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GEORGIA. Georgia Revenue Service is to call a tender for a new duty free operation on the Georgia-Turkey border, at Kartsakhi. And as other border crossings are opened or renovated in this busy area of the Caucasus, further duty free opportunities will arise, it said.
The 304sq m Kartsakhi store will be offered via e-auction early in February. It is located at a new border crossing in the country, one of a number set to open in 2015 and 2016. These have been prompted by a ten- to 15-fold increase in travel numbers through the borders in the past decade. The busiest of these crossings, at Sarphi, also lies on the border with Turkey and handles around 7.7 million travellers per year. The Sarphi border houses two duty free stores on the Georgia side, with another on the Turkish frontier at Vale.
Georgia Revenue Service said: “Due to [Sarphi’s] recreational and touristic importance it cannot handle the increasing number of commercial transports crossing the border and as a result during the summer there are long queues of trucks with commercial cargo. Thus, the BCP (border crossing point) at Kartsakhi has all prerequisites to become the major BCP for land cargo transportation between the two countries. In addition to that, from January 2016, there will be a new railway BCP at Kartsakhi from the other side of the lake, which will be the main connection corridor of Baku-Tbilisi-Kharsi. This will mark the end of the modernisation era of old Silk Road in the very heart of the Caucasus.”
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How the new duty free border crossing and store at the Georgia-Turkey crossing will look, courtesy of Georgia Revenue Service |
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The agency noted that Georgia’s position connecting Europe with Central Asia makes it a vital hub for transport, as well as for visitors. It added: “The beautiful nature along with high trade importance will make this place one of the most beautiful touristic attractions, where old Asian style villages are in harmonic synthesis with the beautiful landmark mountains and lakes.
“Thus, the country offers a great environment for different business operators to invest in and provide a variety of services to the millions of passengers and the tourists that will pass Kartsakhi every year.”
Other opportunities for duty free licences will soon arise at the Ninotsminda and Lagodekhi crossings, which will soon reopen after renovation.
The agency also noted: “Georgia Revenue Service ensures that the business operators, including those operating the duty free shops, will have a business friendly environment, support and easy communication, so they get the greatest benefit of the reforms implemented in Georgia during the last decade.”
Georgia Revenue Service is announcing its latest e-auctions for duty free activities at BCP Kartsakhi at this web address: www.eauction.ge/.
For more information, statistical data about passengers in 2014, pictures and plans of the duty free shop area and the crossing, plus related documents, visit the official web site of the Georgia Revenue Service.
For any other additional information, please contact David Chitaishvili, Adviser of the Department for International Relations, Georgia Revenue Service (Tel: +995 577 05 43 41, +995 32 226 26 39, e-mail: d.chitaishvili@rs.ge).
