“Anaklia Project should be declared as the number one national priority. This is not just another infrastructure project but the country’s strategic choice. U.S. and Transatlantic financial institutions should be given a leading role in the project to ensure that it is safe, transparent, and protected from political influence,” said Irakli Kupradze, a member of Lelo-Strong Georgia during the briefing in Anaklia.

According to Kupradze, Anaklia port should be assigned the status of a strategic facility of national significance; the Trump Route should not bypass Georgia, and Anaklia must be constructed.

“Today we stand in Anaklia, a place that was supposed to become a symbol of Georgia’s economic strengthening, security, and real integration with the Western world. However, for 7 years, nothing has happened here. The project is suspended, and everyone knows that it is not accidental. The Anaklia project’s disruption was a political decision, against the country’s interests and in favour of Russia’s interests, which does not want to see a strong Georgia,” he said, adding that economic potential and security guarantees were lost, and people vacated their homes.

“Today, the situation is changing. We see that a new window of opportunity has been opened for Georgia. The visits of the State Department’s representatives indicate that. International partners became active, communications that have taken place, and the information we have means that the U.S. Administration still sees Georgia as a strategic and interesting partner in the region,” he said.

Kupradze believes that the Trump Route will not become fully functional without Georgia and Anaklia, since Anaklia Port is the natural and logical continuation of this system toward the West and the free world.

“Georgia must not lose the opportunity again. Anaklia Project should be declared as the number one national priority. This is not just another infrastructure project but the country’s strategic choice. U.S. and Transatlantic financial institutions should be given a leading role in the project to ensure that it is safe, transparent, and protected from political influence. Anaklia port should be assigned the status of a strategic facility of national significance.

There should be no place in this project for companies that are connected to the state interests of Russia or China. Most importantly, all decisions, all agreements should be public so that what we have already seen once is never repeated. Once again, following the Armenia-Azerbaijan agreement, a new transit reality is being created in the region. The Trump Route will be one of the main economic arteries of the 21st century, and this route must not bypass Georgia. This will be the crime before future generations.

Today, a window of opportunity has opened once again, and we will not let this chance be lost. The country needs Anaklia, the Georgian people need Anaklia, and Anaklia will definitely be constructed,” he concluded.