On October 27, 2020, the first three-party memorandum has been signed between the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development’s agency Enterprise Georgia, TBC Leasing and the owner of the fishing ship, on the basis of which the construction of the new fishing ship has been funded as part of the Enterprise Georgia’s industrial component.
“We are pleased to sign off first fishing ship in Georgia . We are also working with banks on other numerous projects and we will have more ships in coming months. All this will, of course, benefit Poti, the country and increase our fishing sector's productivity” states Enterprise Georgia CEO, Mikheil Khidureli.
It should be noted that the Viking type ship will be built in Turkey, Trabzon. It will be equipped with modern technologies and a fishing net, which is designed for fishing in the Black sea on the European Anchovy.
According the fisherman, Gocha Labartkhava, the yearly production will exceed 4 tons. After initiating the fishing activities, the company will employ 18 people. It should be noted that Gocha is planning to develop a fridge for storing European Anchovy, allowing him to export the product to Turkey during the low-supply months.
The fisherman is the agency’s financial support mechanism, as part of which Enterprise Georgia will be co-financing the fishing ship’s leasing interest rate for the first 3 years. The total investment of the project is going to be 2,158,182 GEL.
Supporting the fishing sector as a segment of the maritime industry is now one of Enterprise Georgia’s priorities, which is a result of the collaborative work between the Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Enterprise Georgia, and the Maritime Transport Agency of Georgia.
Through the program’s support, the fishing fleet will enhance considerably and, as a result, create new work opportunities. Implementing modern technologies in the sector will considerably increase the diversity, as well as the volume, of sea produce and the geographic reach of its distribution.
The program simultaneously gives out under 5 Million GEL of support as part of the Credit Guarantee Mechanism (providing a 90% guarantee) and refinancing of the Bank loan plus the 3% co-financing opportunity. It is also possible to lease a ship. In this case, the re-financing commission plus the 5% co-financing mechanisms are activated.
With their new ships, the anglers will be able to meet the maximum fishing quota, which is not possible today. It should be noted that the fishermen today are renting fishing ships from other countries, because Georgian ships are in dire conditions. Today, we have 30 fishing ships where under 500 fishermen and sailors are employed. Due to relatively dysfunctional ships existent on the local market, fishermen and sailors are not able to get retrained.
