US Ambassador to Georgia, Robin Dunnigan, responded to the signing of a contract with a Chinese company for the Anaklia port project, stating that the majority of the company is owned by the Chinese Communist Party and that it is linked to the Chinese military.
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“The majority of the CCCC company that the government awarded a contract to (for the Anaklia project) is owned by the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Communist Party is the number one financier of the Russian military today,” US ambassador in an interview with Interpressnews.
Robin Dunnigan pointed out that there are also concerns regarding the quality and standards of the Chinese company. As she said, CCCC does not enjoy a favorable reputation globally.
“In 2009, the World Bank barred the bank from providing financing to infrastructure projects done by this company. Recently, the company built a port in Sri Lanka. There's a lot of controversy around this port. I don't know if you've read about it. But ultimately, the Chinese government was able to secure a 99 year lease on Sri Lankan soil and its ships, military ships, vessels can come in and out. So there's a lot of controversy about Sri Lanka giving up some of its sovereignty in a key critical infrastructure.
The United States Treasury has determined that this company is a company that is on a list of companies that have deep ties with the Communist Party's military. So there are a lot of concerns about Anaklia,
of course, it is a sovereign decision, but I'm just reiterating some of the concerns that are seen globally about this particular company”, said the Ambassador.
Due to the transfer of the Anaklia port project to the Chinese company, the government came under criticism from President Salome Zourabichvili. She stated, "Introducing the Chinese to this extent in Anaklia is like drawing a knife on our relations with American or European partners."
On May 30, the Minister of Economy of Georgia, Levan Davitashvili, announced that the Chinese consortium would become a private investor in the strategic Anaklia deep-water port project. The consortium includes China Communications Construction Company Limited (China) and China Harbor Investment (Singapore), with two subcontractors: China Road and Bridge Corporation and Qingdao Port International.
China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) is a Chinese state-owned company sanctioned by the United States of America. According to the website of the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which lists sanctions, CCCC is included in the list of Chinese military-industrial complex companies (NS-CMIC list). This list encompasses entities involved in military and surveillance technology at the direction of the People's Republic of China. The sanction list was initiated during the Trump administration and has been continued and expanded by the Biden administration. President Joe Biden's executive order on June 3, 2021, restricts investment in Chinese companies, including CCCC, based on allegations that these companies pose a threat to US national security due to their connections to China's military-industrial complex.
In September 2020, the US State Department alleged that CCCC was supporting China's military expansion in the South China Sea through extensive dredging, construction of artificial islands, and militarization. Additionally, the department noted that CCCC oversees China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, which promises new infrastructure to developing countries but has been criticized for substandard construction, violations of labor rights, "unsustainable debt," and environmental damage. In 2009, the World Bank sanctioned CCCC due to fraud and banned it from participating in projects financed by the World Bank for eight years.
The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia denies that the Chinese company is under sanctions. The ministry clarified that in 2020, the US Department of Commerce placed CCCC and some of its subsidiaries on the Entity List, which imposes restrictions on specific transactions rather than outright legalization.
When asked why other companies did not show interest in the Anaklia port project, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated that he did not have an answer. "If specific states had shown interest, it would not have been difficult for them to involve an investor in this project. Unfortunately, everything happened as it did," Kobakhidze told journalists. Additionally, the Prime Minister emphasized that the Chinese company winning the tender ensures that the Anaklia project will be executed at the highest standard.
The Anaklia port is slated to be constructed with state participation holding a 51% share, with the private investor holding 49%.
