“Georgia has failed to adequately address the condition of the macro-financial aid, and in particular, to increase the independent, accountability, and quality of the judiciary system,” EU Charge d’Affaires interim Julien Crampes stated at the briefing at the EU Delegation Office.
He noted that the Government of Georgia informed the European Union of their decision to refrain from asking for EUR 75 million of EU macro-financial aid, and the European Union took note of the reasons provided by the Georgian Government regarding their decision to not ask for the remainder of the EU microfinancial support.
He added that Georgia had not met the conditions for this macrofinancial aid.
“This amount was to be disbursed by 30 September 2021 if Georgia had met the mutually agreed upon commitments made by its Government when signing the conditions of this assistance program in September 2020. The macro-financial aid, EUR 150 millions in total, of which half have been disbursed, aimed to assist Georgia and its citizens with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic. These funds were meant to be made available to the Georgian people.
“The European Union notes the reasons given by the Georgian government for their decision to not ask the rest of EU micro-financial aid. We respect the decision made by the Georgian authorities. However, we also note that Georgia has not met the conditions for the macro-financial aid, namely, increasing the independence, accountability, and quality of the judiciary system.
“In particular, the selection of Supreme Court judges proceeded without the legislative changes necessary to ensure full compliance with the Venice Commission‘s recommendations. The process failed to ensure that all candidates received equal treatment. The court system has not adopted several other legal changes that would have increased transparency.
“The conditions relating to justice of the macrofinancial aid were also commitments made by Georgian parties when they signed the 19 April 2021 agreement, mediated through the European Union,” Julien Crampes said.
Irakli Garibashvili, the Prime Minister of Georgia, announced earlier today that the government would not accept the second part the EU loan.
“In order not to be accused of any insinuations, we have decided that we will not take the second part the EU loan,” said he.
Garibashvili explains the reasons for the above decision, namely, “high economic development in Georgia” on the one hand and, on a second hand, a desire to reduce the foreign debt.
Irakli Kobakhidze said yesterday on PalitraNews that receiving macro-financial aid from the European Union was no longer a necessity as the economy has grown and added an additional 1 billion GEL to the budget.
In April 2020, Georgia requested macrofinancial aid from the European Union due to the pandemic-related circumstances. Macro-financial aid is a tool that the EU uses to respond to crises. It is available to EU neighboring countries.
Since 2008, four macro-financial operations have been conducted by the EU in Georgia. The European Union provided 150 million euros of macro-financial aid to Georgia based on a decision made by the European Union on May 26, 2020.
The amount was divided in two equal tranches. The first 75 million dollars was contingent on Georgia fulfilling its obligations under the International Monetary Fund. This amount was received at the end last year. Transferring the second 75 millions would depend on a positive assessment by the European Commission on 7 preconditions Georgia agreed to meet. The main one was the reform of Georgia’s justice system.
By Ana Dumbadze
Related Story: PM: Government to Refrain From Taking Second Part Of The EU Loan
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