Another leap forward on the new Silk Road

Another leap forwardon the new Silk Road

TRANSPORT > GEORGIA

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Once it is upgraded, transit, trade and tourism will fl ow. The old highway between Tbilisi and Rustavi causes frequent congestion and safety concerns both for commuters and long-distance travellers from Azerbaijan and Armenia to Georgia’s Black Sea ports or Turkey, and vice versa. A new project – part of the EU supported international transport programme TRACECA, or the New Silk Road – will upgrade the road to internationals standards, and ease the pain.

Text and photos by Maia Edilashvili

Tbilisi – “This road is very congested and accidents are frequent,” says Zurab Tval-mikhelashvili, driver of a Tbilisi-Rustavi mini bus. Though the road’s capacity is only 9,000 vehicles, approximately 12,000 automobiles are travelling every day on the Tbilisi-Red Bridge highway, which connects Georgia with the borders of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Due to the poor conditions of the 22km-long Tbilisi-Rustavi section of the East-West highway, driving is allowed at a maximum speed of 80 km/h. To address the problem, the Georgian government is working on a project, which envisions construction of a fi rst category road with a design speed of 120 km/h and four lanes. “Once the highway has been modernized, its capacity will reach 44,000 automobiles per day,” says Mamuka Vatsadze, at the time Head of Transport Policy Department at the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, who has since become Deputy Minister at the same Ministry.

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ENPI Info Centre – Feature no. 41This is a series of features on projects funded by the EU’s Regional Programme, prepared by journalists and photographers on the ground or the ENPI Info Centre. © 2010 ENPI Info Centre / EU

N Trucks on the Tbilisi-Rustavi section of the Tbilisi-Red Bridge highway.

A comfortable drive to develop transit, trade and tourismToday, packed minibuses commuting between Tbilisi and Rustavi are seen everywhere, since many Rustavi residents work or study in Tbilisi. In reverse, Rustavi hosts factories and business centres, having close rela-tions with Tbilisi-based partners, which increases demand for this direc-tion. “The city of Rustavi has become part of the urban agglomeration of the capital and has very strong economic ties with it,” explains Giorgi Kiziria, coordinator of the ADB. “The new road,” he says, “will increase safety and cut travelling time, making Rustavi an integral part of Tbilisi.”

The comfortable drive to the bordering countries and beyond will be another ad-vantage. All this, the government hopes, will help develop transit, trade and tour-ism in the region, and enhance competitiveness of the TRACECA corridor. “In fact,” continues Kiziria, “this road provides an important link to the neighbouring states of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as with the central Asian countries, connecting them to Georgia’s mainland and the Black Sea Ports, thus impacting significantly on their trade portion.”

TRACECA: promoting integration into the global economy Signed in 1998, and backed by the European Union, TRACECA – the Transport Cor-ridor Europe – Caucasus – Asia, or the New Silk Road – is an interstate programme aimed at supporting political and economic development in Black Sea Region, Caucasus and Central Asia through improvement of international transport – ports, railways and roads. This is expected to boost regional trade and integration of member states’ economies into the world markets. Actually, the idea is to re-store the ancient route, carrying caravans from China and India across the Caspian Sea via Georgia to the Black Sea and then via the Bosporus to the Mediterranean countries as early as the 4th century BC. The ambitions European Union-backed programme unites Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the World Bank (WB), the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and Asia Development Bank have spent heavily on TRACECA projects. One of the achievements of the programme is a closer cooperation among governments and transport sector stakeholders: deals have been reached to keep transit fees at competitive levels, and customs procedures simplified.

Intensive reconstruction work on the East-West Highway The increased cargo traffic on the TRACECA corridor shows growing interest in this route as the shortest, cheapest and potentially fastest land link for east-west traffic. According to the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, in 2009 an average 200,000 trucks crossed Georgia’s borders from both directions every day, up from 50,000 trucks in 2003. This impressive growth has been a result of intensive reconstruction works fi-nanced by the World Bank along Geor-gia’s East-West Highway, increasing it from two to four lanes. The works have been underway since 2006 and some of the sections are already in opera-tion. “The construction works along the East-West Highway, have already borne fruits,” says Vatsadze. “This is in line with TRACECA’s long-term strategy as well as

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“This road provides important links to Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as with the central Asian countries, connecting them to Georgia’s mainland and the Black Sea Ports”

“The new road will increase safety and cut travelling time, making Rustavi an integral part of Tbilisi”

N Giorgi Kiziria

Another leap forward on the new Silk Road

N Mamuka Vatsadze

with the European Union’s vision towards the South Caucasus – to make TRACECA part of European transport links.” Private businesses are also getting the taste of that fruit. “Infrastructure is improv-ing… Conditions are 1000% far better than ten years ago,” notes Steve Pipe, Branch Manager at FH Bertling Ltd Georgia, which specializes in project forwarding for construction and oil and gas companies to Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uz-bekistan and beyond. Bertling has 150 offi ces worldwide and has been operating in Georgia since 1998. According to Pipe, for Georgia as a transit country, modern roads and bridges are essential. Georgia’s “good” customs system and “no corrup-tion” environment, he underlines, also play a role. Construction works on the Tbilisi-Rustavi section are expected to start this year in

the summer time, and will be completed by 2012. Currently, a detailed design is being developed for the road, and simul-taneously, talks are underway with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – which is fi nancing the reconstruction – to nego-tiate on the loan terms. The exact amount of the loan will be known only after the fi nal design is done.

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www.enpi-info.euwww.enpi-info.euwww.enpi-info.euENPIENPIENPI info centreinfo centreinfo centreinfo centreinfo centre

The ENPI Info Centre is an EU-funded Regional Information and Communication project highlighting the partnership between the EU and Neighbouring countries. The project is managed by Action Global Communications.

Participating countriesArmenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

Timeframe2009-2012

Budget€ 6.576 million

ObjectiveThe project aims to facilitate regional cooperation in the fi eld of transport, through capacity building and training measures, the development of transport forecasts and investment appraisals in the region covered by the EU-funded TRACECA programme. It also promotes eff ective regional transport dialogue among the Partner Countries, as well as between them and the EU. Find out moreTRACECA programme web site www.traceca-programme.eu/en/home/The ENPI Info Centre fi che on the TRACECA programme www.enpi-info.eu/maineast.php?id=272&id_type=10The Silk Road of the 21st Century www.traceca-programme.eu/en/home/the-silk-road-of-the-21st-century/

Transport dialogue and networks interoperability (TRACECA)Facilitates regional cooperation in the fi eld of transport through capacity building and training measures, as well as the development of transport forecasts and investment appraisals.

www.enpi-info.eu/maineast.php?id=320&id_type=10

“In 2009 an average 200,000 trucks crossed Georgia’s borders from both directions daily: they were just 50,000 in 2003”.

Another leap forward on the new Silk Road

N The overcrowded Tbilisi-Rustavi section of the Tbilisi-Red Bridge highway.