Germany Allocates Euro3mln Grant to Support Families Affected by Pandemic, Covid-19 Green Passes Come into Force in Georgia

By Khatia Bzhalava

Thursday, December 2

The support aims at alleviating the economic consequences for those families in Georgia who have lost their income due to the pandemic.

The green passport requirement will apply only to citizens over the age of 18.

Germany has allocated a Euro3mln grant to Georgia for the support of vulnerable families in the country affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. An agreement was signed on November 30 between the Minister of Finance of Georgia Lasha Khutsishvili and the German Development Bank’s (KfW) South Caucasus Office Director Birgit Holderied-Kress.

According to the German Embassy, the grant comes as part of the financial support from Germany against Covid-19 allocated in 2020, which included a Euro5.8 million grant and a Euro15 million low-interest loan. The support aims at alleviating the economic consequences for those families in Georgia who have lost their income due to the pandemic.

The increased grant amount will be used to finance more than 135,000 social security payments to vulnerable families. “This support will contribute not only to the social protection of many families but also to the strengthening of the social protection system,” reads the statement of the embassy.

Yesterday Georgia’s system of COVID-19 green passes, required for entering public spaces, went into force. The restriction on restaurant opening hours has been also lifted, allowing them to operate past 23:00.

The green status is granted to an individual if they are fully vaccinated, have recovered from COVID, or have taken a PCR test within the last 72 hours, or an antigen test within 24 hours. Green passes can be obtained by registering on one of Georgia’s two mobile applications – Georgia e-Health and CovidPass Georgia. Georgia e-Health will be mostly used during travels in foreign countries to ensure entry in the 51 countries which are part of the EU digital Covid-19 certification system.

Green Passport admission is required for restaurants, cafes, and bars (both outdoor and indoor), cinemas, theatres, opera houses, museums, concert halls, entertainment centres, casinos and gambling sites, spa centres, fitness clubs, hotels, and ski lifts at winter resorts.