Infrastructure Ministry: Anaklia Consortium will be Fined $115,000
"The amount of the fine to be paid by Anaklia Development Consortium is up to $ 115,000," the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure announces.
Yesterday, the Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, Maia Tskitishvili, announced the termination of the agreement with the Consortium, saying that it will have to pay a fine for failing to fulfill its contractual obligation.
She said the State had already forgiven the Anaklia Development Consortium a $10 million fine.
In addition, she said that the Anaklia Development Consortium will also have to return the land received from the state and the deep-sea port project.
“All these procedures are set out in the contract and we will strictly follow the requirements of the contract,” she said.
"We will take this dispute to the international court. We will not give up and will expose the actions of all the officials and politicians who deliberately fought against the Anaklia project," Mamuka Khazaradze, the founder of Anaklia Development Consortium, TBC Bank and Lelo movement, told reporters when commenting on the government's decision to cancel the contract with the Anaklia Consortium.
He claimed that Bidzina Ivanishvili, the leader of the Georgian Dream party, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and Minister of Infrastructure Maia Tskitishvili were personally involved in the disruption of the Anaklia port project and, moreover, he has documentation proving the above.
When asked by journalists whether he intended to pay a fine as Consortium failed to fulfill its contractual obligation, Khazaradze said that the court would answer that question.
“All these questions will be answered by the court. We were expecting this. So there will be a very serious dispute since they are against the interests of our state,” he said.
The Government of Georgia has decided to cancel its contract with the Consortium and to launch appropriate legal procedures. The decision was announced after yesterday's governmental meeting.
The Anaklia Development Consortium was to fulfill its duties by December 31, after the government postponed the term for reaching an agreement with potential investors, as well as international banks (EBRD, OPIC, ADB, AIIB) for a loan of $400 million. Another duty of the consortium was to sign a contract with construction contractors. The Georgian government says the Anaklia Development Consortium failed to meet its obligations.
The deadline for obtaining the funding has been postponed six times.
The Georgian government did not cancel the investment agreement with Anaklia Development Consortium on October 15 despite the expired deadline for the consortium to fulfill its interim obligations.
The Anaklia Development Consortium won a state tender to construct the port and signed a deal with the government in 2016 with TBC Holding as its principal partner, but has faced problems in attracting the $2.5 billion in funds needed to construct the port.
Construction of Anaklia Deep Sea Port started in 2017.
By Ana Dumbadze
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