In just the last seven months, we opened 86 km of highway, equivalent to the total length of roads built before 2012, said the Prime Minister of Georgia at the opening of another section of the Rikoti Highway.

“I want to congratulate you on the opening of this 12-kilometer section. With this addition, we now have a total of 48 kilometres of four-lane highway completed, with only 4 kilometres remaining in this historic Rikoti project.

The road construction pace has increased several times over the past 12 years.

Today is a significant day – we were in Anaklia, where construction of the Deep Sea Port has begun, then in Kulevi, where a large-scale oil refinery is being built, and now we’re opening this crucial highway section. This development demonstrates that our country is moving forward, and it’s our duty to continue doing everything for our nation’s progress.

Traffic will now use both the historically rehabilitated Rikoti tunnel and a newly constructed parallel tunnel, each nearly 2 km long – the longest tunnel on the Rikoti section. Currently, we’re utilizing a total of 49 tunnels and 88 bridges on the Rikoti section. These numbers demonstrate the scale of work completed in such a short period.

The road construction has increased several-fold over the past 12 years. While previously there were only 68 km of highway in the entire country, approximately 300 km have been added since then.

Rikoti is part of the European strategic road route – the East-West Highway Corridor. Each newly opened section significantly improves mobility and reduces travel time and distance. This qualitatively new road through Rikoti’s challenging terrain, built to modern standards, already reduces travel distance by 8 kilometres and halves travel time, increasing capacity and transit cargo turnover. Building a four-lane highway on the challenging mountainous terrain of Likhi Ridge, which involved massive engineering challenges, has always been recognized as a critical and complex project. Therefore, we rightfully refer to it as the project of the century, unparalleled in Georgia.

Along with Rikoti, all ongoing highway sections will be completed in phases, making it possible to travel from Tbilisi to Batumi in just 3 hours by next year. Georgia’s international road corridors continue to develop actively, with 367 km of highway now operational across the country. In just the last seven months, we opened 86 km of highway – equivalent to the total length of roads built before 2012”, - said Irakli Kobakhidze.