A new £345million road is being built by China. When completed, it will link Russia and one of its former Soviet republics. The road will pass through Georgia along a trade route between Russia and Armenia.
The new Georgian stretch of the road is named after the villages which lie at either end of it – the Kvesheti-Kobi road. It includes six bridges, five tunnels and stretches for just over five and a half miles (9km) through Georgia’s picturesque Khada Valley. Its total budget is 1.24billion Georgian lari, which is £344,674,244 at the current exchange rate. Construction is backed by the Asian Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Those behind the new road hope it will help keep an important trade corridor open, with an existing route sometimes totally impassable in winter because of snow and avalanches.
The new road will act as a bypass around the worst affected area, according to The B1M, with half of the route built underground.
Chinese firm, China Railway Tunnel Group, has said the 4,000 tonne tunnel boring machine (TBM) used in the build has the largest diameter, at 15 metres.
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One of the route’s bridges spans a wide stretch of valley, with a crossing measuring 432 metres to be built 51 metres above ground level.
Kvesheti-Kobi road will form part of China’s Belt and Road scheme, which seeks to connect Asia, Africa and Europe.
Georgia is one gateway country into Europe from Asia, hence China’s focus on improving its infrastructure.
While its backers hail the road’s benefits, some Georgians are unsure about strengthening links to Russia, which occupies roughly 20% of Georgia. Russia’s war against Ukraine has also led some Georgians to fear construction of an easier route from Russia to Georgia.
Manana Kochladze, head of human rights and democratisation at Bankwatch, told the infrastructure website The B1M: “The Caucasus Mountains is like a natural border with Russia and for Georgia, which has been living for more than 200 years under the threat of the Russians’ military exercises. It’s really problematic psychologically.”
Bankwatch warned in 2023 that the project will impact cultural heritage along the route and fails to answer “the major question” raised Georgian taxpayers over why they should pay for a new road to Russia, a country which doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Georgia, has occupied its territories and presents a major obstacle to Georgia’s future in Europe.