EU and Georgia sign for €129 million COVID-19 recovery agreements
"We will continue to do everything we can to alleviate the effects of the pandemic on the lives of the people and businesses,” Várhelyi said. Photo: Press office of Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi.
Tweet 
Share
European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi and Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Gakharia, have signed two agreements worth €129 million today in Brussels to assist Georgia in coping with the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on the country's economy.
“The European Union is standing by Georgia in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to do everything we can to alleviate the effects of the pandemic on the lives of the people and businesses,” Várhelyi said.
The two financing agreements signed today as part of the EU's Covid-19 support package for Georgia, will reinforce support in key programmes:
'COVID-19 Resilience Contract for Georgia'
Through a €75 million grant, the EU will support the country's Anti-Crisis Economic Plan, designed to help citizens of Georgia recover from the impact of the pandemic. Measures include social assistance for vulnerable households and support to businesses who have retained jobs in difficult times. The grant will also help to increase the number of beds in intensive care units to prepare for a potential increase in infections.
'EU4 Integrated Territorial Development'
The EU will support this plan with €54 million in grants targeting the economic development of regions outside the capital. In order for all citizens of Georgia to benefit from economic development, the programme will focus on local authorities and concrete actions for citizens, such as rehabilitating or constructing infrastructure in urban zones, encouraging tourism development, and supporting small and medium sized companies and innovation.
The programme also includes measures to support decentralisation and involving citizens in the decision-making process at the local level.
The two agreements are part of the EU's response to COVID-19 under the 'Team Europe' initiative. The total package today is at €36.5 billion.
EU support mobilised for Georgia since the beginning of the crisis includes a variety of actions designed to help Georgian citizens cope with and recover from the impact of the pandemic.
Support measures include medical supplies, social support to vulnerable groups, loans and grants to businesses and farmers throughout the country, and direct financial support to the state budget.
PM Gakharia departed yesterday to Brussels, Belgium accompanied by Georgian FM David Zalkaliani to meet with EU and NATO leadership and to further discuss Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
"These are very difficult times not only for the EU, but for our partner countries as well. We are doing all we can to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on human lives and livelihoods. We are responding both to the immediate needs of the health systems, as well as longer term needs to the most vulnerable groups in society and small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the backbone of the economies in the six countries,” Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell says that when the coronavirus is ‘turning the world upside down’ he ‘cannot think of a better place to be right now than here in Georgia.’Hartzell states that there are no easy answers regarding COVID-19 and that the EU is suffering much from the virus.“Just look at the pictures coming out of Spain and Italy these days. In this context I would like to congratulate the Georgian government and the Georgian politicians for doing what all evidence suggest is the right approach – to act early and to act robustly,” Hartzell said.
The EU has announced three new projects to help victims of domestic violence, IDPs, and persons with disabilities across Georgia cope with the Covid-19 crisis, the EU representation in Georgia stated earlier today.
The EU will allocate 183 million euros for Georgia in the fight against the coronavirus, Director for the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood Lawrence Meredith has tweeted.
Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia held a number of meetings at European Union headquarters in Brussels, Belgium today, with the upcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia, Georgia’s aspiration for EU membership and further relations with European Union were high on the agenda.
The European Union (EU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will launch a $3 million (about €2.5 million) programme to promote and defend human rights in Georgia.
As the coronavirus pandemic pushes education, healthcare and other public services online and puts huge amounts of personal data in the digital domain, the protection of citizens’ privacy has become an important issue in Georgia.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has announced that the government has decided not to take the second tranche of an EU loan as 'we are trying to reduce foreign debt'. In 2020 the EU disbursed a €60 million grant as part of its €75 million Covid-19 Resilience Contract for Georgia to assist in the implementation of the government’s Anti-Crisis Economic Plan.