TBILISI
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 101 million euro loan to build and upgrade infrastructure and enhance services in urban centres to boost regional development and economic opportunities in Georgia.
The project aims to support the country’s recovery from the pandemic and “make its cities more livable, inclusive, and climate-resilient”, the bank said in a press release.
The ADB said that the Livable Cities Investment project for Balanced Development would benefit more than 1.5 million people both in the capital Tbilisi and the ex-Soviet country’s other cities.
“The project will upgrade city centres, public spaces, parks, and public transport to improve mobility … will construct libraries, e-learning centres, kindergartens, sports complexes, and other community buildings,” the ADB said.
The project also aims to improve accessibility for older people, people with disabilities, women, and children.
In October, the ADB and Optima LLC, a real estate company in Georgia, have signed a $10 million loan agreement to develop affordable and sustainable residential housing developments in the ex-Soviet country’s capital, Tbilisi.
The loan will finance two residential complexes, providing over 3,700 affordable and energy-efficient apartments for people on low- to middle-incomes. It is ADB’s first private sector housing project in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Optima is a subsidiary of m2 Group and Georgia Real Estate (GRE), one of Georgia’s leading residential and commercial real estate companies.
In September, the ADB approved a $100 million loan to support Georgia’s electricity transmission sector and said that the funds would improve the operational structure, corporate governance, and financial management of the country’s electricity transmission company and its subsidiary.
The ADB has also approved a $15 million loan to help Georgia in purchasing 700,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines and the equipment necessary to administer them.
Last year, the ADB supported Georgia by disbursing a $100 million loan to contain the spread of the pandemic, mitigate the impact on businesses, and protect the livelihoods of the most vulnerable, a $200 million policy-based loan for addressing public financial management and social protection systems, and a $2.5 million grant to increase the COVID-19 testing capacity and procure medical equipment.
Georgia joined the ADB in 2007 and the bank has since become one of the country’s largest multilateral development partners with committed loans amounting to $3.92 billion and technical assistance projects worth $28.9 million. The ADB’s key development priorities in Georgia include expanding trade, creating more jobs, and combatting poverty by developing economic corridors.