January-February News on the Silk Road, 2025

Under the World Bank's optimistic scenario for 2030, Georgian cargo traffic in the Middle Corridor will increase by 52% - this is stated in a new PMCG study.

Port tariffs have a low share compared to the tariffs of the Middle Corridor as a whole - APM Terminal Poti.

Georgian shipping company E60 Shipping Line, which operates in the direction of Romania and will soon add the direction of Bulgaria, plans to increase its fleet. As Mikheil Babunashvili, Commercial Director of E60 Shipping Line, told the media, the company is working intensively on the purchase of a second ship and will be represented by two of its own ships by the end of the year.

British Airways and EasyJet to fly to Georgia from the end of March - Gareth Ward, British Ambassador to Georgia

Tbilisi Logistics Center will complete the construction of its second warehouse by the end of March, the investment is $ 6 million. The construction of a new class A warehouse is actively underway on 12,000 square meters, and after its completion, the warehouse will be able to accommodate 24,000 Euro pallets.

In 2024, Batumi Sea Port handled 3.6 million tons of cargo, which is an annual increase of 9%. It is worth noting that the port handled 1.8 million tons of oil and oil products, which is an increase of 12.5% ​​compared to 2023. 1.8 million tons were ferry cargo, an increase of 5.9%. The number of containers handled at the port decreased by 16.3%, amounting to 91,200 units. In total, the port received 552 ships, 41 ships less than in 2023.

For the first time in the Transcaucasian region, it will be possible to service trucks and commercial vehicles, as well as buses, in one space. The multifunctional service center under the “Tegeta” brand is located at the 36th kilometer of the Tbilisi bypass. The facility, built to the standards of the German manufacturer MAN, will receive transit vehicles, along with local ones. The total investment volume of the project exceeds 80 million GEL.

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Socar has started transporting crude oil extracted from the “Kashagan” field in Kazakhstan via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

“APM Terminal Poti” has completed the lighting project of the Poti seaport, which involved an investment of 2 million USD.

From February 1, Georgia, with the support of the EU, becomes part of the new computerized transit system. Georgia will join the Common Transit Convention and the Convention on the Simplification of Formalities in Trade in Goods, provided for in Annex 13 to the Association Agreement between Georgia and the European Union. By joining these conventions, it will be possible to transport cargo to various countries of the European Union and the Common Transit Convention (Great Britain, Turkey, Iceland, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine, Switzerland, North Macedonia, 36 countries in total) with a single transit declaration submitted to the Georgian Customs Administration and a single guarantee.

With the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the UK Good Governance Fund, a project to digitize maritime transport has been successfully tested and launched in Georgian ports. More than 400 participants in the Georgian maritime sector are already using an innovative digital platform that eliminates the manual exchange of documentation, increases the transparency of operations and improves the interdependence between agents.

In Romania, in Bucharest, the process of registering a joint venture, Green Energy Corridor Power Company - GECO POWER COMPANY, with the participation of transmission system operators of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Romania and Hungary, has been successfully completed. At this stage, the enterprise will be engaged in research and design activities for the Green Energy Corridor.

A new multimodal terminal with Kazakh investment will be put into operation in the port of Poti this year. The estimated cost of the project is $10 million. The terminal is located on an area of ​​8 hectares, its annual capacity is 80,000 TEU. The container yard can simultaneously handle 6,000 TEU.

Kazakhstan has started exporting mineral fertilizers bypassing Russia through the port of Batumi. This year, Batumi Sea Port LLC plans to transport 50,000 tons of Kazakh ammophos.

The number of direct flights from Kazakhstan to Georgia will increase to 20 per week.

KTZ Express, a subsidiary of Kazakh Railways, carried out shipments via the "middle corridor" on the route "Almaty (Kazakhstan) - Poti (Georgia) - Houston (USA, Texas)". The cargo arrived in Houston on February 16.

The Port of Poti received the MSC Nahara, which handled 2,309 containers with a capacity of 4,079 TEU. This is the first time that the port has handled such a volume of cargo on a single ship, with a total weight of more than 34,500 tons.

The route of the railway line connecting Kars (Turkey) with Nakhchivan via Iğdır (Turkey) has been approved. The length of the line is 223.9 km; trains are planned to run at 160 km/h. Construction should be completed in 5 years. The line's carrying capacity could be 5.5 million passengers and 2 million tons of cargo per year. The promotion of the project is particularly relevant given the prospect of building a railway line on Iranian territory that would connect Nakhchivan with the main part of Azerbaijan. The corresponding protocol of intentions was signed in October 2023.

Source: commersant.ge  transcor.ge entrepreneur.com  railfreight.com  bm.ge businessinsider.ge  interpressnews.ge zdmira.com