Georgian MP labels Khazaradze and Japaridze "frauds" following Anaklia Port arbitration case

Levan Makhashvili, Chairman of the Georgian Parliament’s European Integration Committee, has sharply criticized opposition leaders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, calling them "frauds, not politicians who care about the public," following their latest 'legal defeat' over the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project.

"Anyone who cares about the truth must put an end to the years of manipulation and lies we’ve seen from Khazaradze, Japaridze, and their partners," Makhashvili said in a media statement. "These individuals — along with their financiers, political team, and lobbyists — have failed the Georgian state and society. This ruling is further proof that they are frauds, not leaders concerned with the public good."

His remarks come after Georgia’s Ministry of Justice announced that the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a Washington-based World Bank-affiliated arbitration tribunal, had ruled in favor of the Georgian government in a case related to the terminated Anaklia Port project. The tribunal rejected a $64 million compensation claim by Dutch investor Bob Meijer and instead ordered him to pay $6.5 million to the Georgian government.

Although the case was formally between Meijer and the state, Georgian authorities and ruling party figures have framed the result as a political and legal blow to Khazaradze and Japaridze — the founders of the Anaklia Development Consortium (ADC) and the opposition Lelo party. The Justice Ministry said the ruling confirmed that the consortium failed to meet its contractual obligations and bore full responsibility for the collapse of the strategic infrastructure project.

The Lelo party dismissed the ruling as being wrongly politicized. "This was a dispute between investor Bob Meijer and the state. Linking it to our party leaders is pure disinformation,” the party said, insisting the project was sabotaged under Russian influence and has seen no real progress since.

Khazaradze and Japaridze are currently imprisoned after refusing to cooperate with a ruling-party-led parliamentary inquiry. They were previously investigated for alleged money laundering tied to TBC Bank, which they co-founded.

The Anaklia Port project — seen as critical for Georgia’s strategic connectivity between Europe and Asia — has been stalled since 2020. Although a Chinese-Singaporean consortium was announced as a new developer in 2024, concerns remain about the consortium’s credibility, with some of its companies previously blacklisted by the US and World Bank.