Arab royals profit from U.S. power project

Promoting the development of the Poti Free Industrial Zone, or Poti FIZ, on the Black Sea coast is a driving force behind the Georgia Improved Transmission, or GIPT, project, according to several procurement documents that WND found during routine database research.

The U.S. Agency for International Development claims that developing Georgia’s energy sector has strategic importance, as it will enable the struggling country to emerge “as a strong democratic nation with a vibrant economy.” Past civil wars, combined with Russian incursions to put down separatist groups in and around the port of Poti, destroyed much of that energy infrastructure, it said.

However, the agency is not advertising the fact that one of the United Arab Emirates monarchies manages the zone. Indeed, Poti FIZ is an investment project of the Ras al-Khaimah Investment Authority, also known as RAKIA.

Ras al-Khaimah is one of seven emirates comprising the Persian Gulf nation of the UAE, a U.S. ally. Each is ruled by a hereditary “absolute monarchical” emir.