On 1 October, the PACE group, the largest transportation company in Georgia launched the construction of a new, modern terminal in Poti Port, in Western Georgia. The project is worth $120 million, reported agenda.ge. The port’s infrastructure project will be carried out by PEI Group. The project  will be arranged across 25 hectares of land .

“Located [on] over 25 hectares, the new terminal will require dredging work to take place in the harbor to a depth of 12 m, which will result in the sea port being able to accept vessels up to 253M in length and with a load capacity up to 50,000 tonnes,” PACE Group said.

The company says that after the implementation of the project, cargo turnover will increase by 2.5 million tonnes, almost doubling the company’s current annual cargo turnover of three million tonnes. Georgian Minister of Infrastructure Maia Tskitishvili said that the project will create 500 new jobs.

Madeleine Albright, former United States Secretary of State and Head of Albright Stonebridge Group, one of the stakeholders in the project, welcomed the launch of Poti Port’s expansion project with a letter. “I am especially pleased about the strong support of the U.S. government to this project including about the USD 50-million investment of OPIC,” Albright said. She claimed that Poti is  an important trade center and its expansion would be a great benefit for the city. 

The PACE group, which operates eight Poti port berths and Pace terminal, has received $50 million in funding from the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), which is the largest investment by OPIC in the Caucasus (Caucasus Watch reported).

The port town of Poti is one of the most important seaports on the Black Sea. It is a connection point for  the Trans-Caucasian Corridor/TRACECA, a multinational project connecting the Romanian port of Constanţa and the Bulgarian port Varna with the landlocked countries of the Caspian region and Central Asia.