The Government Program 2021-2024 – Toward Building a European State is a national multi-sectoral program of Georgia. Its main objective is to overcome the pandemic-related crisis, ensure rapid economic recovery and development, and put in place stable and safe environment for every citizen. The Program aims to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable. To this end, it is planning to improve the country’s environmental situation, the Georgian Government will implement the following reforms: environmental standards will qualitatively harmonize with European requirements. Almost 150 automated surveillance stations and modern early warning systems will be installed in gorges susceptible to natural disasters; the enhancement of air and water monitoring and assessment systems will continue; given the country’s social and economic situation, the population’s demand on timber resources will be met. Multidirectional use of forests will be developed to result in additional environmental, economic, and social benefits; it is planned to establish new protected territories and to expand some of the existing ones (a total of about 185,000 hectares). A new ecotourism infrastructure will be created; measures will continue toward supporting environmental education and raising environmental awareness; and throughout the country, a system for separate waste collection will be gradually introduced, and waste reprocessing will be supported. Further, for reducing rural poverty, the document targets to eliminate inequality in the development of the regions, and to create decent living conditions, the development of various types of municipal, cultural, tourism, sports, educational, and healthcare infrastructure will continue. In particular, 6 billion GEL will be spent in 2021-2024 for the development of municipal infrastructure in the regions, such as the rehabilitation of village roads and smaller rehabilitation works targeting water supply and sewage systems, schools, kindergartens, cultural sites, and athletic infrastructure. Further, to create new opportunities for economic activity in the regions, new tourist attractions will be created, such as in Abastumani, Mestia, Velistsikhe, Tskaltubo, and others. Further to empower the system of self-government, and enhance its independence, reforms will seek, above all else, to expand the authority of self-government based on the principles of subsidiarity, also to introduce effective and innovative systems for providing quality services, boost the role of self-government in the development of local economy, and provide self-government with relevant material and financial resources. To enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the Program seeks to increase agricultural product export and reduce import dependence. In addition, the COVID-10 pandemic has caused new problems and exposed new needs in the direction of the sector’s further development and ensuring food safety. In addition, enhancing competitiveness in the sector of agricultural products, stable production growth, food safety, and the development of rural areas is among the priorities under the state policy on this industry. Under the unified agricultural policy, the following will be implemented in 2021-2024 to improve living and to increase economic activities conditions in rural areas: to increase access to financial tools, and to promote primary agricultural production, processing, storage, and sales, individuals and legal entities will continue to be provided with affordable and accessible monetary assets; the following will continue and expand in scope: Support for the primary production of perennial and annual agricultural crops, the co-financing program for processing and storage enterprises, co-financing for greenhouses, a program for financing crop-harvesting machinery, programs for developing animal farming, support for the sustainable development of aquaculture in sea and internal waters, and access to infrastructure and services; the quality and accessibility of means of agricultural production will be ensured; to enhance the competitiveness of those employed in agriculture, programs for developing and promoting agricultural cooperatives will continue; to reduce risks for those engaged in agricultural activities, the agricultural insurance program will continue and improve further. To protect from unfavorable hydrometeorological events, namely from hail, Shida Kartli, similar to Kakheti, will be provided with hail protection systems; to improve the quality and fertility of Georgian agricultural food products, further improvements will be made to effective systems involving measures against harmful organisms and natural disasters; based on the situation in local and international markets, programs to support the sale of agricultural crops will be planned; active work will continue toward exploring new markets and improving positions in existing ones; in line with modern requirements, the knowledge/awareness among farmers and entrepreneurs will be further promoted; in the next three years, systemic registration of 1.2 million hectares of land will be carried out. In this direction, notary mediation will be actively functioning for finding alternative solutions to possible disputes arising in recordkeeping, to contribute to the effectiveness of the process; the privatization of state-owned agricultural lands will be carried out. Leased lands up to 10 hectares will be alienated through direct sales; the balance of Georgian lands will be developed, agricultural land resources will be inventoried, and a unified database of land resources will be created; the process of aligning with relevant EU legislation, as prescribed by the Association Agreement, will continue in the areas of food safety, veterinary medicine, and phytosanitary; to uproot falsified and poor-quality wine products from local and export markets, laboratory studies will be bolstered; and to ensure water supplies for lands, in excess of 220 million GEL will be invested in the next few years, to ameliorate an additional 40,000 hectares and dewater almost 1,000 hectares of land. In order to increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, the Program aims to improve the country’s environmental situation, the Georgian Government will implement the following reforms: environmental standards will qualitatively harmonize with European requirements. Almost 150 automated surveillance stations and modern early warning systems will be installed in gorges susceptible to natural disasters; and to mitigate the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure rapid post-pandemic economic revival, vital importance will be attached to support for businesses, including SMEs. The Program further provides for youth policy aiming to create, for youth and in cooperation with youth, an ecosystem conducive to development which ensures the full realization of their potential, economic empowerment, and active involvement in social life and democratic processes. In the area of energy, the Program provides that the Government’s energy policy seeks to enhance energy independence and energy security, also maximal use of domestic resources based on the principles of the area’s sustainable development. To make full use of Georgia’s energy potential, and cement the country’s energy security, far-reaching energy reform will continue, including: to cement free market relations in this field, energy transmission and distribution functions will be separated from energy generation, trade, and provision activities; Georgia’s energy stock market will start operating at full throttle to ensure the introduction of competitive and open market principles in the energy market; and from 2021 to 2026, large energy consumers, based on the volume on consumption, will be engaged in the market. In parallel, relevant regulated stations will be regulated based on their capacities.
Грузия · 2020-12-01