The EuropeanUnion's financial arm has agreed to lend Georgia 20 million euros (26 million dollars) to upgrade two key hydro-electric power plants, it was announced Friday. Georgia is one of six former-Soviet states in the EU's "Eastern Partnership," and is arguably the keenest to strengthen ties with the bloc. As a member of the partnership, it qualifies for special EU funding opportunities.
The EU's lender, the European Investment Bank (EIB), "is lending 20 million euros to the Republic of Georgia to finance the completion of the rehabilitation of the generator units of the Enguri hydropower plant and investments at the Vardnili hydropower cascade," a statement issued inLuxembourg and Tbilisi read. Mountainous Georgia has announced an ambitious power generation plan which aims to develop the country into a net exporter of hydro-electric power. But its Soviet-era infrastructure is in need of major upgrades. The improvements to the Vardnili facility are "essential to ensure safe water evacuation towards the Black Sea," the statement read.
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