Infrastructure

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Infrastructure

Total length of the international roads is 1,603 kms and network of national roads spans over more than 5300 kms. Said roads are connected with 1,320 bridges and 31 tunnels. One of the largest infrastructural project ongoing right now is construction potion of the highway in the central part of the Georgia passing through Likhi Gorge. Project including 96 bridges and 53 tunnels. Construction of Rikoti Pass section is divided into four sections: Chumateleti-Khevi section (section I) 11.7 km, Khevi-Ubisa section (section II) 12.2 km, Ubisa-Shorapani section (section III) 13 km and Shorapani-Argveta section (section IV) 14.7 km.

Georgian Railway is concentrated to organize freight and passenger transportation with efficient infrastructure and rolling stock services and to make Caucasus the most effective connection between Europe and Asia. There is 1 326 km railway; Georgian railway currently has around 30 mln t/year capacity. The project of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad mainline was initiated in 2007 by the governments of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Baku -Tbilisi-Kars New Railway Connection Line gives new impetus to the development of the historic Silk Road. In particular, this railway has a significant importance for the region, because it is intended to connect Georgian and Azerbaijan railways to the Turkish one. The project included the rehabilitation, reconstruction and construction of 180 km length Marabda-Kartsakhi railway section consisting of: Marabda-Akhalkalaki reconstruction-rehabilitation section – useful length 153 km and Akhalkalaki-Kartsakhi (Turkish border) new construction section – length 27 km. The project envisaged for 5-15 mln tons cargo flow per year. The first train carrying goods from Turkey to China began operating on the new BTK railway in December 2021.

There are 2 existing ports in Georgia, and 2 oil terminals. Batumi seaport has 5 terminals and 11 berths + CBM (point without berthing loading), with 9-12 m draft and up to 20 m for Conventional Buoy Mooring (CBM). The total throughput of the Port is 18 million tons per year. Poti seaport is the largest port in Georgia, handling container, liquids, dry bulk cargo and passenger ferries. The multi-purpose facility has 15 berths, a total quay length of 2,900 meters, more than 20 quay cranes and 17 km of rail track. In 2020, APM Terminals Poti announced its plans to create a deep-water port by investing over 250 million USD of private capital for phase 1 and a substantial amount for phase 2 in an extensive development of the port infrastructure and superstructure. The first stage includes a breakwater of 1,700m and a 400m multipurpose quay with 13.5 m depth able to handle dry bulk cargo and an incremental 150,000 TEUs. This berth will be able accommodate container vessels of up to 9,000 TEU. The second stage will include a 300m container quay equipped with 3 state-of-the-art STS cranes. It will double the annual container capacity at Poti Sea Port to over 1 million TEU. The timeline for construction is estimated at 24-30 months, Kulevi Oil Terminal incorporates three piers, a canal for tankers, and a mobile service fleet of 9 vessels. The terminal has a tank park with overall storage capacity of 402,000 m3. For loading operations there are two berths for receiving tankers with tonnage up to 100,000 tons. Loading performance is from 1,000 to 8,000 m3/h. The terminal has its own railway station. The Baku–Supsa pipeline has six pumping stations and two pressure reduction stations in western Georgia. The four storage tanks at the Supsa terminal have a total capacity of 160,000 m3. The capacity of the pipeline is 145,000 barrels per day (23,100 m3/d) with proposed upgrades to between 300,000 to 600,000 barrels. Development of Anaklia Deep Sea Port Anaklia Port is to create a world class port complex for Georgia and establish Anaklia as a focal point of trade to and from Central Asia and on the New Silk Road trade route between China and Europe. Anaklia Deep Sea Port will be the first Georgian container port with a deep water, state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment. The new port will be able to handle panamax and post-panamax types of vessels and hence, strengthen the transit function of the country.

There are three international and several regional airports in Georgia. Tbilisi International Airport is the located in the capital of Georgia. New arrivals terminal is fully functioning from August 2017. The airport is served by approximately 30 airlines, mainly from Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia serving roughly 30 destinations out of Tbilisi. Due to the increasing popularity of Georgia and the city of Tbilisi as a tourist destination, the number of travelers grew since 2010 from 1 million to almost 4 million. Kutaisi International Airport is operated by United Airports of Georgia, a state-owned company. Positioning on market as low-cost airport, offers passengers the largest number of direct flights to Europe. New, expanded 27,000 m2 terminal was delivered in 2021, with annual capacity - 2.5 million passengers annually. Kutaisi International Airport ranked 2nd in Europe by increase of passenger flow among airports welcoming less than 5 million passengers a year, according to Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe) report 2019. Batumi International Airport is one of three international airports in operation in Georgia. The new Batumi airport terminal has been operating since 2021 The total area of the new terminal building has been increased from 4000 m2 to 8000 m2. The expansion of the Batumi International Airport was preconditioned by the increase of the passenger flow, which in 2019 exceeded 600,000 visitors. In total, about 30 airlines from different countries will fly from the Batumi International Airport in the nearest future. By expanded airports and additional flight routes, Georgia is getting ready to welcome back tourists and level-up connectivity infrastructure, which will help to reset the economy and build back better than before. Before the pandemic, Georgia had record number - 9.4 million international visitors per annum. Two of the regional airports are operated by United Airports of Georgia: Queen Tamar Mestia Airport which opened in December 2010. Runway length – 1,150 m.

Oil Two pipelines pass through the territory of Georgia. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and the Western Route Export Pipeline (WREP). BTC pipeline exports oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunshli field to the Ceyhan port in Turkey. The BTC is the second longest pipeline in the world. The total length of the pipeline is 1,768 km with 249 km on territory of Georgia. From eight pumping stations two are located in Georgia. BTC pipeline was commissioned in 2005. WREP also known as the Baku-Supsa, was commissioned in 1999 and was it the first investment of international oil consortium in Georgia. The length of the WREP is 833 km. Its diameter is 530 mm. The pipeline transports crude oil from the offshore Azeri-Chiragi-Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea through Sangachal to the Supsa terminal in West Georgia. The Supsa terminal with the capacity of 120,000 tons was constructed as part of the (WREP) pipeline construction project. Gas In the same corridor as BTC passes also gas pipeline The South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP). The length of the SCP is 691 with 249 km in Georgia Pipeline was commissioned in 2006 and was connected to Georgian gas distribution system near Gardabani. In January 2007 first commercial gas was delivered to Georgian market through SCP. Recently, BP has expanded the SCP bringing additional gas supply opportunity and USD 2bn investment to the country. The expansion has triple the gas volumes exported through the pipeline. At full capacity, the pipeline can transport up to 20 mln scm's (standard cubic meters) a year.

Georgia’s transmission network operates at 500kV, 330kV, 220kV, 110kV and 35kV voltages. A backbone 500kV transmission line (“Kavkasioni” – “Imereti”- “Kartli-2”- “Kartli-1”) connects Russia and the large generators (notably Enguri HPP) in the north-west to Tbilisi with a further 330kV inter-connection to Azerbaijan. There is a reasonably extensive 220kV grid connecting other demand centers and generators. The Georgian grid is inter-connected with Russia at 500kV and 220kV, with Azerbaijan at 330kV, with Armenia 220kV and with Turkey at 220kV and 400kV. There are also isolated 110kV connections with Armenia and Russia. The total length of Georgian power system transmission lines equals to 11,297km. GSE’s transmission assets include 220/110/35kV overhead lines with the total length of 4,380 km and 94 substations with aggregated installed capacity of 12,114 MVA, including seven (7) strategically important 500kV substations and twebty-four (24) 220kV substations throughout the territory of Georgia. There are plans to expand current transmission lines, about 1,700 Km of new lines and 5,000 MW substation will be added to grid. Georgia will also upgrade cross border transmission capacity, reaching 5,000 MW.

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Georgia serves as a bridge between important economic regions including the EU, South Caucasus, and Central Asia. The country has immense potential to perform a regional hub function, as it is the key link in one of the shortest transit routes between Europe and Asia

Georgia has improved its value proposition as a transit country by modernizing its transport infrastructure, improving border clearance procedures, and liberalizing the provision of services in many key sectors that ensure better international connectivity with global markets.

Georgia is developing a series of ambitious strategic transport projects which will improve country’s transport and logistics infrastructure as well and make better use of its transit potential including Baku - Tbilisi - kars Raliway and Anaklia deep seaport

Georgia's oil and gas pipelines, Black Sea ports, railway system and airports (including three international airports - in Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi) are playing a significant role in linking Europe and Asia. At the same time, Georgia functions as the vertical North-South transportation link.

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