Georgia’s Failure to Meet IMF Targets Delays EU Financial Support

(Tbilisi, November 20, Civil Georgia) – “Delays in transferring financial support [to Georgia] may occur due to the non-fulfillment of conditionalities or IMF established modalities,” the press release of the Delegation of the European Commission for Georgia states.

“Due to security concerns, the [European] Commission feels obliged to look at the project implementation approach with a view to ensure the safety of the EU-financed technical assistance,” the Commission reports.

The Delegation of the European Commission denies reports that the there has been a decision on the suspension of assistance to Georgia, “no Commission officials have ever issued a statement to this effect”.

The reports said earlier that the EU suspended the financial assistance to Georgia because of kidnapping of British citizen Peter Shaw, which worked as a consultant for TACIS financed activities in Georgia. He was released on November 6.
 
Georgian authorities anticipate 40 million Lari (approximately USD 19 million) as a grant from the EU. Georgian leadership made hopeful statements that the release of Peter Shaw would hasten receiving of the grant.

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