The President of Georgia visited Poti Cathedral today, where he signed a decree based on which 700,000 GEL will be allocated from the Presidential Foundation in order to rehabilitate the Cathedral. Mikheil Saakashvili also addressed the people gathered at the Cathedral and noted that the year of 2012 will be special for Potians – the projects that have already begun will be finished and new ones will be implemented.

“We started the restoration of this church with the Patriarch and the Bishop several years ago. Of course, these works have to accelerate. Additionally, I would like to tell Potians that the year of 2012 will be special for them. We are beginning to build and open several factories in Poti this year, which is very important. The work to expand the Poti Seaport will begin this year. We should understand that this is only one line of development. Developing Anaklia helps Poti a great deal. Beginning to build Lazika strengthens Poti. Beginning to build an airport (as you know it has already started and I hope it will end in 2012) here will give Poti a special meaning. As you know, we are extending the main highway to Poti and we are building a fast railway, which will transport us here from Tbilisi two times faster. All of this serves one purpose, for Poti to become an important center and life to become more comfortable here. I personally asked the Bishop to gather us here. The New Year is coming and it is time to give out gifts. My present maybe general, but it is very specific for this church. I am signing a decree today, which will allocate 700,000 GEL from the Presidential Foundation in order to accelerate the rehabilitation process and for gold-plating the dome of the Cathedral. This church, with its brilliance, will be a symbol and a crown of everything that is currently being built in Poti, including the theatre”– stated Mikheil Saakashvili.

The original appearance of the façade of the church named after the birth of Holy Mary is already restored, but the interior work is still going on. The rehabilitation of the Poti Cathedral will end in the summer of 2012.

The Poti Cathedral was built in 1906 and transferred to the possession of the Poti Theatre by a decision of the Soviet Government in 1936. After the Rose Revolution, the building was returned to its legal owner, the Patriarchate of Georgia by the initiative of Mikheil Saakashvili.