The Major European Countries Germany and France signed a pact, namely “Green Transition for Georgia”. with the Republic of Georgia. Germany was represented by German Ambassador Peter Fischer, and French Ambassador Sheraz Gasri represented France during the signing ceremony.
Moreover, the representatives of respective state-owned banks KfW (GER) and AFD (FRA) and the European Union through the European Delegation to Georgia were Also part of this pact signing ceremony. This pact called for a multi-year reform programme called “Green Transition for Georgia”.
The representatives of Georgia taking part in the programme were the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, along with the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC) and the National Bank of Georgia.
The programme involves eleven reform areas that focus on “green transition” topics ranging from renewable energy, green hydrogen, carbon pricing, smart mobility, and sustainable finance to combatting pollution. “Green Transition for Georgia” is a policy-based lending facility whereby Georgia will benefit from concessional budget financing in return for successfully implementing policies of the European Union that it has committed to and that will align the country more and more to the parameters of the European Union.
“Green Transition for Georgia” is the second program after the already existing program named “Georgian Energy Sector Reform Program”. That was implemented by France through AFD, Germany through KfW and the EU together with the Georgian partner ministries and institutions between 2018 and 2023.
Under the first successful programme, AFD and KfW invested approximately 641 million EUR. Moreover, European Union support in the form of grants for technical assistance amounts to ca. 8,5m EUR.
The first programme helped boost key primary and secondary rules and regulations related to the energy efficiency and power market of Georgia. The ambition and spectrum of the newly initiated programme are, however, much wider and are expected to have a more positive impact on the day-to-day businesses of Georgia’s economy.
Notably, On 8 November 2023, the European Commission recommended granting Georgia an EU candidate status. The new German-EU-French programme is a clear example of how further alignment with the EU policies can be successfully implemented in Georgia. At the same time, it is a clear sign of commitment by the Georgian Government to pursue its journey towards the EU.
