AD Ports Group has acquired a majority share in the Tbilisi Dry Port. The logistics company, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, purchased sixty per cent of shares. Construction on the dry port is still ongoing, but it is scheduled to enter into operation in late 2024.
With the acquisition of a majority stake in the Tbilisi Dry Port, the Emirati AD Ports Group enters the scene along the Middle Corridor. The acquisition follows a bilateral agreement between Georgia and the UAE signed in October 2023. The two countries agreed to increase non-oil trade between them to 1,5 billion US dollars.
AD Ports Group states that it wants to strengthen global supply chains, and that the investment in logistics hubs along the Caspian-Black Sea corridor helps fulfil that goal. “As a country situated at the centre of the Caucasus and located along the Black Sea, Georgia is a key destination linking us with our growing maritime and logistics assets in Central Asia and Türkiye, thereby enabling us to serve our customers with cost-effective, streamlined cargo flows and capture significant future trade volumes.”
Dry port
The Tbilisi dry port is currently under construction and expected to be operational towards the end of 2024. It is located along the so-called Middle Corridor, a logistics corridor connecting China and Central Asia with Europe via rail and maritime connections. AD Ports Group states that the Tbilisi dry port will be a key logistics hub along the corridor.
The dry port will be able to transfer containers between two transport modalities, namely road and rail. According to its website, the Tbilisi dry port will be operating as a centre for the transshipment of cargo to further inland destinations in the Caucasus region and CIS member states. It will function as an inland extension of the Georgian ports of Batumi and Poti on the Black Sea coast. Moreover, it will provide rail connections to Caspian ports via Azerbaijan.
According to AD Ports Group, by the end of its development, the dry port is supposed to have a handling capacity of 286,000 TEU, offer 100,000 square metres of warehouse space, as well as a car storage facility.
Also read:
- Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway opens in April after major refurbishment
- EU to invest 10 billion euros in Middle Corridor
- ‘Middle Corridor is developing, but Northern route remains key’
