Georgia takes 82 million EURO loan to purchase air defence systems from France
By Messenger Staff
Monday, December 28
The Parliament of Georgia has just approved a loan agreement that concerns the taking of a loan from a French bank group for Georgia to purchase air defense systems specified through the agreements signed this summer by Georgian and French representatives.
The total amount of the money Georgia’s Ministry of Finance intended to take from the French Societe Generale group to purchase the air-defence systems was worth 77.63 million EURO from two French companies, but reached 82.82 million EURO.
The loan was stretched to 5 years and was backed by France’s export credit agency, Coface. The interest rate ranged between 1.27%-2.1%.
The ratification of the agreement by Georgia’s legislative body was necessary to practically implement the loan deal.
On June 15 this year, Georgia’s Ministry of Defence signed an agreement with ThalesRaytheonSystems, the company producing ground-based surveillance radars and air defence command and control systems.
On July 10, the Ministry signed another deal with the French missile manufacturer, MBDA.
Both the cost and the type of weapons Georgia intended to purchase through the agreements remains confidential.
However, through the ratification process yesterday, the total price of the purchase has been revealed.
The loan deal highlighted that 52.65 million EURO will be spent on the purchase from ThalesRaytheonSystems.
A total of.98 million EURO24will be paid to MBDA France, while 5.19 million EURO will be allocated for loan risk issues and other costs as well as for Coface’s premium.
