Georgia

Overview

HeidelbergCement’s activity in the Georgian cement market began in May 2006 following the acquisition of a 51% stake in the Georgian cement grinding plant Kartuli Cementi Ltd. This was HeidelbergCement’s first investment in the Caucasus region. Later, company share in Kartuli Cementi increased up to 67%. Kartuli Cementi operates a plant located in Rustavi, 50 km from the Georgian capital Tbilisi. In the meantime the plant has been extended and transformed into an integrated cement plant. The new plant with a cement capacity of 400,000 tonnes was commissioned in early 2008.

At the end of 2006 HeidelbergCement acquired a stake of 75% in SaqCementi, the largest cement producer in the Caucasus region. SaqCementi operates two cement plants (Kaspi and Rustavi) near the capital Tbilisi with a total capacity of 1.6 million tonnes of cement.
 
In 2008 HeidelbergCement started construction of a ready-mixed concrete plant near Tbilisi. The plant with a capacity of 80 cubic metres per hour was commissioned in March 2009.

The market

Georgia is a strategically well located country with a big potential for growth. It benefits from the transport of oil from neighbouring Azerbaijan and is also a transit country between the Black and the Caspian Sea. Therefore, further economic growth, large investments in infrastructural projects and a significant increase in cement consumption are expected. SaqCementi is the market leader in Georgia with a share of around 60% and, in addition, supplies Azerbaijan (market share of around 20%) and Kazakhstan. SaqCementi and Kartuli Cementi operate on the market under the common brand of HeidelbergCement Georgia.