What is hindering the transit potential of the Middle Corridor

2026-06-30

F.S. Mackenzie’s Georgia representative office director, Mikheil Babunashvili, in an interview with “Business Course”, notes that the efficiency of the Middle Corridor is hampered by the limited throughput capacity of ports, the lack of wagons, and non-harmonized customs systems between countries.

"From year to year, we try to somehow catch up with the demand, but we are still behind. This is due to several factors. The first, of course, is our ports. The largest part of container cargo enters the Poti port, which is actually working at the limit. Therefore, the Anaklia project that has been launched is very important and hopefully will be completed soon. The same goes for the railway, some steps are being taken to develop the infrastructure, but this is absolutely not enough, the same is true for warehouses - there are constructions, but everything is still at the current stage and more support is needed. In terms of documentation, I would say that this is one big problem in the "middle corridor", including on the railway - in the 21st century, communication is carried out according to the principles of the 20th century - we want to change something in the document and this change is made through telegrams. In other words, in reality, communication, corrections, or the transfer of documents should be faster than transportation, and sometimes it happens that "It happens more slowly than shipping through the "middle corridor." And finally, every country has its own regulations. Accordingly, cargo enters one country and falls under one regulation, one law, then moves to another country and there it encounters a different system. It is similar in some ways, but it is still very different. This regulation should be unified, harmonized in order to facilitate traffic. There is such a great demand now, but the biggest question is what will happen in the future and what role will we play in this cargo turnover," Mikheil Babunashvili of "Business Course" says.

Despite the challenges, the company maintains optimistic expectations. Mikheil Babunashvili believes that Georgia has a chance to establish its own niche precisely through the speed of transportation, because the "middle corridor" is the shortest geographical route between Asia and Europe.

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