BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 9
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Georgian hazelnut plant operational again amid COVID-19 pandemic with EU and EIB group support, Trend reports via Georgian media.
GTG Plus Ltd is a hazelnut manufacturer and exporter that appeared on the market in 2015. The enterprise is located in Kvareli and Zugdidi and employs a total of 100 people. Today, the company manufactures a variety of products such as hazelnuts, roasted hazelnut kernels, chopped roasted hazelnuts, etc. In the future, GTG Plus is going to also produce hazelnut paste. The manufactured products are exported to the EU countries.
Despite many years of experience and managerial efforts, the COVID-19 pandemic affected GTG Plus’s operations, changing the company’s agenda, forcing the employees to work remotely and making it difficult to sell the product.
In order for the company to purchase raw materials in the domestic market and continue working as a result, the GTG Plus founders decided to apply to the InnovFin SME Guarantee Facility.
InnovFin, EU Finance for Innovators, is a joint initiative by the EIB Group (European Investment Bank – EIB and European Investment Fund – EIF) in cooperation with the European Commission under the EU Research and Innovation Program Horizon 2020.
Under the InnovFin program, GTG Plus used the short-term loan required for the company’s capital turnover and purchase of raw materials. Because of this assistance, the company could re-open the enterprise that had been closed down for almost two months.
"Although we continue to do business with the EU and EIB Group’s support, we still need involvement in the InnovFin program to cope with the existing challenges. Now that we have achieved some results, I should admit that our operations would have been very different without the involvement in the InnovFin guarantee program. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the EU and the EIB Group on behalf of our company," notes the company director Bachuk Tamliani.
The EIB Group activities supporting Georgian MSMEs reinforce EU and Team Europe support for the recovery of Georgia’s private sector from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as sustain jobs, maintain liquidity and operations, and fuel the economic recovery of Georgia.
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