The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) supported Georgia’s economy with investments totalling €210 million in 2023, helping to improve healthcare, modernise municipal infrastructure and finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through credit lines to local banks and trade financing. The Bank continued to focus on the private sector, which accounted for 84 per cent of its investments in the country in 2023.
Alkis Vryenios Drakinos, EBRD Regional Director for the Caucasus, said: “We have continued supporting our clients in building an inclusive, green and more digitalised economy. Our support included enhancing Georgia’s capital market by investing in bonds issued by local enterprises, funding local companies through partner banks with additional incentive grants from the European Union (EU) and facilitating trade. We also invested in municipal infrastructure in Tbilisi and the Adjara region, supported the healthcare sector, scaled up gender and inclusion activities, and worked with our clients to create access to jobs and services. The Bank also enhanced its policy dialogue activities through the Investors Council platform, supporting key reforms.”
A highlight of 2023 was the rehabilitation of the solid-waste-treatment and disposal facilities in the Adjara region. This project helped stop waste from being disposed of at existing dumpsites in Kobuleti and Batumi, with the latter being the largest and most dangerous polluter in Georgia and having an impact on the whole region’s ecosystem. The project was co-funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and supported by the Sustainable Infrastructure Fund.
The Bank continued to promote capital market development by investing in a sustainability-linked bond issued by Georgia Capital, the first of its kind to be issued in the Caucasus. The EBRD also expanded its cooperation with its long-standing partner TBC Bank to support the bank’s alignment with the Paris Agreement by implementing greater climate governance and climate risk management. TBC is the first EBRD partner bank in the Caucasus region to commit to a multi-year cooperation with the Bank to ensure that its financial flows become aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The Bank continued to support Georgia’s active trade activities with €70.5 million worth of trade finance transactions under its Trade Facilitation Programme, in partnership with two local partner banks.
For a sustainable and inclusive economy, small businesses need to thrive, so the EBRD increased SME support by providing €139 million in loans to commercial banks for on-lending to local businesses.
The Bank also provided business advice to local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through 65 advisory and consultancy projects to help companies.
