The EU’s European Investment Bank has signed a new deal with the Georgian Ministry of Regional Development and the United Water Supply Company of Georgia within the Eastern Partnership Technical Assistance Trust Fund (EPTATF) Grant Agreement for the amount of 3.25 million EUR. The funds will be used to finance specialized professional services to support the utility in implementing the EIB Kutaisi Waste Water project, Georgia Today reports.
In October 2015, the EIB offered Georgia’s Ministry of Regional Development a loan of up to 100 million EUR to improve wastewater collection and treatment in Kutaisi. That project is part of Georgia’s Water Sector Rehabilitation Program which consists of a series of investments that aim to improve the water supply in Kutaisi, Ureki, Poti and Zugdidi and wastewater collection and treatment in Kutaisi, Ureki and Poti.
EIB Vice-President Vazil Hudák commented, “to implement the water sector projects in Georgia in more efficient way, we are combining our lending with EU grants. With today’s signature, it is the region of Kutaisi which will benefit from a modern water network and increased quality of water systems, backed by European financing.”
The Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, Maia Tskitishvili, remarked “Today we signed the grant agreement with EIB for the financing of the Kutaisi Wastewater Project. Kutaisi is the country’s second largest city and this project will enable us to provide better living conditions for the local population. Currently, we are completing the final phase of works for the project and the actual construction will commence from 2019. This is a third project in the water sector that is being implemented with the support of our European partners and we do hope that our fruitful cooperation will serve as basis to finance other priority infrastructural projects in Georgia. Support provided by the EU and its member states through different instruments available within the framework of Eastern Partnership Trust Fund and Neighborhood Investment Facility is hugely valued and makes an important contribution towards the development of our country.”
EIB is one of Georgia’s largest financing partners for infrastructure projects. In total, EIB has extended approximately 1.3 billion EUR to support various public infrastructure projects, including for roads, municipal infrastructure, water, and wastewater.