Lelo’s Kupradze: Anaklia Port to be built; Lelo, our coalition, and Strong Georgia will remain its strongest supporters

“The Ivanishvili government is, in reality, doing absolutely nothing to advance the Anaklia port project. What it offered today was a fresh set of bewildering calculations, a conjurer’s trick with figures, dressed up in propaganda and falsehood, aimed at hoodwinking the Georgian public,” declared Irakli Kupradze, a member of Lelo–Strong Georgia, at a briefing.

In Kupradze’s view, this is nothing less than an exposure of Georgian Dream’s true colours: a party that has no desire to see the Anaklia port completed.

“The so-called Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze responded at the cabinet session to the statement made yesterday by Strong Georgia–Lelo. What he presented was an unqualified piece of financial sleight of hand, yet more lies and yet more attempts to mislead the public. The Ivanishvili government is, in reality, doing nothing whatsoever to develop the Anaklia port. In the 2026 budget, a document drawn up well in advance, they slashed funding for the Anaklia port project by 100 million lari back in November. Today, they offer us a new set of incomprehensible calculations, and through this juggling of figures, through propaganda and outright falsehood, they attempt to deceive the Georgian people. This serves as clear evidence of the Georgian Dream’s incompetence and exposes their true nature as a government that never intended to see the Anaklia project through to completion.

The Anaklia port was supposed to receive its first vessels in 2020. It is now 2026, and Irakli Kobakhidze lies, pretending his government is genuinely committed to the port’s construction. Just a few months ago, from a pre-approved budgetary document that is publicly available for all to see, they stripped 100 million lari from the Anaklia construction budget.

Yesterday, Strong Georgia–Lelo issued a statement outlining a clear and concrete plan for advancing the Anaklia project. The Anaklia Deep Sea Port project, much like the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline before it, is the single large-scale undertaking that is fully aligned with the strategic priorities declared by the United States and the Trump administration. If Georgia is to preserve genuine peace, Anaklia must become the country’s number-one strategic asset. American and transatlantic financial institutions must be given the leading role. The port must be declared a strategic facility. Russian and Chinese state interests must have no place in it. Every contract relating to Anaklia must be made public, so that the sorry episode of the bogus Arab investment is never repeated.

Following the Armenia–Azerbaijan agreement that brought the South Caucasus conflict to a close, a critically important international transit corridor has emerged, named the Trump Route. This route cannot bypass Georgia. We have one option and one option only: to ensure that this vital international transit route, passing through Armenia and Azerbaijan, connects to Georgia. The Anaklia port must be built necessarily, inevitably, and without delay.

Let us remind ourselves once more, and let the Georgian people be reminded, that Anaklia was supposed to welcome its first ships in 2020. It is now 2026, and the port remains abandoned and derelict. Georgian Dream and Ivanishvili have neither readiness, will, nor intention to build it. But Anaklia will be built. Lelo and our coalition, Strong Georgia, are and will remain the port’s principal and unwavering supporters,” declared Irakli Kupradze.