Regarding the current situation on the Rikoti pass road, the chairman of the Roads Department Giorgi Tsereteli and his deputy Levan Kupatashvili held a briefing. They also answered the questions posed by journalists and talked about the geological studies conducted at the Ricoti pass, the quality of construction and the terms of the construction process.

"When the construction of the Rikoti pass road was decided, approximately 170 wells were prepared for geological research directly on the first section of Rikoti, before the design decisions were made. Only after that, the relevant design decision was prepared and the project was planned and made" - noted Giorgi Tsereteli.

According to him, the first section of the Rikoti pass road, adjacent to which the landslide process is developed, was prepared by the American-Turkish consortium, one of the best in the world.

  "These are processes developed away from the road. However, when we carry out works, of course, we also observe the surrounding areas. As a result of the melting of the snow, new cracks were revealed, which became risky, and therefore we involved additional, including international specialists. In order to restore traffic on this section, we need the results of the initial studies, which we will have by the end of the week," said Levan Kupatashvili, the deputy chairman of the Roads Department.

Giorgi Tsereteli also spoke about the quality and deadlines of the construction works of the Rikoti project. According to him, the project is being built and supervised by experienced international companies, and work is actively being carried out on all four sections of the Rikoti project.

"Rikoti is geographically and topographically the most difficult section for construction. All the construction companies of the mentioned section are selected in strict compliance with the international tender procedures and these procedures are observed by the relevant donor organizations. All companies that carry out construction works have the relevant experience that implements similar projects in many countries. As for the supervision of the quality of the works, this is also checked by the international supervision company selected by the relevant tender procedures. These are Korean, French, Turkish, Italian companies that have specialists with appropriate qualifications and have a lot of experience."

Giorgi Tsereteli also noted that the construction works on other sections of the Rikoti pass road continue as usual and the ongoing studies on the 149th km will not interfere with the work process of the entire project and its completion dates.