Georgia-EU agree on €30 million grant

Georgia and the European Union (EU) have signed the €30 million grant agreement today that will support the governance reform implementation in the country.

With the goal of better serving Georgian citizens the Government of Georgia started implementation of the governance reform that aimed to improve the transparency and efficiency of the public administration.

The EU Ambassador to Georgia Janos Herman praised the quality of the dialogue between the Georgian Government and the EU during the entire preparation of the program that will help Georgia to complete the reform successfully.

This reflects a high spirit of partnership between us and also a high level of ownership by Georgia,” said Herman at today’s press conference that was held in Tbilisi after signing the grant agreement.

Public administration is indeed the backbone of the state. The good functioning of the public administration is crucial for ensuring the population’s trust in the state and in the institutions,” said Herman.

Janos Herman said the public administration reform represented 25 percent of current EU financial support to Georgia. Photo by the PM's press office. 

The EU envoy stated the public administration reform was important for Georgia for its democratic and economic development.

Georgia’s national reform strategy adopted in 2015 is based on the EU principles of public administration. The EU is proud to be a supporter of the Georgian Government’s efforts. Public administration reform is our common goal under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement,” said Herman.

In his words the public administration reform represented 25 percent of current EU financial support to Georgia.

The objective to moving forward the reform process shared between us led to the adoption of the €30 million program. The EU contribution will be financial to budget support but also technical to the mobilisation of the experts, to enforce administrative capacity and skills. Several ministries and institutions will also directly benefit from [the program],” Herman said.

Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili said the country implemented many successful reforms thanks to the EU support. Photo by the PM's press office. 

Meanwhile, Georgian PM thanked the country’s "European friends” for their efforts in the governance reform implementation process in Georgia.

Many successful reforms were made in Georgia thanks to the EU support. The EU is one of the biggest donors of Georgia that has been helping us to implement the democratic and institutional reforms. Since 2011 Georgia received over €450 million from the EU,” said Kvirikashvili.

The governance reform was part of the Georgian Government’s four-point reform agenda that aimed to develop the country’s economy.

The Georgian Government has been implementing the reform since 2014, which goal was to create transparent and efficient public administration system.