European Investment Bank Opens S.Caucasus Regional Office in Tbilisi

European Investment Bank (EIB) opened its Regional Representation for the South Caucasus in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on April 30.

EIB Vice President Wilhelm Molterer, who attended the opening ceremony, said that the area, which will be covered by the regional office – Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia – is of “strategic importance for Europe.”

“The reason why we have chosen Tbilisi for opening this office is obvious – Georgia is doing a great job; Georgia has done a courageous decision on this Association Agreement and deep and comprehensive free trade agreement [signed with the EU last year],” Molterer told journalists in Tbilisi.

“EIB is ready to support this active European process that the government is doing. We see a lot of opportunities in this region, especially also in Georgia on energy, infrastructure on greening the country, supporting investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, to support SMEs [small and medium enterprises], agriculture,” he said.

PM Irakli Garibashvili said in his remarks at the opening ceremony that EIB regional office in Tbilisi “means a lot for us.”

“This is a strong signal for investors, businesses and international financial institutions,” Garibashvili said. “Georgia naturally is a regional hub with its location and aspiration to build a genuinely strong European state with strong democratic institutions and to be a distinguished leader in the region.”

According to EIB it has accelerated lending activities in the South Caucasus region over the past five years reaching EUR 726 million – around 70% of which was made in Georgia.

Also on April 30, country’s one of the largest banks, Bank of Georgia, signed EUR 40 million loan agreement with EIB to finance investment projects promoted by SMEs.

According to EIB this recent deal brings the volume of its signatures for the benefit of SMEs in Georgia to EUR 150 million. Total EIB lending commitments in Georgia amount to about EUR 530 million in projects ranging from transport, water and energy to supporting SMEs.