Foreign Investors to Carry Out $5 Bln Project in Adjara

UAE, American and Czech investment groups plan to invest in the former military range territory of the Gonio settlement, a popular Black Sea resort in Adjara. The $5.1 billion Black Sea Pearl project was revealed by the head of the Business and Tourism International Center, Archil Dolidze, to Georgian media outlet The Business Contact, though no specific companies were named.

A brief conceptual description and urban planning were introduced at the presentation of the Black Sea Pearl project, held in Batumi on February 25th, 2016, attended by Adjaran government members.

The project aims to develop a free industrial zone (FIZ), free information and technological zones, free tourism and high-class residential zones, as well as establishing stock exchange, insurance and leasing companies and international finance institutions on 315 hectares of land. The project also aims to create a FIZ zone on 98 hectares land in Khelvachauri, Adjara region, and an agro-industrial zone on 500 hectares in the Guria Region, in Western Georgia.

“The near future will show how realistic this project is. Representatives of the group have held a number of meetings not only in the (Adjara) Region, but also at the Ministry of Economy in Tbilisi. Specific activities will be revealed shortly,” Batumi City Council member, Levan Kintsurashvili stated.

The Black Sea Pearl project was first announced in 2015. The companies expected to obtain the status of ‘free industrial zone’ in September, but that agreement has yet to be signed.

Ana Akhalaia