Georgia: EU Support For Energy Efficiency Goes On

Recently, Katarina Mathernova, Deputy Director-General for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, visited the Kakheti region where one of the EU-supported Covenant of Mayors Demonstration is being implemented.

The Covenant of Mayors Demonstration Projects are part of the EU4Energy Initiative which promotes energy efficiency and the use of renewables in the Eastern partnership (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine). The EU4Energy Initiative finances projects and programs that help to reform energy markets and to reduce national energy dependence and consumption.

The project plans in particular to renovate two kindergartens, one in Telavi and a second one in Ikalto village. The renovation is aimed at reducing energy consumption and at switching to renewable energies like biomass heating systems. By the way, this project will help the institutions not to save only energy but also money.

“The European Union has been supporting Kakheti for many years already. And every time I come to Georgia, I meet people whose lives were changed for the better thanks to the EU. The local initiatives, which are supported by the EU, bring economic growth, social benefits and support the rights of and create new opportunities for the citizens,” - said Mathernova during her visit in Kakheti.

By Antoine Dewaest

Photo: European Union