On December 9, 2016, Georgia signed a loan agreement of € 100 million with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to implement various regional development projects in the country.
Despite the loan approval, the government was unable to implement the specified projects, and amid pandemic, negotiations were held to divert this resource to the Covid crisis.
According to the document submitted to the Parliament, the European Investment Bank is considering a change in the purpose of the loan, which is defined as follows:
After the negotiations, the European Investment Bank agreed to use a loan of 100 million EUR approved on December 9, 2016 to mitigate the economic crisis caused by the pandemic and ensuring public health.
In particular, resources will be distributed in two main areas:
1) Improving the delivery of public health services (purchase of new equipment and machinery; construction of new medical facilities; strengthening of healthcare infrastructure);
2) Specific schemes for COVID-19 (purchase of COVID-19 vaccines; vaccination campaigns; adaptation of public buildings to health facilities; equipping of testing laboratories; purchase of personal protective equipment).
According to the terms of the loan, it must be repaid within 25 years, the grace period totals to 5 years.
