2020-09-03
Today's Government meeting at the Administration of the Government was held under the chairmanship of Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. The Cabinet discussed 9 issues on its meeting agenda.
Prime Minister Makes Statements During Session of Government
It does not matter whether we are in Batumi, Tbilisi, Telavi, or elsewhere - we must follow the recommendations of epidemiologists, Georgina Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated during today's session of the government.
According to the head of the government, 38 new cases of infection were detected yesterday and 20 additional cases were reported today, which is extremely significant.
Approximately 7,186 tests were conducted throughout the country last night and the results will become available later today.
"The global pandemic is a challenge with which we will have to coexist, it would seem, for the next year or year and a half. We must all understand that our main goal will be to manage the risks appropriately. No country taken separately, including Georgia, will be able to defeat the global pandemic because this is a global risk and a global challenge. Therefore, we must do everything possible to protect, first and foremost, the health of our citizens and, of course, to protect our economy," the head of the government stated.
The Prime Minister stressed the success achieved by Georgia in the fight against the epidemic.
"Today, Georgia is recognized as one of the most successful countries in terms of managing the risks associated with the epidemic, as well as in terms of mitigating economic risks. As you know, during the last two weeks, two international rating organizations have kept Georgia's investment rating unchanged, which, of course, is an achievement. We, together with our citizens, must do everything to protect this achievement. To do this, we need to pay close attention to the recommendations of epidemiologists. It does not matter whether we are in Batumi, Tbilisi, Telavi, or elsewhere. We must maintain social distance, we must wear face masks - not merely in a formal manner but in the manner recommended by doctors and epidemiologists - and we must take the health of our citizens - our children and the elderly - seriously," the Prime Minister noted.
According to Giorgi Gakharia, despite the fact that the government has taken very cautious steps toward opening the economy and restoring international flights and domestic tourism, a change in the epidemiological situation and an increase in the number of infections was to be expected.
"We must remember that as a result of our government's decision, the education process will begin in classrooms in the near future and our children will start going to school from 15 September. This, in turn, will exert additional pressure in terms of increasing mobility and, as a result, an even greater degree of responsibility will be required from each and every one of us. Therefore, starting today, the relevant ministries - the Ministry of Healthcare, the Ministry of Internal Affairs - and local municipalities are instructed to further tighten control over the requirements that are currently imposed at the legislative level. First and foremost, this means [wearing] face masks in enclosed spaces and, of course, social distancing. We need all this in order to maintain what we have achieved together with our citizens, both as a result of taking the correct steps to manage the epidemic, as well as in terms of mitigating the economic shock and the economic crisis. This is very important for our future, for the preservation of our jobs, and, in general, for the success of our country," the Prime Minister stated.
According to the government's decision, loan co-financing - the interest rate subsidy program - for companies involved in the hotel business will be extended from six to 12 months.
As the Prime Minister noted, this is the only opportunity for the state to support the tourism sector.
"The first anti-crisis step we took was to help the tourism sector and, first of all, the hotel business. Within just three months, it emerged that this was not enough. Therefore, we extended the loan co-financing program for these companies, which are involved in the hotel business, from three months to six months. Since it is already clear that this too will not be enough, today we have to decide to extend loan co-financing - the interest rate subsidy program - from six to 12 months, or for one year in total. This is the only opportunity to support the sector as despite the cautiously optimistic economic indicators, the tourism sector is still under pressure. Therefore, we must do everything to help this sector," Giorgi Gakharia stated.
According to the head of the government, the window of opportunity will open for companies that failed to become beneficiaries of this program during these six months, and they will have the opportunity to participate in the additional six-month component of the program for one month, from 10 September to 10 October.
"All companies will have the opportunity to participate in the additional six-month component of the program, even if they have not participated in this program until now. This gives small hotels the opportunity to become beneficiaries of this program. This is extremely important in order to help the sector and retain jobs," Giorgi Gakharia stated.
In addition, more than 200 applications have already been received from around the world - including from the United States, Singapore, etc. - within the framework of Work from Georgia, the new initiative of the National Tourism Administration.
The head of the government noted that the results of the program have exceeded expectations.
"Work From Georgia - for some reason, many of us took a skeptical view of this initiative of the National Tourism Administration. The essence of the program is that since Georgia is among the most successful countries in terms of managing the virus, we offered the citizens of 95 countries to continue their work remotely from Georgia for no less than 180 days. I am instructing the National Tourism Administration to pay special attention to this program and to further enhance the possible benefits that it might bring to the Georgian economy and, first and foremost, to Georgia, as a green and virus-free country," the Prime Minister noted.
According to the government's decision, a new component is being created within the framework of the Preferential Agro Credit program, which will enable the Ministry of Agriculture and purchasing companies to not leave a single kilogram of apples unutilized.
According to the Prime Minister's assessment, this step is aimed at supporting farmers.
"This year we had an excellent harvest of peaches, which reached record export figures - more than 23,000 tonnes of peaches were exported from Georgia this year, exceeding last year's figure by 10,000. It seems that this year we will also have an abundant harvest of apples, yielding about three times as many apples, amounting to approximately 120,000 tonnes. Despite the fact that the Ministry of Agriculture is doing everything to ensure the renewal and creation of perennial gardens that meet European standards in Georgia through Plant the Future and various other programs, a large amount of nonstandard crops nonetheless remain. However, this does not mean that even a single kilogram of the harvest can remain unutilized. For this reason, a new component is being created within the framework of the Preferential Agro Credit program, which will enable the Ministry of Agriculture and purchasing companies to not leave any apples unpurchased, which implies subsidies. Were it not for this program, the price of one kilogram of apples would have been approximately 10 tetris because the price of apples has plummeted on international markets. With the help of this program, any peasant or farmer will receive at least 22 tetris for nonstandard apples, which amounts to significant support during the crisis," Giorgi Gakharia stated.
Press Service of the Government Administration