Last year, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted a decision providing macro-financial assistance to enlargement and neighbourhood countries in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision made EUR150 million in loan available to Georgia. The document was signed by Finance Minister Ivane Machavariani, the NBG President Koba Gvenetadze, and EU Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni on behalf of the EU.
According to the joint press release following the 6th Association council meeting between the European Union and Georgia, the Association council welcomed the disbursements of Macro-Financial Assistance to Georgia in November 2020 and urged Georgia to continue the implementation of outstanding agreed policy measures in order to enable the disbursement of the second instalment of COVID Macro-Financial Assistance to Georgia (of which 75 million EUR was disbursed in 2020). The EU encouraged Georgia to ensure the sustainability of already implemented reforms and maintain macro-economic stability.
EU Commission Executive Vice-President for an Economy Valdis Dombrovskis responded the meeting on his official Twitter page.
“There is great potential for strengthening trade & investment ties between the EU and Georgia. More progress in lawmaking is needed for 2nd disbursement of EU’s macro-financial assistance. A stable political environment is key to move forward”, Valdis Dombrovskis tweeted.
According to the document, the authorities of the country are committed to have accomplished the following actions in order to enable the disbursement of the second instalment of COVID Macro-Financial Assistance to Georgia:
1.To ensure impartiality and independence of the public procurement dispute resolution body as set out in the Association Agreement, adopt the revised legal framework for this body and prepare for its functioning from 2021 (staff, budget).
2.To ensure an adequate and sustainable pension system
3.To reduce uncertainty regarding the governance of companies and improve transparency of business, adopt the Law on Entrepreneurs, in line with the EU company law directives.
4.To improve the governance of publicly owned companies, develop and adopt corporate governance standards for state-owned enterprises along the OECD guidelines.
5.To increase the independence, accountability and quality of the judicial system
6.To achieve economic benefits from increased energy efficiency, following the adoption of the laws on Energy Performance of Buildings and on Energy Efficiency;
7.In line with the Labour Market Strategy and its Action Plan adopted in December 2019, a) to better enable public employment service providers to help deal with the labour market fall-out from the COVID-19 crisis and to provide legal certainty to the role ofthe state in the labour market, adopt the Law on Employment Services; b) to ensure safe working conditions in the post COVID-19 context, increase the number of labour inspectors to 80.
