Highland settlements to receive $318mln infrastructure, social support projects from Gov’t

The Georgian Government will implement infrastructural and social support projects worth ₾968.5 million ($318mln/€294mln) in highland settlements of the country over the next three years, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced on Tuesday.

The announcement was made following a meeting of the National Council for Mountain Development, where the 2021-2023 Action Plan for the Development of Highland Settlements was discussed. The new plans mark a 29 percent increase in funding compared to the previous support.

As part of the initiative, ₾5 million ($1.6mln/€1.5mln) will be allocated to the implementation of agricultural projects in the settlements this year, including an agricultural insurance project and a programme benefiting processing and storage enterprises, the Government Administration said.

The Georgian Infrastructure and Agriculture ministers presented a report on the implementation of projects and programmes funded by the Highland Settlements Development Fund for 2021, with up to ₾3 million ($985,180/€912,780) spent during the past year from the fund for agricultural development projects in highland settlements.

This included financing the establishment of processing enterprises, agricultural cooperatives, and cultivation of new orchards.

Irakli Karseladze, the Infrastructure Minister, said ₾20 million ($6.5mln/€6mln) was allocated for infrastructure and agricultural projects in 2022 for the settlements.

He also noted ₾402 million ($138mln/€128mln) had been spent on various types of social assistance in the settlements over last six years, including pension and salary supplements, allowances and the state co-financing of 50 percent of bills for consumed energy for locals.

A total of 1,801 locations have been granted the status of highland settlements in Georgia, amounting to about 49 percent of the total settlements of the country. About 262,000 people have the status of living in a highland settlement, with 497 Enterprises registered as of April 2022. 

About ₾1.16 billion ($380mln/€353mln) has been allocated by the Government in support of highland settlements in the last six years, the Administration said.