Poti port reaches capacity as Georgia accelerates expansion

Poti, Georgia’s busiest seaport, is operating at the limit of its throughput capacity. This has added urgency to the long-discussed project to expand the port.

According to Zviad Chkhartishvili, head of the Poti Sea Port Administration, the Poti Port Expansion Project will be financed by private funds, with the government acting as a partner. The mechanism means the project will not be financed with taxpayers’ money.

Chkhartishvili said relatively low cargo volumes and high operating costs at the port were putting pressure on tariffs. Increasing throughput capacity and reducing costs could improve tariff policy and make Poti port more competitive.

Poti port faces growing competition in the region. Significant investments in the ports of Aktau, Turkmenbashi and Baku in recent years have strengthened their positions along the Middle Corridor, which links Asia and Europe via Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Chkhartishvili said Georgia needed to provide an “adequate infrastructure response” to keep pace with its neighbors in the Caspian Sea basin. He noted that expanding Poti port alone would not be enough.

Alongside the project, development of the East-West Highway, modernization of the railway network and digitalization of customs procedures must also continue. These projects could determine whether Georgia becomes a key connecting link in the Middle Corridor or a bottleneck along the route.

APM Terminals, which operates the port, is already taking additional measures to handle growing cargo volumes. Additional land has been acquired near the port to support future development. A new crane is expected to increase throughput capacity by 50,000 TEUs.

Chkhartishvili expects the measures underway to bring the port’s total throughput capacity to 650,000 TEUs by the end of the year. The additional capacity is expected to support both Poti port and the Middle Corridor as a whole.

Talks are continuing between the Poti Sea Port Administration and Georgia’s Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. The sides are expected to hold further meetings by the end of the year to finalize details of the large-scale project.