| Project Detail |
Provision of a sovereign loan of up to EUR 50 million to Georgia for on-lending to the city of Tbilisi (the "city") for the benefit of the Tbilisi Transport Company Ltd (the "company"), a municipal company, which operates buses, the metro system and cable cars in Tbilisi. The loan is divided in 2 tranches: EUR 35 million and EUR 15 million, respectively.
The project will finance a new bus fleet of modern 12-meter low- floor compressed natural gas ("CNG") buses, and rehabilitation/modernisation of bus depots for the city.
Project Objectives
The investment will improve the reliability, safety and efficiency of public transport, while the CNG technology will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The project will introduce low-floor buses, bringing significant social benefits by facilitating easy access for passengers with prams and shopping bags, especially women, and those with limited movement, including the elderly and the disabled. Moreover, the new buses will improve the safety of bus operations.
Transition Impact
The project is part of Green Cities 2 ("GrCF2") and a follow-on investment to the Tbilisi Green City Action Plan ("GCAP").
GrCF2s primary goal is to achieve significant environmental improvements and promote the Green transition quality within the relevant cities. GrCF2 also aims to build necessary capacity and facilitate better coordination and buy-in among various stakeholders in order to improve the governance, operational efficiency and financial sustainability of the targeted investments and initiatives. Under GrCF2, the EBRD will put further emphasis on implementation of GCAPs, with at least half of all sub-investments expected to be follow-on transactions addressing critical environmental challenges identified by the GCAPs. The Bank will also seek to introduce more robust policy advice on the back of lessons learned, targeted studies and technical assistance. The overall transition impact will stem from the Green and the Well-Governed qualities.
The proposed project is expected to address the Green transition objectives on the back of significant environmental benefits through the provision of clean vehicles and the continued improvement of public transport services as a viable alternative to car based transportation in Tbilisi. The project will further support the Well-Governed objective through continued support of sector reforms and re-routing of bus services in Tbilisi. |
