The second wave of the COVID-pandemic is affecting many countries around the world, including Georgia. EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell speaks about EU support to Georgia through this pandemic.

The first question regards the €100million macro-financial assistance that EU provided to Georgia recently. Can you explain to us what this money will be used for and how it fits into the overall framework of EU support to Georgia during the pandemic?

Thank you. To give an overview, the EU and Team Europe have mobilised 1.5 billion GEL of assistance to help Georgia deal with the pandemic. Almost 2/3 of this amount comes in the form of grants, or gifts, if you like, and the remaining are loans at the best rates we could secure.

I'm proud to say that this is one of the highest levels of EU assistance per capita to any country in the world and it should be seen as a demonstration of the EU's strong solidarity with Georgia at this time of crisis.

What are we doing with this money? Our support can be roughly broken down into four areas.

Well over half of the money is directed at strengthening the Georgian government's anti-COVID-19 efforts, including to implement the Anti-Crisis Economic Plan and ensure the government has enough financial means to function properly. Most of the €100-million loan we recently transferred to Georgia is for this purpose.

Secondly, EU support is also directly going to strengthening the Georgian health system by providing medical equipment like ventilators, masks and training to medical personnel.

And thirdly, we are paying particular attention to vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, IDPs or victims of domestic violence, who are especially negatively affected by the current crisis. In this field we support civil society organisations to provide direct support to each of these groups.

Finally, special efforts are made to support economic sustainability and recovery, which will remain a key challenge for a long time. Here, we have allocated almost GEL 250 million to provide easier access to loans for businesses, grants to agriculture, rural development, tourism and vocational education all over Georgia.

These are the objectives we have set for ourselves and this is what we are working hard on right now to bring to fruition.

We are Team Europe: the European Union, our 27 member states and our financial institutions, in particular the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. We call ourselves Team Europe, because for this particular challenge, which is the pandemic, we have had to work closer than ever together in order to make sure that we are absolutely coordinated and that we are bringing out the maximum strength of our efforts. And we have been working together both in Europe and out of Europe and as part of our global efforts, we have together managed to mobilise more than thirty-six billion euros so far to assist the globe, if you'd like, throughout this pandemic.

As mentioned, over half of the support that EU is providing is going to support the government's anti-COVID-19 efforts. How will the EU ensure this money is well spent?

It's important to work with governments. This is true here in Georgia as it is true elsewhere in the world, because only governments have the necessary powers to tackle a crisis of this scale through its ministries, through its personnel, and through its agencies around the country.

We have been working in Georgia with the government already from the start setting joint priorities on how to get through this pandemic including to set the targets for the Anti-Crisis Economic Plan. We will have a number of measures in place to make sure that we have proper monitoring of the implementation of this program and the money that we are putting into it.

We are working together with the IMF, we are working with NGOs, and we are working with the State Audit Office here in Georgia to make sure that the proper monitoring is being carried out. In some cases, we are very specific about where we would like to see our money going. In our Resilience Contract we have, for example, set the target of at least 70000 households extra getting targeted social assistance, 30 000 companies at least being able to retain their personnel throughout the pandemic, and a minimum number of 150 emergency care hospital beds being provided to hospitals. These are very concrete targets and taken together we believe that we have the required checks and balances from the start, which we will continue now to use as we bring implementation further.

The EU is also providing direct support in Georgia, including in the health sector. Can you say a few words about that?

With regard to fighting the pandemic itself, we are working hand in hand with the World Health Organization here, and so far we have managed to bring about some two million medical supplies, including personal protective gear, masks, gowns, etc., but also equipment such as ventilators. And we're hoping before the end of the year to have a new shipment coming here to Georgia, which I'm very much looking forward to.

We are trying to support the people on the ground and our support goes directly to nine laboratories around Georgia, to the Emergency Situations Coordination and Urgent Assistance Centre, and to more than 4 000 ambulance drivers and doctors who are getting these supplies to help their work. We're also providing training when it comes to working as safely as possible, including how to handle stress, which is so important because at the end of the day, we know - every one of us - under how much strain these workers have been working now for a very long time and also at the peril of their own lives, and they deserve all the support all of us can give them.

In conclusion, can you maybe let us know where people can find out more about what the EU is doing to support Georgia during the pandemic?

We're trying as hard as we can to get the information out there, and I would recommend going to the EU Delegation's website, but also to social media. We have an active Facebook page and we're also trying to push information through our Twitter accounts.

Thank you.

The interview of EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell was shared by the EU Delegation.