We have decided to refrain from taking the second part of the EU loan, as we have started reducing foreign debt. Such a statement made today the Prime Minister of Georgia.

“The tragedy is that the citizens of Georgia, including the former President of our country, [Mikheil] Saakashvili, go to the structures of the EU. As you know, he is in the European People’s Party and he has made every effort to impose some sanctions on us.

As for the macro-financial assistance, it is a loan, part of which we took in 2020. The second part of the EUR 75 million loan was not a grant and assistance, but a loan. The Ministry of Finance will probably make a statement about this later. Given that we started reducing our foreign debt this year, it is highly likely that we will no longer need to receive this amount. We are grateful for all the help the EU has given us during the pandemic and in general for everything they are doing for us. We will continue to move in this direction.

On the other hand, this issue has been politicized, so in order to avoid any insinuations, we have also decided to refrain from borrowing this second part. The main motive is that we have gradually started to reduce foreign debt. We have a two-digit economic path, the growth of July will be up to 10%, which in total will be 12.2% economic growth for 7 months.

This will generate additional revenue in the budget and by maintaining this pace we will have double-digit economic growth by the end of the year”, - said Irakli Garibashvili.