What changed
The World Bank Group approved USD 372 million for the TC-GATE project, whose total cost exceeds USD 750 million. The remaining financing is expected from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The programme is designed to improve the performance and resilience of Georgia's section of the Trans-Caspian route between Europe and Asia.
Key details
On rail, the project will finance new energy-efficient electric locomotives and reforms at Georgian Railway. The stated targets include raising locomotive availability to 95%, improving reliability for shippers, supporting a 20% increase in railway revenue and reducing net emissions by more than 2.3 million tonnes.
What it means for logistics
On roads, the plan covers two four-lane sections in Kakheti, the Gurjaani–Telavi connection, climate-resilient works, digital road-asset management and a National Highway Control Center. The World Bank expects the road works to shorten the Telavi–Poti journey by about 43 minutes and the wider project to benefit more than 900,000 people. These are project targets, so logistics companies should follow implementation milestones before changing route assumptions.
What to check in practice
- Check border queues and realistic alternate crossings before fixing the route.
- Add a time reserve to loading, transit and delivery windows.
- Update the customer when corridor capacity or infrastructure changes the estimate.
