A unit of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has acquired a new         concession to develop and operate a container terminal and a ferry and dry bulk handling   facility in the Port of Batumi in Georgia.  
  ICTSI Georgia Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICTSI’s ICTSI Ltd., obtained the concession from Batumi Port Holdings Ltd. (BPHL).  BPHL has the exclusive management right over the state-owned shares in Batumi Sea Port Limited.  ICTSI Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICTSI, which oversees ICTSI’s foreign operations.  ICTSI Georgia Corp. then organized Bantumi International Container Termnal LLC (BICTL) to operate the concession.  A single purpose holding company, BICTL will also be the exclusive container terminal operator in the Port of Bantumi.
Pursuant to the concession, Batumi Sea Port Limited granted a 48 year lease with operating agreement to BICTL to cover a total area of 13.6 hectares in the Port of Batumi consisting of Berths 4 and 5 for a container terminal, and Berth 6 as a ferry terminal and for dry bulk general cargo. The length of berths 4-5 is 284 meters, with a depth of 11 meters. Berth 6 is 180 meters long with a depth of 8 meters.  
BICTL will pay an annual rent of US$0.60 per square meter for the first 18 months, increasing to US$5.50 per square meters thereafter. 
Investment requirements will include the refurbishment of Berths 4 and 5 to allow the installation of quay cranes.  Currently, there are no containers being handled in Berths 4 and 5.  The ferry terminal handles 52 ferry calls per annum.  The dry bulk handling facility handles 100 tons of general cargo per annum.
The Port of Batumi is considered one of the main transportation trade points in the Black Sea basin.