BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 6
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The European Union (EU) committed 87.7 million euros of grants, targeted towards supporting Georgia overcome the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the EU Delegation in Georgia told Trend.
According to the source, in addition, the EU mobilized 150 million EUR in loans to provide Georgia with macro-financial assistance through the pandemic.
"The EU is the largest supporter of business development in Georgia through its EU4Business program, which, under its Access to Finance pillar, improves the capacity of SMEs to access financing, in particular, to prepare investment projects, ensure that local financial institutions propose suitable products to SMEs, lower the risk perception of SME lending and increase local currency lending by national banks," the EU noted.
Through this support, SMEs have better access to:
- concessionary loans via national banks
- micro-financing for household businesses
- small grants to SMEs
- training of staff at national banks to better serve SMEs
- training SMEs in financial literacy
The European Union and Georgia have maintained relations since 1996 in the INOGATE framework, and in 2006 a five-year "Action Plan" of rapprochement was implemented in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy.
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