Trump Pulls Out of $250 Million Tower Plan in Black Sea Resort
- Georgian developer Silk Road to go ahead without U.S. partner
- President-elect seeks to defuse global conflicts-of-interest
Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili, left, and Donald Trump shake hands during a press conference, on March 10, 2011.
Photographer: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty ImagesDonald Trump’s company pulled out of a proposed $250-million tower project in the Georgian Black Sea resort town of Batumi, the latest effort by the U.S. president-elect to defuse charges that his global businesses will cause conflicts of interest once he enters the White House.
The Trump Organization and its local partner in Georgia, the Silk Road Group, said in a joint e-mailed statement that they’ve decided “to formally end the development of Trump Tower, Batumi.” The project, a 47-story residential condominium, was announced in 2012 by Trump and then-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. Silk Road said it will go ahead on its own with a luxury tower in the town, once dubbed the Monte Carlo of the Caucasus by Trump.