Black Sea Trump Tower seen as boon to investment in Georgia

The 47-storey Trump Tower in Batumi is to be built by the Silk Road Group under a licensing agreement signed in New York last year.

Mr Saakashvili said during a presentation in Batumi that the Georgian conglomerate expected to have the necessary funding by the end of this year, with construction expected to start in early 2013.

Economy minister Vera Kobalia said the project would encourage more foreign investment.

Mr Saakashvili oversaw steady economic growth after becoming president in 2004, but the economy was hit in recent years by the global downturn and repercussions from the 2008 war with Russia.

Mr Trump arrived in Aberdeen yesterday ahead of his bid to convince Scottish ministers to axe an “insane” bid to build a wind farm near his luxury golf resort.

He will appear before the Scottish Parliament’s Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee on Wednesday to voice his opposition to the Scottish government’s increasing reliance on wind farms to power the country and meet its renewables targets.