EU accepts Georgian gov’t refusal on its loan, but says Georgia may not received it at all

The EU delegation to Georgia has responded to the Georgian government’s today’s refusal to receive the 75 million EUR loan, stating that the EU ‘respects’ the decision, but says that Georgia may have not received the loan at all because the country has failed to meet several requirements for this. 

 

Acting Head of the EU Delegation to Georgia Julien Crampes said at a briefing earlier today that the Georgian government has already informed the European Union of its decision.

 

“This amount should have been transferred by September 30, 2021 if Georgia had fulfilled the mutually agreed obligations that it undertook in September 2020, when signing the terms of the macro-financial assistance program,” he said. 

 

Crampes stated that the  €150 million macro-financial assistance, half of which has already been transferred, was aimed at helping the Georgian people deal with the Covid pandemic challenges. 

 

“These funds should have been used for the welfare of the citizens of Georgia,” he stated. 

 

Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili stated earlier today that the country no longer needs to take the 75 million EUR loan from the EU because of ‘the economic growth’ and the intention to gradually decrease the 20 billion USD foreign debt. 

 

Georgian NGOs stated that the government’s refusal to take the loan pointed at deviation from the country’s Euro-Atlantic course and that the government had no intention to fulfill the April 19 EU-mediated agreement. 

 

The United National Movement and the European Georgia opposition claimed that the government ‘knew that the EU would have suspended the financial aid  (because of the ruling party’s recent  backing out of the EU-mediated agreement) and was forced to make the statement on the refusal of the loan before the EU imposed the sanction.’ 

 

The ruling Georgian Dream party and majority of opposition parties signed the EU-mediated agreement proposed by Michel back in April 2021 to resolve a six-month, post-election political crisis in Georgia. 

 

The agreement obliged signatories to ensure the conduct of large-scale reforms, including in the electoral and judiciary fields. 

 

In July 2021 the ruling party left the agreement and accused the opposition parties of either not-joining the agreement or the violation of the agreement stipulations. 

 

However, the government promised the fulfilment of all the reforms outlined in the agreement. 

 

Earlier this month European President Charles Michel warned the Georgian government of possible refusal on the loan if the government failed to fulfil the reforms outlined in the EU-mediated agreement.