( Civil.Ge ) - Ambassador John Danilovich, Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), will visit Georgia on June 13-15 to inspect progress on rehabilitation projects carried out under the U.S. aid program.
Georgia entered into a USD 295 million aid program as part of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) in 2005, designed to help develop the country's infrastructure and reduce poverty.
Ambassador Danilovich plans to inspect rehabilitation works at the North-South Gas Pipeline. USD 49.5 million of the aid program has been allotted for rehabilitation of this strategic pipeline, which is used to transport gas from Russia to Georgia and transit gas to Armenia.
According to the Millennium Challenge Compact, signed between Georgia and MCC in September 2005, the Georgian government has no right to "sell or transfer... the Pipeline" until the expiration of the Compact term, which is not until 2010.
Ambassador Danilovich also plans to visit Akhalkalaki to see a road rehabilitation project in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region.
A major part of the MCC funding - USD 102 million - is being spent on rehabilitating some 245 kilometers of the main road traversing this southern region of the country.