Yves here. This story, by what can politely be called a US mouthpiece, illustrates the degree to which China is seen as a strategic competitor and any move that advances their interest, even if arguably mainly economic, is a threat to the West.
By Radio Free Liberty/Radio Liberty staff. Cross posted from OilPrice
Georgia announced that a Chinese consortium submitted the sole bid to build a sprawling deep-sea port in Anaklia, marking the first megaproject on the Black Sea coast to be built and operated by Chinese firms.
Finding Perspective: The development brings an end to a multiyear political saga inside Georgia over building a deep-sea port at Anaklia, while the role of the Chinese consortium pushes Tbilisi’s growing ties with Beijing into the spotlight.
Georgian Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Levan Davitashvili made the announcement at a May 29 press conference, where he said the government had received bids from a Swiss-Luxembourgish consortium and a joint offer from China Communications Construction Company and the Singapore-based China Harbour Investment.
He added that China Road and Bridge Corporation and Qingdao Port International will serve as subcontractors to build the port.
Davitashvili said Tbilisi only received a final proposal from the Chinese consortium, though, which now looks set to build the country’s first deep-sea port. He said more details would be revealed “in the coming days.”
Why It Matters: Georgia is no stranger to awarding high-profile infrastructure deals to Chinese firms, but the announcement could have far-reaching implications.
For starters, it’s another sign of how close Tbilisi and Beijing are becoming. In July 2023, they signed a strategic partnership pact, and Anaklia marks another attempt to bring Chinese companies to Georgia’s Black Sea after a bid around Poti’s portbroke down in 2020.
This deal will also affect the future of the so-called Middle Corridor, a global trade network that ships goods between Europe and Asia in which Georgia serves as a strategic node. The European Union has said developing the route is a goal, especially since Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine where it provides trade links that bypass Russia.
But China’s new role with a deep-sea port in Anaklia — which would allow larger ships to transport increased volumes at a more efficient rate — changes things and marks a setback for Brussels.
“This is not good news for the EU, and I think the fact that [China is now building] the port shows a lack of strategic thinking in Brussels,” Romana Vlahutin, a former EU ambassador-at-large for connectivity, told me.
What We Know So Far: Many of the details are still to be revealed, as is the actual contract and total price tag. The government said previously it will retain 51 percent ownership of the port project, with 49 percent going to the other partners.
The Chinese companies involved also come with an interesting history. China Communications Construction Company is a massive player in global infrastructure and one of the largest firms involved in construction projects for China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) over the last decade.
But from 2011 to 2019, the World Bank banned the firm and its affiliates from participating in World Bank-funded construction projects due to a fraud scandal in a road project in the Philippines in 2009.
For a more detailed look at the company’s history — and of some past scandals involving other firms involved in the Anaklia bid — check out this article by Luka Pertaia from RFE/RL’s Georgian Service and myself.
What To Watch: This deal marks the second attempt to build a deep-sea port in Anaklia.
Previously, a consortium formed between Georgia’s TBC Bank and the U.S.-based Conti International was canceled by the government in 2020 after years of political controversy that saw TBC co-founders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze facing money-laundering charges.
The pair were charged but released without jail terms, and Khazaradze has claimed the authorities were trying to sabotage the project. The contract for that deal was worth $2.5 billion.
Khazaradze is in the process of taking the Georgian government to an arbitration court in London over what he maintains were politically motivated charges to derail the port. He’s been an outspoken critic of the project’s revival and said in the past that he believes the legal roadblocks with how the previous consortium was pushed aside could derail the new attempt to build it.