Many households in Georgia lack reliable access to clean drinking water. The country’s water infrastructure, dating back to the Soviet era, is fragmented in many areas and urgently needs to be overhauled. The republic located in the southern Caucasus region aims to supply water around the clock to almost all major cities in the country.

In the greater area of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, Georgian Water and Power LLC is responsible for supplying drinking water and disposing of waste water. Around 542,000 households and businesses are supplied by the company, with a network of more than 2,900 km of water pipes and over 1,700 km of sewage pipes. To modernise the water supply and waste water disposal as well as reduce existing water leaks, Georgian Water and Power LLC has been rehabilitating the supply network since 2017. The supplier is also expanding the grid and converting its energy supply to renewable sources. DEG has extended a long-term loan to the company amounting to EUR 30 million for this purpose. This will lead to the creation of up to 300 jobs in the years to come.

The company received a long-term loan totalling EUR 60 million from DEG and the Dutch FMO as early as 2017, which was used primarily to upgrade the pipe system and reduce energy consumption by installing modern pumping and valve systems.