The Black Sea Port That Could Define Georgia's Geopolitical Future https://www-rferl-org.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.rferl.org/amp/georgia-anaklia-port-geopolitics-russia-chna-eu/32547539.html?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=%251%24s%20%E3%82%88%E3%82%8A&aoh=16920778866504&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rferl.org%2Fa%2Fgeorgia-anaklia-port-geopolitics-russia-chna-eu%2F32547539.html
> After Saakashvili lost power in 2012, the new government abandoned the bold plans for Anaklia,
> leaving behind a string of half-built structures and abandoned beachside hotels and restaurants.
> Since then, the town has toyed with transforming itself into a site for Black Sea partygoers by hosting music festivals and summer raves.
>But they have all since relocated -- leaving the western Georgian town behind.
> But now Anaklia may be donning a new identity, this time as an unlikely site for geopolitical intrigue
> that could place Georgia at the epicenter of a global competition for trade routes and infrastructure.
> This is because the government has revived an ambitious and controversial plan
> to build a deep-sea port at Anaklia amid amplified interest in international trade following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,
> where Western sanctions on Russia
> -- the pathway for the majority of transcontinental trade -- have left freight companies and governments eyeing new routes.