The majority of the CCCC company that the government awarded a contract to (for the Anaklia project) is owned by the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Communist Party is the number one financier of the Russian military today, - US Ambassador to Georgia Robin Dunnigan said in an exclusive interview given to InterPressNews.
According to her, there are also questions about the quality and standards of the company.
“On Anaklia, the majority of the CCCC company that the government awarded a contract to is owned by the Chinese Communist Party and the company is known to be affiliated with the Chinese military. The Chinese Communist Party is the number one financier of the Russian military today. So one question is - why deepen an economic tie with the party that is financing your occupier? Because the Russian military is being financed by the Chinese Communist Party. That's one question.
Then there's just a question about the quality and standards of the company in question. So CCCC does not have a good reputation globally. In 2009, the World Bank barred the bank from providing financing to infrastructure projects done by this company. Recently, the company built a port in Sri Lanka. There's a lot of controversy around this port. I don't know if you've read about it. But ultimately, the Chinese government was able to secure a 99 year lease on Sri Lankan soil and its ships, military ships, vessels can come in and out. So there's a lot of controversy about Sri Lanka giving up some of its sovereignty in a key critical infrastructure.
The United States Treasury has determined that this company is a company that is on a list of companies that have deep ties with the Communist Party's military. So there are a lot of concerns about Anaklia, of course, it is a sovereign decision, but I'm just reiterating some of the concerns that are seen globally about this particular company”, said the Ambassador.
History
A Chinese consortium — China Communications construction company Ltd, together with China harbor investment — was selected as a private investor for the construction of the new deep-water port of Anaklia.
The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Levan Davitashvili, announced that a Chinese consortium will be announced as the winner of the Anaklia port project in the coming days.
Georgia's strategic location on the eastern edge of the Black Sea has made it particularly crucial for the Middle Corridor, a trade route between China and Europe bypassing Russia that has grown in importance and usage since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Finally, we received proposals only from the Chinese consortium. In this case, the detailed application proposal is complete, the relevant bank guarantees are presented. Therefore, in the coming days we will have clarifications, after which we will declare the Chinese consortium as the winner and start negotiations on the partnership agreement. I think this is a very important stage. This project is of great importance, it will employ many people”, said Davitashvili.
Georgia has increasingly turned to China for infrastructure projects, with one study by the Tbilisi-based Civic Initiative for Democratic and Euro-Atlantic Choice saying that since 2021, every infrastructure project worth more than $100 million has involved Chinese companies.
Background
On December 24, 2017, the then Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Mamuka Khazaradze, the founder of Anaklia Development Consortium, officially opened the port construction in Anaklia. On January 9, 2020, during the Prime Ministership of Giorgi Gakharia, the Government of Georgia announced that it was terminating the contract with the “Anaklia Development Consortium”, which was supposed to build the Anaklia Port, due to non-fulfillment of its obligations. The “Anaklia Development Consortium” was founded by Mamuka Khazaradze and included Conti International (USA) and TBC Hodling (Georgia). “Anaklia Development Consortium” (ADC) and its Dutch investor Bob Meyer are conducting an arbitration dispute against Georgia.
In order to select a private partner for the project, the government has started preparatory work to announce a new selection process in the second half of 2022. The Anaklia Deepwater Port Development Agency hired international consultants (in commercial issues – MTBS, and in legal issues – Squire Patton Boggs), with whose involvement the documentation of the selection process was prepared.
On September 20, 2023, the Ministry of Economy announced that two companies moved to the second stage of the private partner selection of the Anaklia deep-water port project, although they were not named.
According to the Minister of Economy, the Swiss-Luxembourgish and Chinese-Singaporean companies moved to the second stage of the selection.
On the whole, according to the minister, four companies expressed their desire for private partnership in the construction of the port. Of the two companies that failed to move to the next stage, one is from Israel, and the other is also from China.
However, last year, European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valeani said that European companies are also interested in the port of Anaklia. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev also stated that Baku is interested in implementing joint projects with Georgia, including Anaklia port. However, if we rely on the information provided by the Georgian government so far, they will not show their desire for private partnership of Anaklia port by participating in the competition.
As a result of the qualification evaluation of the candidates, the qualified candidates will be given a period of several months to present a technical, commercial and financial proposal, as a result of which the commission will identify the winner and the Ministry of Economy will start negotiations on the concession contract and the partners’ agreement.
In parallel with the process, the state established a company that started preparatory works for the construction of marine infrastructure (dredging, breakwater). According to the Ministry of Economy, part of the land plots required for the first phase of construction works will be transferred to the same company as a capital contribution.
Together with a private investor, a port construction joint company should be established, where the state will own 51%, and the private partner – 49%.
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