RECONSTRUCTION OF THE EAST-WEST HIGHWAY: A PRIORITY FOR 2010

Investor.ge looks at the road and infrastructure projects underway and planned for 2010 across the country.

Maia Edilashvili

One year after the Georgian government announced wide reaching infrastructure projects to stimulate the local economy and encourage investment outside of Tbilisi, new roads and reconstruction plans are taking shape.

Throughout 2010, the further development of the East-West Transport Corridor – increasing it from two to four lanes – remains high on the agenda. By modernizing the road system, the government hopes it will reduce traffic congestion and accidents while also boosting efficiency. The reduced travel time and vehicle operating costs are also calculated to attract investors and improve local business.

Work on the East-West highway has been underway since 2006. This project is financed by the World Bank and unites three separate projects with different timeframes, according to the press office of the Infrastructure Ministry’s Roads Department, which is in charge of all road projects in the country. 

The first project envisions rehabilitation of the 1,750 meter-long  Rikoti Pass located on  143 km of the international Tbilisi-Senaki-Leselidze Highway. Constructed in 1982, it  is a mountain pass caved in the Likhi Range, dividing Georgia into its western and eastern parts. The Road Department says the works will start in the spring of 2010, while the exact date for its completion is yet to be defined. 

The second project – rehabilitation of Igoeti-Sveneti section of the East-West Highway – will be completed in 2010. And improvement works for the third one - Sveneti-Ruisi section of the highway - are due to end in 2011.

World Bank, which has allocated $369 million for Georgia’s road rehabilitation projects since 2006, provides funds for all three projects, as well as for the reconstruction of Georgia’s secondary and local roads project (SLRP). According to World Bank’s Tbilisi office, the bank is earmarking $90 million for SLRP, which was launched in 2009. 

These funds come as part of the $4.5 billion aid money, which international donors assured to provide for Georgia as a post-conflict recovery measure in the aftermath of the August war in 2008.

Donor Mapping – Georgia, a document reflecting the 2008 Brussels Donors Conference pledge shows, the East-West Highway project including reconstruction of Rikoti Pass takes the largest portion - $ 250 million – out of the WB’s infrastructure projects in Georgia. 

Financial help to improve Vaziani-Gombori-Telavi section, Kakheti’s regional road in east Georgia, is also the World Bank’s responsibility. This venture, which will make Georgia’s wine-rich region more easily – and safely - accessible, will cost $30 million. The project is financed by the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development, an arm of the WB.  According to the WB, the road rehabilitation will reduce travel distance from Vaziani to Telavi by 57 kilometers. The project’s closing date is 2013.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is also included in the process; it has committed $200 million for rehabilitation works of Zestafoni-Kutaisi-Samtredia portion of the East-West Highway. Work was initially planned for 2009, however the rehabilitation works will start this year and are expected to take one year to complete.

The Adjara Bypass Project, financed in part by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is also slated to start this year. The project envisions the construction of a 48 km road, connecting Sarpi, a border area with Turkey to Georgia’s Black Sea Port of Poti, thus bypassing Kobuleti and Batumi cities in Adjara. ADB will provide $880,000 for the project.

According to monitoring reports, over 60% of the donor aid money is “concessional credit,” or inexpensive debt over a long term payout schedule. Georgia is supposed to start repaying the loans in five to ten years, depending on the payment conditions.

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