The President of Georgia opened the renovated Rikoti tunnel today. The Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure provided him with the detailed information regarding the work completed in the tunnel. The President also spoke with the construction workers. As he noted, building tunnels is important, especially in the mountainous regions. That is why they are being built around the entire country stage by stage.

“For me personally, before the Rose Revolution, the Rikoti Tunnel was the symbol of the economic and infrastructural lagging of Georgia. This tunnel was renovated very well, but we are continuing to build other tunnels. Two tunnels are being built in Ruisi. We will complete the preparatory works before the end of next year and we will begin building a large tunnel from Mleta to Stepantsminda, which will shorten the road from Tbilisi to Lars. We are also working on a project to build a tunnel from Lentekhi to Svaneti. It is also possible to build a tunnel in the direction of Racha. In short, we are gaining a lot of experience, with the help of our foreign specialists, and our road and tunnel construction workers should be able to use this knowledge to construct similar projects in other countries in the future. We are building tunnels that are unifying Georgia, but back in the day, Russia built a tunnel that divided Georgia. This is the Roki tunnel. Roads are an economic motivator for people and one of the best ways to overcome the scattered, dismemberment and feudal mentality.” – stated Mikheil Saakashvili.

The President assessed the completed work after personally walking through the 750 meter tunnel.

“We should understand that considering the tunnel’s infrastructure, it is harder to renovate it than build a new one. During communist times they tried to renovate this tunnel many times but they couldn’t. This is a real achievement, because we have renovated this tunnel very effectively in a relatively short period of time. However, there is still a lot to build.” – he noted.

The rehabilitation of the tunnel began in July 2010. The road inside the tunnel was paved with concrete and asphalt; the hydro system was completely replaced, as well as the sewage and lighting systems that comply with international standards. It will be possible to control the tunnel for 24 hours through video cameras that have been installed. The movement and safety systems are completely in compliance with European Standards.