Promised grants could be halved

During the donor conference right after the Russian invasion of 08/08/08 donor countries and organisations promised Georgia USD 2 billion in grants over the following three years. A year and a half has passed and it appears that Georgia will not receive the promised amount.

In 2008 Georgia received GEL 617 million in grants, in 2009 GEL 459 million. This year it will receive GEL 462 million. This adds up to a bit more than GEL 1.5 billion, less than 1 billion in US dollars.

Analysts suggest that the shortfall has been caused by the world financial crisis, which unfortunately for Georgia became more acute in 2008 and continued into 2009.