"USD 70 mln from Kazakh investors are planned to be channeled into our projects, including the Shovi Balneological Resort," Giorgi Jakhutashvili, the Honorary Consul of Kazakhstan in Georgia, said as early as last year.
In his words, the Shovi resort attracted Kazakh investors' interest as early as 2006; however, the 2008 Russia-Georgia war and its repercussions ruined the plans.
According to Mr. Jakhutashvili, they started carrying out joint efforts in 2016 to develop the Shovi resorts, which is one of the few in Georgia which has not yet been harnessed. The Georgian consul says that the resort development plan has already been formulated with the help of Ernst & Young Company.
"It is noteworthy that Kazakh investors own 60% of the resort, but we projected its 100% as a joint system and agreed on adopting recommendations beyond the resort. We analyzed Shovi mineral waters afterward and determined that Shovi can be developed as a balneological resort. Kazakh investors' benevolence is now paramount. The investors have already spent a million GEL on the inactive asset, which is not small money when it comes to nonmaterial assets. Against this backdrop, when Georgia's economy has been crippled by the pandemic, this is critical. Additionally, the resort is situated in one of the low-income regions, to which this project may prove immensely profitable. Plus, it may create employment here," the consul said, adding that construction works are set to start here in 2022, and the resort will gradually host visitors.
A deal on the establishment of the Kazakh-Georgian Cultural and Economic Association was signed between Georgia and Kazakhstan in the summer of 2020.
Around 30 companies have been set up in Georgia thanks to Kazakhs' investments in the amount of more than $ 450 mln. More than 3,500 people are employed in these companies today.
