertaken the obligation of the construction of a road and railway connecting the port, and the Roads Department has already prepared this project. In addition, the Partnership Fund was prepared to provide a subordinated loan of $100 million to the investor on the condition that the investor would be able to meet the obligation,” he added.

The latest development regarding the Deep Sea port project was on 9 September 2020 when the  Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) released a statement in which it claimed that the Georgian government ran a campaign to undermine the project by dissuading potential project investors, lenders, contractors and suppliers from joining the project in order to kill the development (Caucasus Watch reported).