📋 Tender Overview
Project Name
Batumi-Sarpi Road Project
Project Number
50388-001
Country / Economy
Georgia
Project Status
Proposed
Project Type / Modality of Assistance
Loan
Source of Funding / Amount
Loan: Batumi-Sarpi Road Project
Ordinary capital resources US$ 360.00 million
Sector / Subsector
Transport / Road transport (non-urban)
Gender
Description
Recognizing these systemic challenges, the government has requested ADB's assistance to construct an approximately 11 kilometers (km) long bypass road to enable year-round traffic movements and facilitate trade on the strategically important East-West Corridor. The project road will provide opportunities for tourism development in the Adjara Black Sea region by reducing travel time along the Black Sea coast and reducing congestion and/or road safety problems at the busiest border crossing point (Sarpi). The project road will be constructed to two-lane asphalt surfaced standard, with at least one long tunnel and a bridge.
Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy
Georgia enjoys a strategically advantageous location at the crossroads between Europe and Asia. Recent free trade agreements with its main trading partners (total trade 2018 Turkey $1.7 billion, Russian Federation $1.37 billion, Azerbaijan $1.09 billion, and Peoples Republic of China $1.03 billion) have furthered its ambitions to become a regional transit hub. Exports by road and by sea grew on average 39% and 29% per annum by value between 2016 and 2018. Georgia's geographical location positions the country at the center of north-south transit routes linking the Russian border (Larsi) to the Armenian border (Sadakhlo), and East-West routes linking the Azerbaijan border (Red Bridge) to the Turkish border (Sarpi).
Rehabilitation and modernization of road infrastructure has consistently been a top government priority over the last 12 years. The national development strategy aims to transform Georgia into a regional transport and logistics hub. Government investments have focused on the road sector, with rail and port sectors financed largely by the private sector. The Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure (MRDI) Action Plan for 2018-2021 has budgeted GEL7.3 billion for internationally and nationally important roads. The government has targeted its financing and priority interventions on the East-West Highway, the North-South Corridor, and critical sections of the secondary road network.
The road network extends to approximately 22,000 km, including about 1,600 km of international roads and 5,300 km of secondary roads managed by the Roads Department under the MRDI, as well as 15,000 km of local roads managed by district administrations. While most of the international roads (90%) are in good or fair condition, about 30% of the secondary roads and 60% of the local roads are in poor condition. The implementation of the Roads Department's program on highways improvement will lead to a dramatic increase of
