Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

The European Union has decided to allocate a €4.8 million grant to Georgia for training the bank staff, to develop lending strategies for agriculture projects and to improve banks’ existing financial products.

The funding will also serve as a way to share the lending risk and introduce innovative financing for agricultural businesses in the same value chain – such as helping to link local milk farmers to larger dairy producers.

Agro-business Lomtagora in southern Georgia is one of 15,352 industry enterprises and farmers in Georgia, which has already benefited from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development credit lines and EU support. To avoid foreign exchange rate risks, loans are offered also in the local currency, the lari.

"The loan helped me to bring my company to the next level and to make it more competitive," Lomtagora company founder Kakha Lashkhi said.

According to farmers, the loan makes a good ground to purchase fertilizers and subsequently to achieve a better harvest, which in turn results in a higher income for businesses.

As a result of the additional financial support, the latest technology for drying, storing and sorting out the farming products mechanically have been installed in number of farming facilities in Georgia.

In Georgia, the EBRD focuses on supporting the private sector clients directly and via private banks. Investing in energy sector projects, which aim to increase production and access export markets is also a key direction for the banking structure.

The EBRD also supports the introduction of modern regulatory frameworks and investing in infrastructure, logistics, telecommunications and the financial sector to support cross-border economic activities in Georgia.

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