Twelve companies have submitted bids for the lease of the port of Poti for 49 years, the Georgian Ministry of Economy said on October 16.

The port will be leased with an adjacent 400 hectares of land so as to create a free economic zone.

Bidders include:

1. Investment Authority of the UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah emirate;
2. UAE’s Dubai Ports and Jafza free economic zone in Dubai;
3. Philippine-based International Container Terminal Services;
4. France’s CMA CGM;
5. South Korea’s LandMark Worldwide;
6. Germany’s Hamburger Hafen und Logistik;
7. The UK-based Hutchison Westports, which is part of the Hutchison Port Holdings Group;
8. A consortium by Silk Road Group and Israel’s Ashtrom International;
9. A consortium set up by the Turkish Exporters' Unions;
10. Israel’s Zim Ports;
11. Turkey’s Hazer International Holding;
12. Dubai-based Momentum Engineering.

The Economy Ministry said it would now consider the proposals and announce a winner in two weeks.

The winner, according to the Economy Ministry, will have to establish infrastructure necessary for the operation of a free economic zone.

This February, executives from a United Arab Emirates (UAE) company, Dubai World, visited Poti on a fact-finding mission to investigate the port's potential.

Rakeen, a development company from the UAE’s Ras Al Khaimah emirate, has already announced plans to invest USD 1.5 billion in real estate projects in Georgia.
 
Poti port transshipped 7 million tons of cargo last year, which is 9.1% more than in 2005. It is expected that transshipment will increase by 12% this year. The port has a capacity to handle a total of 25 million tons of cargo per year.