The National Bank of Georgia returned the land area of 8,779 square m, locating on the right bank of the Mtkvari, between the circus and the restaurant Aragvi, to its previous owner, City Center Ltd. Accordingly, the new head office of the NBG with a budget of 50 million GEL will no longer be built on the site.
As National Bank of Georgia explained BMG, project fail was due the decision made by the Tbilisi City Hall in early 2020, by which the municipal government refused to approve the project development regulation plan.
According to the purchase agreement signed between the National Bank and City Center Ltd on July 26, 2019, if the NBG could not obtain the relevant permit issued by the authorized body no later than 7 months after the signing of the contract, the property would be returned to the seller at his own expense.
The National Bank announced a tender for Project Procurement and Design late in 2019. Five companies participated in the competition and GLMV Architecture won the tender. On November 28, 2019, the National Bank signed a contract with the company worth GEL 2,537,000. According to the architectural project, the interior area of the building was to be 17,000 square meters. The total cost of the project development, including construction and equipment works, was estimated at GEL 50 million.
However, former PM Giorgi Gakharia criticized the project on 10 October 2019 and declared that “no such resources” should be spent on the construction of the new head office of the National Bank. He noted that it was possible to build a building at a cheaper price.
"The National Bank is an independent body, not a penny goes out of the budget. Nevertheless, I will tell you that such a large amount of resources should not be spent on the construction of head office, even the National Bank is the controlling body. I think it is possible to construct such a building at a cheaper price”, Gakahria declared.
