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

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Otar Shamugia: "The funding for the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture increases by GEL 95 million compared to the approved budget of 2022

At the end of the Government session, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Otar Shamugia made remarks regarding the increase in the budget of the Ministry and answered questions posed by the media representatives.

"Firstly, I would like to note, that, the state budget has been submitted to the Parliament, whereupon, the funding for the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture increases by GEL 95 million compared to the approved budget for 2022.

It should be mentioned, that the funding is increased in all areas, all programs: "Preferential agro-credit", "Plant the future", as well as ‘’Co-financing of Processing and Storage Enterprises’’ including, the promotion of agro-food production etc. and I believe we will agree on the importance of all of the aforementioned projects.

However, the demand for all financing mechanisms and state programs offered to farmers and entrepreneurs is significantly increased, which resulted in an increase in the state budget, moreover,  the demand for planting gardens, and creating storage and processing enterprises increases dramatically each year. The total credit portfolio issued by the preferential agro-credit project amounted to around GEL 1,300,000,000. The budget is increasing in all directions", said Mr. Otar Shamugia.

As stated by the Minister, the co-financing program for harvesting agricultural machinery will be further continued. GEL 10 million is allocated under the framework of the respective program. The issues related to the financing mechanisms will be discussed at the Government session to make a concrete decision. Farmers need to stick together and jointly purchase equipment, especially those who do not have large plots of land. The state will help them in the co-financing of agricultural machinery.

Mr. Shamugia also highlighted a new program developed through the joint support of the European Union and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
"We are launching the so-called ‘’LEADER’’ program, which we developed together with the European Union and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The EU has used the’’ LEADER’’ approach for rural development by involving both the state and private and non-governmental sectors in the aforementioned process. Moreover, the financing of the specific projects will be based on the joint proposals of the respective groups. This is a completely European model. At this stage, the program allocates GEL 1 million. We will monitor the development of the program and make further decisions", said the Minister.

Mr. Shamugia stated, that the budget is increasing in the environmental protection field as well. Overall, compared to last year, there is an increase in the state budget by about 18% in the field of environmental protection.

"Funding for the development of ecotourism and protected areas are also increasing, which ensures the setting and arrangement of infrastructure to attract more visitors to protected areas.

The funding will increase in the field of environmental supervision. In total, there is no program left where we do not have a small or large increase in funding compared to 2022. It should be mentioned,  that we, together with the Ministry of Finance, continue to work on certain new initiatives", Mr. Otar Shamugia stated.