Tag Archives: construction

Anaklia partners sue Georgian government

TBILISI/JULY 29 (The Bulletin) — The Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) and one of its key investors filed separate arbitration claims against the Georgia government for cancelling its deal to build the new Black Sea port.

ADC and Bob Meijer, the investor, said that they are claiming a combined $1b for lost earnings linked to the project.

The Georgian government tore up the contract with the ADC in January because it said that ADC had failed to secure sufficient financial backing to build the new port, supposed to become Georgia’s principal entry and exit for goods being transported to and from China and Europe.

ADC, though, said that the contract was ripped up for political reasons. One of the main backers of the ADC project was, Mamuka Khazaradze, the founder of TBC Bank. TBC Bank is one of Georgia’s biggest high street banks and is listed on the London Stock Exchange but last year Mr Khazaradze was arrested for corruption, allegations he has said are politically motivated.

ADC said that this row between Mr Khazaradze and the Georgian government tarnished the project.

“The Government deliberately acted to ensure that ADC could not succeed with project development. In this instance the Government abused its power because the ruling party and its leader decided the project’s success was contrary to their own political and economic interests,” ADC said in a statement.

The statement also said that the ADC was bringing its action through the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris and that Mr Meijer was pursuing his claim through the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington.

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— This story was published in issue 455 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on July 31 2020.

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Berdy approves expansion of two Turkmen cement factories

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JUNE 23 (The Bulletin) — Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov approved the expansion of two cement factories, suggesting that despite the impact of the spread of the coronavirus, Turkmenistan would continue to construct new buildings. The sites will be built by privately-owned companies but will be owned by the Turkmen state.

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— This story was first published in issue 451 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, published on June 23 2020

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

Construction work in Tajikistan increased by 24% in 2019

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FEB. 26 2020 (The Bulletin) — In 2019, constructors in Tajikistan built 24% more buildings than they did in 2018, Tajik media reported. Tajikistan, and especially Dushanbe, is going through something of a construction boom, fueled by cheap loans from China.

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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

New Chinese cement factory opens in Uzbekistan

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DEC. 28 2019 (The Bulletin) — Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev officially opened a new Chinese-built chemical production complex near Navoi in the centre of the country. Mr Mirziyoyev said that the plant had “changed Uzbekistan’s dependence on imports of PVC, caustic soda, and created a large number of new jobs”. It also further cements China’s influence, in business and politics, in Uzbekistan.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Georgia cancels project to build deep sea port at Anaklia

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TBILISI/Jan. 9 2020 (The Bulletin) — The Georgian government cancelled a $2.5b contract to build Georgia’s largest deep-water port at Anaklia on the Black Sea because it said that finances for the consortium which had taken on the project were too flimsy.

Critics of the government, though, accused it of turning the country’s biggest infrastructure projects into a political weapon. One of the key consortium partners is TBC Bank which was set up by Mamuka Khazaradze who is currently standing trial, accused of corruption.

“The Anaklia Port Project is owned by the state, it is not owned by any private investors,” Maia Tskitishvili, Georgia’s minister for regional development and infrastructure, said when she announced that the contract, held by the Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC), would be cancelled . “By the end of 2020, we had to have a port in operation but as you can see, we will not get this result.”

She said ADC, led by TBC Bank had failed to replenish capital of $120m or attract a loan of $400m from international banks. ADC disagreed, though, and said that it had secured loan pledges from international banks such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). It said that these pledges had been undermined because the government had failed to guarantee to potential investors that they would get their money back is the project collapsed.

ADC said it would take the government to arbitration over the Anaklia contract.
Georgia has framed this project, conceived in 2014 under the current Georgian Dream coalition, as a vital piece of infrastructure needed to boost its status on the east-west transit corridor that China has dubbed the Belt and Road project.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

— Copyright owned by the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

Landslip kills six workers in Tashkent

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DEC. 19 2019 (The Bulletin) — A landslip killed six labourers working on the construction of a metro extension in Tashkent. The fast pace of development in the region has pushed up fatalities on construction sites this year. Safety standards in both Central Asia and the South Caucasus are considered lax.

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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Georgia gives Anaklia partners more time to name financers

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DEC. 17 2019 (The Bulletin) — Georgia’s government extended to Dec. 31 a deadline for the partners developing the Anaklia port on the Black Sea to submit new loan agreements after they missed a Dec. 16 deadline. The Anaklia was supposed to be the biggest infrastructure project built in Georgia, opening it up to more East-West cargo traffic, but instead each side has accused the other of undermining progress. The partners are TBC Holding, the US’ SSA Marine, Britain’s Wondernet Express and Bulgaria’s G-Star.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

Uzbekistan wants cement manufacturers to pollute less

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NOV. 27 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s government is considering introducing a law that would force cement producers to measure and monitor their air pollution. The move is an indication that governments in the region may start to take more seriously the issue of worsening air quality. Other the past few years, Central Asia’s cities have become choked with car exhaust fumes and factory smog. Feeding demand from a booming construction industry, Uzbekistan’s cement sector is one of its fastest-growing industries.
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— This story was first published in issue 430 of the weekly Bulletin.

ADB approves cash for north-south Georgian road

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Aug. 2 (The Bulletin) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $415m grant to build a major section of a new north-south highway across Georgia. The 23km Kvesheti-Kobi Road is part of a series of upgrades to infrastructure in Georgia that the government has highlighted as a priority.
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— This story was first published in issue 418 of the weekly Bulletin

Another construction workers dies in Tbilisi

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TBILISI/July 16 (The Bulletin) — Another worker in Tbilisi died on a construction site, at least the 13th construction worker to die in Georgia this year.

Reports said that 16-year-old George Beshkenadze fell down the liftshaft of a 14-storey construction building that he had been working on in central Tbilisi.

Campaigners have said that safety measures on Georgian construction sites are notoriously slack. At least six construction workers in Tbilisi have already died this year on sites and in January, seven men were killed in their sleep at the apartment they shared in central Tbilisi by a carbon monoxide leak.

The authorities have said that they will also investigate how the company managing the site where Beshkenadze died was able to hire a teenager.
The law doesn’t ban companies from hiring 16-year-olds, but they are not allowed to do hard manual job
until they are 18.
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— This story was first published in issue 417 of the weekly Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin