Mariam Kvrivishvili: 10-year transport strategy aims to double port and railway capacity by 2036

“We have formulated a 10-year master plan for national transport infrastructure development, integrating all major transport and logistics sectors to double railway and seaport throughput capacities by 2036,” Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Mariam Kvrivishvili announced during her opening address at the Georgia International Maritime Forum (GIMF 2026) in Batumi.

According to the Minister, the Georgian government is already delivering major capital projects under this strategic framework to streamline infrastructure efficiency across both rail and maritime logistics networks.

“The railway modernisation project was completed last year, a large-scale overhaul of rolling stock has commenced, and significant progress has been made toward halving cross-country transit times. Furthermore, border clearance times have been reduced roughly seven-and-a-half-fold. At the same time, the rollout of the Maritime Single Window system has cut vessel processing times in ports from 24 hours down to just one hour,” the Minister stated.

Kvrivishvili noted that these infrastructure optimisation efforts are already yielding concrete, record-breaking operational metrics.

“Preliminary figures show that during the first eight months of 2026, Georgian sea ports and terminals handled 13.7 million tonnes of cargo—a 24 per cent increase compared to the corresponding period last year. This represents a record high for the past decade, with growth recorded across all major freight categories. Georgian Railway similarly posted record results, with freight turnover expanding by 11 per cent,” the Minister highlighted.

Regarding air cargo operations, the Minister added that air freight volume growth reached 30 per cent over the same period.