Georgia’s geographical location positions the country at the center of East-West (Black and Caspian Seas) and North-South (between Russia and Turkey) transit routes. The development of the transport sector in the country is essential for the country to achieve sustainable economic growth and to reduce poverty. Efficient transport infrastructure reduces the cost of doing business, attracts foreign investments, accelerates transit traffic growth and, in general, promotes economic activities.
In July 2020, the European Investment Bank awarded to NTU-led Consortium the EUR 5 Million budget Technical Assistance for “Project Management Support for Transport Connectivity in Georgia” with a duration of 5 years.
The overall objective of the project is to substantially enhance safety on Georgia’s global connectivity to Europe and local mobility through targeted interventions on the extended TEN-T network in Georgia, strengthening Georgia’s vital transport, trade links and economic growth. The specific objectives of the Technical Assistance operations of this project are:
- Enhance the Road Department’s engineering and technical capability in terms of project preparation, procurement, and implementation
- Improve overall effectiveness of the Road Department team, including removal of bottlenecks to implementation
- Provide support to the Road Department in this core activities by providing expert advice and capacity building on project/ program management, mainly on appraisal, road safety measures, environment and social management, procurement (including procurement planning) and contract management, monitoring and supervision, financial management, evaluation, and reporting.
How are we doing it
The project is carried out across nine Technical Activities, of which one is specifically dedicated to the provision of technical advisory services namely: Assist the Roads Department in financial management, monitoring and reporting of the EIB loan and Grant Agreements.
In this context, NTU is currently providing technical advices to the Road Department and is specifically:
- Assisting the Promoter in the tasks related to the processing of approvals and payments of the investment and preparation of disbursement requests.
- Assist in maintaining the overall up-to-date implementation programme with cash flow forecasts.
- Assisting the Promoter with its project reporting obligations as specified in the Finance Contract between the EIB and the Ministry of Finance of Georgia.
- Supporting in establishing a monitoring and reporting system for project implementation and completion.
- Advising on technical and / or other elements of any eventual EIB Finance Contract modifications
Thanks to the technical advices provided by NTU, the EIB Loan and Grant agreement is being managed by the Road Department in accordance with the relevant EIB standards and policies. The Road Department is being provided with concrete assistance for financial management as well as a comprehensive progress monitoring framework.
A sound and timely implementation of the assistance to the Roads Department in financial management, monitoring and reporting of the EIB loan and Grant Agreements, as well as the overall underlying Project, are contributing to bring significant benefits to the Georgia’s local communities, to Georgia’s global connectivity within Europe and to capacity strengthening. This includes effective technical and contractual coordination, efficient procurement processes, and strict financial oversight prior the anticipation of circumstances that may lead to a dispute situation, early resolution of conflicts, and adoption of appropriate technical standards for the optimal durability and serviceability of the roads.