| Project Detail |
Project Description
Provision of a sovereign loan to Georgia to co-finance the construction of the Tskere-Kobi tunnel (EBRD Project), which forms part of the Kvesheti-Kobi road section (the Project), located on the Jinvali-Larsi Road (North-South Corridor).
The central section of the corridor connecting Kvesheti to Kobi needs to be fully realigned. The existing 35-km road is unsafe, experiences heavy traffic, and is difficult to maintain in winter, resulting in road closure for extended periods during winter. A new 23-km bypass road from Kvesheti to Kobi will be built to allow more traffic to travel on it safely, and will remain fully operational all year; it will also provide 5km of all-weather rural roads that will serve roadside villages. The Project will include five tunnels with a total length of about 11.6 km (the longest of which is about 9 km), and six bridges with a total length of about 1.6 km.
Project Objectives
The project will improve the connectivity, access and safety on the North-South Corridor and will contribute to economic development. The project is the priority for the Government of Georgia and is part of a comprehensive road rehabilitation programme, which aims to transform Georgia into a transport, logistics and a trade hub connecting Europe and Asia, as well as providing better transit links in the Caucasus region, with emphasis on the countrys backbone for transit trade comprised of the East-West and North-South transport corridors.
Transition Impact
The project will support economic development, regional integration and will enhance the connectivity along the key transport corridors within Georgia and its neighbouring countries (connecting Armenia, Turkey, Georgia and the Russian Federation). It will contribute to operational continuity for freight and passenger flows. Given technical complexity of the works and infrastructure objects (tunnels and bridges), the project will also support the introduction of new technology (drones) for the project and the Georgian road sector generally which will be incorporated in construction and supervision activities, especially for hard to reach infrastructure objects such as tunnels, portals and bridge structures. |
