Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

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"Access to agricultural equipment is crucial for our farmers" - Otar Shamugia spoke about the new state program for co-financing agricultural machinery for cooperatives.

 Today, after the government session, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Otar Shamugia, spoke to the media representatives about the details and importance of the new state program of co-financing agricultural machinery for agricultural cooperatives.

"Before delivering the details of the program, I would like to brief you on the assistance measures we have been implementing over the years. We see that our farmers need to have access to agricultural equipment.

Therefore, in recent years, we co-financed about GEL 70 million in the initiatives that helped over 2,600 farmers; in 2021-2022, GEL 50 million was allocated upon the initiative of the Prime Minister of Georgia. The program co-financed over 1,200 units of pulling machinery (tractors). We include co-financing in the budget every year. A few weeks before,  we announced the acceptance of applications for co-financing of harvesting equipment.

We have already started to review applications. Over 60 recipients will get financing for purchasing harvesting equipment, including harvesters, which is crucial for farmers. We have budgeted GEL 10 million within the framework of this initiative," stated Mr. Otar Shamugia.

The new program, with a budget of GEL 10 million, will provide farmers with an additional opportunity to obtain new agricultural equipment, enabling them to take various agro-technical, seasonal works in line with international standards. Except for self-governing cities, the program applies to all municipalities in the country. Registration for the program will open in March 2023.

According to the Minister, the initiative provides co-financing of agricultural equipment for cooperatives under the following conditions: the cooperative must have at least ten owners and own a minimum of 20 hectares of agricultural land.

In the case of a high mountain, these figures are halved: the number of shareholders should be 5, and the acreage of agricultural land should be 10 ha.

The program ensures co-financing up to 50%, also the cooperative and its shareholders will benefit from the remaining funds under the preferential agro-credit program., in the form of a state subsidy.