Georgia’s East–West and North–South road projects: Counting the true costs of highway expansion
March 26, 2026
The East–West Highway and the North–South Corridor – two key road infrastructure projects supported by major multilateral development banks, have had devastating social, environmental and cultural impacts in Georgia.
Fallout and failures: EIB’s East–West Highway investments in Georgia amid authoritarian takeover
October 17, 2025
The EIB’s massive EUR 1 billion highway investment in Georgia has proved disastrous for impacted communities due to the country’s authoritarian turn and chronic project mismanagement.
Highway of injustice: How EIB-financed East–West road projects in Georgia impact local communities
October 13, 2025
In 2021, the European Investment Bank approved EUR 106.7 million in funding for two major highway projects in southern Georgia. Field research revealed significant social and environmental issues in the affected municipalities.
Bypass: the hidden social toll of Georgia’s East-West Highway on its towns and villages
May 5, 2025
Supported by international development banks and promoted as a strategic corridor linking Asia to Europe, Georgia’s East-West highway is central to the country’s ambitions of becoming a regional transit hub. With a price tag of EUR 1.2 billion, much of which is financed through loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Investment Bank (EIB), and the World Bank (WB), the highway construction project was framed as a symbol of progress, promising speed, connectivity and economic growth.
Georgia’s highway dilemmas and the Asian Development Bank
May 2, 2024
Despite the involvement of international partners, both the East–West Highway Improvement Project and the North–South Corridor Road Project have been marred by controversies.
The promise and perils of Georgia’s East–West Highway project
May 2, 2024
Georgia’s East-West Highway construction project, once heralded as a symbol of progress and splendour, has been marred by controversies.
The Georgian Road to Russia: when everything goes south
August 3, 2023
The North-South Corridor, widely promoted by international financial institutions, aims to facilitate the transport of goods as the ‘only land access to the Russian Federation’, as well as to Iran, Armenia and Azerbaijan, running through Georgia. Yet the project impacts the cultural heritage of picturesque landscapes in Georgia without answering the major question raised Georgian taxpayers – why should they pay for a new road to Russia, a country that does not have diplomatic relations with Georgia, has occupied Georgian territories, and presents one of the major obstacles to Georgia’s European future?
Paving over paradise
December 17, 2021
What were once iconic views of Georgia’s beautiful Khada Valley are slowly disappearing. Now, when you drive up the damaged road towards a narrow, 12-kilometre-long gorge, also known as the ‘valley of 60 towers’, the first thing you see is no longer the famous tower of Iukho village. Instead, a massive, white and blue metal construction site appears. Trucks, roaring and echoing through the mountains, drive back and forth near cultural heritage monuments to provide materials for the Kvesheti-Kobi road towards Russia.
