World Bank Approves $372 Million Loan for Georgia's Middle Corridor Rail and Road Upgrades
By Messenger Staff
Thursday, June 4, 2026
The World Bank Group's Board of Executive Directors approved a USD 372 million loan for Georgia on June 2 as part of a broader USD 751 million package from international financial institutions to modernize rail and road infrastructure along the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, also known as the Middle Corridor.
The financing is part of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor - Georgia Accessibility and Transport Enhancement (TC-GATE) Project. Alongside the World Bank contribution, Georgia is seeking USD 182 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and USD 175 million from the Asian Development Bank. The project is expected to benefit over 900,000 people and generate jobs across logistics, transport, agribusiness, and related services.
The project has two main components. On the rail side, it will finance new energy-efficient electric locomotives to replace an aging fleet and strengthen Georgian Railway's operational efficiency, financial sustainability, and governance. The upgrades are expected to increase locomotive availability to 95%, improve service reliability, boost revenues by 20%, and reduce net emissions by more than 2.3 million tons.
On the road side, the project will fund the construction of two four-lane road sections on the Badiauri-Chalaubani-Bakurtsikhe corridor in Kakheti, as well as a new road connecting Gurjaani and Telavi. The works are expected to cut travel time between Telavi and Poti Sea Port by about 43 minutes and will be built to climate-resilient standards incorporating flood and landslide mitigation measures. The project will also support institutional reforms including digitization of road asset management and the establishment of a National Highway Control Center, and will fund studies on private sector participation in road management. It will additionally support women entrepreneurs in Kakheti.
"These investments will help Georgia realize its full potential as a critical regional transit hub bridging Europe and Asia, while responding to growing demand along the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor," said World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus Rolande Pryce.
Georgian Dream Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili said the investments were "not only important for our country's economic development and for the creation of new opportunities for our citizens, but also for supporting growing international trade flows and more diversified, secure supply chains."
The Middle Corridor, a multi-modal transit route connecting Europe and Asia through the South Caucasus that bypasses Russia, has drawn growing international interest since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The loan follows a series of recently completed and announced modernization projects on Georgia's main railway corridors, as well as the recent full launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.
