Over $2 bln to be spent on infrastructure projects in 2023, says Georgian PM

Over ₾6 billion ($2.30bln) will be spent on infrastructure projects this year, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told the country’s Parliament on Friday. 

Garibashvili said the money would be spent on developing municipal and road infrastructure, improving water supply, constructing highways, creating educational and tourism infrastructure, developing agriculture and supporting small and medium-sized businesses. 

The PM also highlighted progress made in creating a “proper” road infrastructure, saying a total of 234 km of highways had been built, 424 bridges constructed or renovated, and 13,600 km of roads upgraded. 

Providing round-the-clock water supply to more remote locations remained a challenge in the country, the PM acknowledged, adding he had pledged to ensure the access to all locations by 2025.

He also said the Government was launching a $382mln infrastructure renovation programme in 11 locations to renovate venues and monuments in cities and towns of Borjomi, Bakuriani, Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Telavi, Zugdidi, Batumi, Mtskheta, Stepantsminda, Mestia and Kazbegi.

A similar programme for urban development was launched two years ago, he also noted, covering 63 municipalities that had their centres upgraded under a ₾500 million ($191.22mln) budget.

We have rehabilitated more than 700 buildings, 92 squares and parks, and this process continues. Works of the first phase have been completed [...] the second phase envisages the start of even larger-scale works. Now we want to start rehabilitating not only specific streets and centres, but entire areas”, Garibashvili said.

The Government head added the Government would be able to bring “real progress and development” to all cities until 2030. “Let us actually turn our regions into European-type cities, municipalities. This is the plan that we follow”, he noted.

He also highlighted “millions of dollars” invested by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party and former PM, in the western region of Adjara and particularly in its central city of Batumi.

Garibashvili also said the nationwide systematic land registration would be fully completed by the end of 2024, adding about 1,000 jobs had also been created as part of the land registration process in the country. 

The PM mentioned the “large-scale” aiming to renovate about 800 schools and over 1,000 kindergartens across the country. “Since we came to power [in 2012], 174 new public schools have been built, 1,800 partially renovated and 250 fully renovated”, he said.

The Prime Minister told lawmakers the Government was going to present a new reform on higher education while the newly appointed Minister Giorgi Amilakhvari was “actively working” on revising general educational programmes for the system.