TBILISI, October 3 – Chinese state-owned companies have won contracts to build many of Georgia’s biggest road projects, but a debate is brewing about fair competition and the future of the country’s own building industry.
According to Georgia’s BPN, six of the ten largest road contractors operating in 2024 were Chinese. That dominance has raised concerns among local firms, who say they cannot compete with the prices and scale that Chinese state-backed enterprises bring to the table.
Paata Trapidze, founder of Caucasus Road Project, said Georgian companies simply cannot match the bids offered by Chinese rivals. “At the prices they come in with, no Georgian company can do the project,” he told local media, adding that Chinese road-builders are all state-owned and ultimately act on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. Trapidze has long called for a national conference to define clear policy between state clients and contractors.
Georgia has seen billion-lari road tenders in recent years, with single projects worth hundreds of millions. Local firms lack both the balance sheets and the large-scale experience needed to enter such competitions, the analyst admits. A previous attempt by Georgian contractors to form a consortium failed after government support fell short.
Still, he argues, having homegrown capacity is vital in a mountainous country prone to landslides, since local companies in his view may be more engaged with the community when disaster strikes.
