On July 5, 2023, during the prime-time program of the pro-Kremlin “Obieqtivi” TV, “Studio 8″, the guest Manana Nikolaishvili talked about the status of Georgia’s EU membership, arguing that Georgia will not receive the status and this was planned for a long time. Manana Nikolaishvili cites the fact that the European Union has not helped Georgia, while in 2014, the organization allocated 15 billion USD to Ukraine, and now it gives millions of euros to modernize Moldova’s enterprises, railways, transport, education system and etc. According to Nikolaishvili, when Georgia signed the Association Agreement, the European Union did not give anything for the modernization of the education system or enterprises, which confirms the fact that the admission of Georgia to the EU was never even considered.
The claim that the European Union did not provide financial assistance to Georgia after the ratification of the Association Agreement is false. On an annual basis, the European Union allocates approximately 120 million EUR in grants to Georgia to strengthen the key areas such as: small and medium-sized businesses, economic development, education, media, human rights, democracy, and etc.
The association agreement with the European Union was signed by Georgia in 2014 and entered into force in 2016. The purpose of the agreement is to deepen and simplify the trade relations between Georgia and the European Union, which should be done by bringing regulations and production standards as close as possible to each other. The agreement stipulates that in order to implement the reforms, the European Union is ready to use all available tools, including financial aid, to help Georgia.
According to the European Commission, the European Union helps Georgia annually with grants of approximately 120 million euros. According to their information, specifically in 2014-2020, this financial assistance amounted to 938.4 million euros, which was distributed to different areas.
Within the framework of the association agreement, in 2015, at the Riga summit, it was also decided to allocate a grant of 200 million USD to Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, which would be distributed over 10 years and it would be aimed at the development of small and medium-sized businesses/enterprises. According to the calculations of the European Union, these grants would eventually attract at least 2 billion USD of investment for these countries and significantly strengthen the economy. Within the framework of the annual action program, 101 million EUR were allocated for Georgia in 2014, a part of which was intended to help enterprises.
Notably, within the framework of the European Union’s regional development policy, the Pilot Integrated Territorial Development Programme (PiRDP) was financed, which includes 4 regions: Kakheti, Imereti, Guria and Racha-Lechkhumi-Kvemo Svaneti. The total budget of the project is 220 million, of which 186 million is allocated by the European Union. Within its framework, roads were rehabilitated, stadiums were built, tourism centers were opened, kindergartens were rehabilitated/constructed and etc.
Within the framework of the second phase of the EU Skills4jobs program, 48.85 million EUR were allocated for Georgia in 2018, part of which is used in the field of professional education, in order to increase the skills of the population and the chances of their future employment.
Since 2021, the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument has been launched, the purpose of which is to implement the European Union’s Neighborhood Policy. Within its framework, in 2021-2024, Georgia will receive a grant of 340 million EUR, which will be distributed among 5 priority areas.
The European Union also helped Georgia in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and allocated a grant of 250 million USD to the country, a significant part of which was determined to help small and medium enterprises.
For more information about the grants allocated to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, see the article:
As for the aid provided to Ukraine, which is discussed on the program of “Obieqtivi”, in 2014, the European Union indeed offered Ukraine 15 billion USD of aid, which would be distributed over several years. However, it was noted that only part of this aid would be direct grants, and the rest would be given in the form of soft loans. It is important to note that a similar decision by the European Union followed the annexation of Ukrainian territories by Russia and the serious economic crisis caused by these processes. Therefore, the Association Agreement had nothing to do with the release of this aid package.
At the summit held in June 2022, the European Union officially granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, but Georgia’s similar request was not granted. The leaders of the European Union said that Georgia has some political problems at this stage and specific areas need to be improved. They noted that they are confident in the country’s European perspective, as a result of which the European Commission has created a 12-point priority list, in case of fulfillment of which Georgia would receive the EU candidate status.
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