First EIB Loan to Georgia Focuses on Electricity

In its first engagement in Georgia, the European Investment Bank will lend 80 million euros (USD107 million) for the extension and rehabilitation of the country’s power transmission system and electricity grid, the bank announced in a news release. The loan will partially fund a project that covers construction of a 246-kilometer power transmission line throughout Georgia and a 165-kilometer interconnection line to Turkey. These power lines are part of the cross-country Black Sea Electricity Ring, which runs through Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia. The Georgia project is co-financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Neighborhood Investment Facility and KfW.