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Khazaradze and Japaridze Suffer Another Defeat in the Anaklia Port Dispute at Washington Arbitration

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Thursday, 31 July, 2025
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Khazaradze and Japaridze Suffer Another Defeat in the Anaklia Port Dispute at Washington Arbitration

Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze have once again lost a legal battle over the Anaklia Port project—this time at the Washington-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an arbitration institution affiliated with the World Bank.

The tribunal fully upheld the Georgian government’s position and ruled that the failure to realize the Anaklia Deep Sea Port project was entirely the responsibility of Khazaradze, Japaridze, and their partners. The ruling stated there was no evidence of interference by the Georgian government.

The ICSID tribunal accepted the legal arguments presented by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia and found that:

  • The responsibility for financing the project rested solely with the investor, who failed to secure the necessary funds for reasons of their own.
  • All commercial risks related to the project were borne exclusively by the investor.
  • The Georgian government acted lawfully in terminating the contract, as the investor repeatedly failed to meet extended deadlines for raising capital. It was proven that the state provided consistent support for the Anaklia project throughout the contract period.
  • The criminal proceedings against Khazaradze and Japaridze for alleged money laundering were not challenged in the arbitration process.
  • The state did not obstruct any efforts to attract foreign investment, including from a U.S.-based fund, for the Anaklia Development Consortium.

In this arbitration, Bob Meyer—a Dutch partner of Khazaradze and Japaridze—had demanded $64 million in damages. The tribunal not only rejected his claim but also ordered him to pay $6.5 million to the Georgian government.

This decision follows a similar outcome one year ago, when the Anaklia Development Consortium lost its case in Paris arbitration. In that instance, the consortium had sought $1.5 billion in damages from the Georgian state. The Paris tribunal fully dismissed their claims and instead ordered them to pay $650,000 to the government. The claimants did not appeal and subsequently paid the awarded sum—effectively acknowledging their failure in executing the Anaklia Port project.

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Minister of Justice of Georgia Meets with the President of the European Court of Human Rights

The Minister of Justice of Georgia, Paata Salia, met with the President of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Mattias Guyomar. During the meeting, the parties underscored that Georgia maintains effective and constructive cooperation with the Court at all stages of the proceedings.

The Minister highlighted the significant decrease in the number of applications lodged against Georgia before the ECHR, as well as the positive trends in the execution of the Court’s judgments.

Paata Salia emphasized the importance of the ECtHR’s decisions in the interstate cases brought by Georgia against the Russian Federation and expressed gratitude to President Guyomar for ensuring impartial and fair judicial proceedings.

The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Justice and Government Agent of Georgia before the ECHR, Beka Dzamashvili; the Permanent Representative of Georgia to the Council of Europe, Khatia Tsilosani; Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, Lado Chanturia; and the Court’s Deputy Registrar, Abel Campos.
11.12.2025
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The Grand Chamber of the Strasbourg Court Delivers a Judgement on the Cases of the June 20-21, 2019 Demonstrations

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in the case Tsaava and Others v. Georgia at a public hearing today, 11 December 2025. The case concerns the demonstrations of 20–21 June 2019 and the use of special means to disperse the protesters.

In its judgment, the Grand Chamber reaffirmed that the state has the legitimate right to resort to special means in situations involving attacks or assaults on law enforcement officers and state institutions. The Court also noted that the escalation of the June 20 events and the assault on the Parliament building were encouraged by opposition politicians.

The Court held that the use of force and special means should have been directed exclusively at demonstrators who engaged in violent actions. As the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the time failed to ensure adherence to this standard and did not guarantee the proportional use of force, the Court found a violation of Articles 3 (prohibition of ill-treatment), 10 (freedom of expression), and 11 (freedom of assembly) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Grand Chamber further noted that the Government of Georgia fully cooperated with the Court during the proceedings and provided all necessary information and materials. Consequently, the applicants’ complaint alleging a lack of cooperation was dismissed. The Court did not find it necessary to examine the complaint under Article 13 (right to an effective remedy).

Following the shortcomings identified in the Chamber’s judgment of 7 May 2024, the government initiated an investigation into the planning and execution of the MIA operation to determine its compliance with the standards established by the European Court.

As a result of this investigation, on 12 November 2025, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia initiated criminal proceedings against the former Minister of Internal Affairs, Giorgi Gakharia. The investigation is ongoing.
11.12.2025