EU allocates €100 mln to support Georgia amid pandemic
The sum is allocated under the macro-financial assistance (MFA) program. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The European Union has allocated €100 mln to support Georgia amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The EU continues to stand by Georgia in weathering the COVID-19 pandemic. We are proud to provide these funds, which will provide macro-economic stability to the country so that the government can focus on best supporting its citizens and companies.
This is part of the EU’s wider 1.5 billion GEL EU COVID-19 support package for Georgia. We also believe the agreed upon reforms linked to this exceptional assistance will contribute to further bring Georgia closer to European standards in the long term and have concrete benefits for Georgians in aspects like the judiciary, labour safety and pensions,” noted EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell.
The sum is allocated under the macro-financial assistance (MFA) program.
Components of this assistance include € 75 million from a new macro-financial assistance program announced in April 2020 aimed at mitigating the socio-economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, while another € 25 million is the last tranche from a previous macro-financial assistance program approved in April 2018. However, out of this sum, € 95 million is a soft loan while the remaining € 5 million is a grant.
The European Union and the World Health Organisation have sent 16,800 goggles and 10,000 medical gowns to Georgia to help in the fight against COVID-19.
The EU has launched a twinning project in Georgia, worth 1.3 million EUR, to strengthen the blood safety system in Georgia –providing support to public health policies and programmes, particularly in the field of communicable diseases and blood transfusion.
The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, has agreed on a memoranda of understanding on macro-financial assistance (MFA) programmes with eight partners, including Georgia.
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a COVID-19 support package for Georgia comprised of €150 million to help the country limit the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $2.5 million grant to support Georgia’s ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The European Union has mobilised 1.5 billion GEL to support Georgia during the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020. This is ‘one of the highest levels of EU assistance per capita to any country in the world and demonstrates the EU’s strong solidarity with Georgia at this time of unprecedented crisis’.
The EU has disbursed a €60 million grant as part of the EU’s €75 million Covid-19 Resilience Contract for Georgia to assist in the implementation of the government’s Anti-Crisis Economic Plan, announces the EU Delegation to 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.