MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

“The activities of the companies that have been financed within the Enterprise Georgia program are mostly successful and in general, they have positively contributed to the budget and the economy of Georgia. Enterprise Georgia is a successful program, which, besides direct effect, also has a huge indirect effect on popularization of business and entrepreneurial activities in Georgia,’ – the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development stated at the presentation held at the Holiday Inn hotel where the auditing and business consulting company Bidio introduced the results of the study on the effectiveness of the technical assistance sub-component of the industrial component and the accessibility to finances components of the Program. The study was carried out upon the request of the Enterprise Georgia Agency of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia.

100 beneficiaries enrolled in the Program at least for 2 years where selected for participation in the study which allowed to evaluate the efficiency of the program and its impact on the beneficiaries’ activities. 

From the list of those 100 companies, only 85 enterprises express will to participate in the study. Those companies included 30 startups and 55 existing enterprises that have been renewed and expanded with the assistance of the program.

“I would like to note that 17,6 million GEL was spent on financing these companies, but only taxes they paid in the budget amounted to over 40 million GEL. This program is targeted at introduction and further development of the entrepreneurship culture in Georgia, especially in the regions. This is not a project simply providing the financial support - this is a program providing trainings where we teach the business representatives to draft a business plan, etc. This is of outmost importance since, as I mentioned before, it has direct as well as indirect effects on the country’s economy,” – George Kobulia stated.
The study revealed the following aspects:  

• GDP generated by the beneficiaries in 2014-2018 exceeded 164 million GEL, where 54% share falls on the renewed companies and 46% on the startups;
• Income received by the beneficiaries (85 companies) in 2014-2018 equaled to 390 million GEL;
• Investments – the amount of the financial support provided to the beneficiaries in 2014-2018 in terms of the country’s gross domestic investments amounted to approximately 0,38% or over 247 million GEL;
• Net growth of the employment within the Program following the enrollment of the beneficiaries equals to 3,033 while the net salary paid is 25,6 million GEL;
• Taxes paid by the beneficiaries within the framework of the program in 2014-2018 exceeds 42,5 million GEL, which is 0,13% of the taxes paid in the country;
• Income from the export of the beneficiaries in 2013-2018 amounted to 311 million GEL;
• Competitiveness of the beneficiaries after enrollment in the program
• has been improved due to the expanded production, enhanced quality, diversification of the production which allowed for competition with the imported products.