KfW to assist Georgia’s energy reforms with €8 million grant

A special contract was signed between Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Davit Tvalabeishvili and Dr. Klaus Veigel, regional director of Germany’s Credit Institute for Reconstruction (KfW), according to which, KfW will provide eight million four hundred and forty thousand euros in grants for Georgia's energy reforms.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Economy, the purpose of the grant under the EU Neighborhood Investment Platform (NIP) is to support the fulfilment of the obligations of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia in joining the Energy Union and the legislative base of energy efficiency in the energy sector, implementation of the renewable energy legislative framework and the market reform.

"This assistance will include support for energy reforms in a variety of directions, including energy efficiency, renewable energies, improvement of legislation, and we believe that this assistance will be very productive for those important goals, which we have planned,” noted Tvalabeishvili.

According to him, Georgia's Energy Sector Reform (GESR) implies fundamental reforms in the energy sector in 2018-2021 through specific policies, which include implementation of energy efficiency policies in the country by establishing a strategic vision, institutional framework, and financial mechanisms.

Accordingly, the technical assistance project signed with KfW is an additional tool of the four-year program of the Georgian Energy Sector Reform supported by the German Credit Institute for Reconstruction and the French Development Agency (AFD).

The technical assistance project must provide the legal and institutional framework for the establishment and functioning of the promotion of energy efficiency standards for identification, certification and inspection system, capacity-building and training programs implementing what the future provides for the construction and rehabilitation of existing buildings in the production of energy-efficient standards.

KfW will assist the Ministry of Economy in implementing the technical assistance project.

As of today, in the framework of financial and technical cooperation with Germany, new financial support is provided for Georgia in the public sector, with more than one billion euros grant, technical assistance, and preferential loan. According to the Ministry of Economy, the current investment projects are about 345 million euros.

The KfW, formerly KfW Bankengruppe, is a German state-owned development bank, based in Frankfurt. It was formed in 1948 after World War II as part of the Marshall Plan. As of 2018, it is Germany's third-biggest bank by the balance sheet.