Georgian Silk Road Cities: Tbilisi, Rustavi, Gori

2026-04-20

In November 2023, the World Bank published a report on the "Central Trade and Transport Corridor", which envisions the main economic centers - Tbilisi, Rustavi and Gori, where incoming cargo will be transshipped to its final destination. There will be warehouses where stocks are managed, and storage facilities will act as buffers and points in supply chains for consolidation and deconsolidation. With appropriate infrastructure and support, such centers can develop into logistics clusters of freight villages.

What is meant by the World Bank recommendation:

If we want the European Union to successfully export critical minerals from Kazakhstan using the "Middle Corridor", for which it has already created a package worth 12 billion euros, the "Tbilisi Specialized Exchange" must be operational.

If Europe is to transit precious stones from Afghanistan via the "Lapis Lazuli Route", the "Tbilisi Gold Exchange" must be operational.

If we want metallurgical products to be transported from Iran to Scandinavian markets using the "South-West Corridor", the "Rustavi Steel Exchange" must be operational for this.

In order for Georgian wines to establish themselves in the markets of Eastern Europe at fair prices and with profitable logistics chains corresponding to the "Viking Route", then the "Tbilisi Wine Exchange" should be open every day.

If we want Ukrainian and Romanian grain to go to Armenia, and Kazakh grain to Anatolia, then the "Gori Grain Exchange" should register such trade transactions.

The place for quoting shares and bonds of European and Arab companies should be the "Tbilisi Stock Exchange".

The place for large currency transactions between European and Asian holdings should also be the "Tbilisi Currency Exchange".

The tonnage, cubic meters and their prices of energy carriers of the Caspian and Strait of Hormuz are the competence of the "Tbilisi Energy Exchange".

The organizational status of the exchanges themselves should be a joint-stock company, whose privileged shareholders would be His Excellency - the citizens of Georgia.

The function of the state is to regulate the activities of such trading platforms (exchanges) with the status of a "Securities Commission", which will be independent in making decisions and also independently accountable only to the Parliament. Such an order of the country is called a market economy.

The Port of Rotterdam (Europort) is one of the most modern ports in the world. Construction began in 1958, and was completed in 1964. The Netherlands, small in terms of territory, is today one of the top twenty leading economies in the world. The fact is that the Amsterdam Stock Exchange was established in 1602.

Zurab Maghradze