“The main portion of the Rustavi-Batumi highway, with the exception of Rikoti and a few small parts of the highway will be completed by the end of 2013. This road is 2 kilometers away from the Kutaisi airport. Construction of the Kutaisi Airport will begin in September and it will serve budgetc flights from Europe to Asia. This will help us lighten up traffic at the Tbilisi airport. At the same time, the travelers will have a chance to drive to the Kutaisi airport in less than 2 hours by way of an autobahn, where they will have a chance to fly three times more cheaply. Accordingly, the Tbilisi airport will have to make its flights more cost effective. We will have a very important airport in Kutaisi. The fact that the autobahn will be close to Parliament and will also pass by Tskaltubo, where we are beginning a large scale rehabilitation in August, is very important” – stated the President of Georgia.

The Kutaisi portion of the high speed autobahn consists of 17 kilometers and it is part of the 58 kilometer Imereti portion. The detour road will lighten up the transit movement in Kutaisi and connect Zestaponi and Samtredia to each other via Kutaisi. A completely new two-lane highway will be built as well as 6 bridges (one of which will be a railway bridge), 4 transport hubs, and infrastructural works will be administered.

The construction of the Kutaisi detour road will be financed by the governments of Georgia and Japan and the work will be coordinated by the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure. Up to 1,500 persons will be employed within the scope of the project.