Kazakh transport and logistics investment group PTC Holding is to build a container terminal in the port of Poti, Georgia. During a working visit to Georgia, the Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan, Marat Karabaev, took part in the ceremony of laying the foundation stone at the site of the planned construction.

The terminal will help to increase the volume of freight traffic on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR).

The construction of the port terminal will be the first Kazakh infrastructure project to be implemented in one of Georgia’s largest ports. The project will enter the active phase in September 2023, with construction starting in October and commissioning scheduled for 2024. The terminal will be located on an area of 8 hectares and its capacity will be 80 thousand 20-foot equivalent containers per year.

“The container terminal will allow Kazakh and Georgian companies, and not only them, to participate in the formation of cargo flows and will also create favourable tariff conditions on this route. In addition, it should attract additional volumes of transit cargo through Kazakhstan and Georgia,” said Marat Karabaev.

The Minister also noted the successes achieved by the countries in the development of TITR. He stressed that Kazakhstan has made great efforts to expand its transit potential.

Such large infrastructure projects as the Kazakh-Chinese logistics centre in the port of Lianyungang and the Khorgos-East Gate dry port on the border with China have been put into operation, attention has been paid to the port infrastructure of Aktau and Kuryk on the coast of the Caspian Sea, an international transit corridor “Western Europe – Western China”. At present, the second track is being built on the Dostyk-Moiynty section, which is 836 km long,” said the head of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Marat Karabayev was joined at the capsule-laying ceremony by Levan Davitashvili, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Malik Murzalin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Georgia, and Timur Karabayev, Chairman of the Board of PTC Holding.

“It is important to note that economic cooperation between Georgia and Kazakhstan is now entering a new stage of development, which is evidenced by the fact that in 2022 cargo turnover between the countries amounted to $3 million and tripled compared to last year. In this sense, the development of cargo logistics infrastructure is essential for the correct and competent development of relations and potential,” said Levan Davitashvili.

Timur Karabaev added that the future terminal in Poti will become a reference point for TITR, which is extremely important for Kazakh companies in terms of diversifying logistics routes. According to him, the company’s position has always been clear – to develop logistics infrastructure.

This is particularly relevant as the geopolitical situation created by the events in Ukraine has seriously affected global logistics, including the traditional routes of Kazakhstan’s exports and imports. In these conditions, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) has gained new importance, for example, in 2021 25.2 thousand TEUs were transported along this route, in 2022 – 33.6 thousand TEUs, in 2023 this figure is expected to be 52.9 thousand TEUs. According to the data of the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan, cargo turnover on this route increased by 77% in the first six months of this year and amounted to 1,320 thousand tonnes.

According to Olzhas Arykbayev, Development Director of PTC Holding, the total investment in the project is estimated at 15-20 million US dollars. Financing will be provided on a parity basis by the Kazakh and Georgian participants in the project. He also said that the active phase of construction has been underway since September this year and the commissioning of the first stage of the project is planned for the first quarter of 2024. The maximum capacity of the terminal, taking into account the technology of operation, will be 450 thousand TEU/year.