A new refrigeration plant was established with the financial support of the Rural Development Agency and the USAID Agriculture Program in Tortiza village, Gori Municipality.

The farm was opened by Ilia Tamarashvili, Director of the Rural Development Agency, Mamuka Sagareishvili, the State Representative of Shida Kartli and Peter Wiebler, USAID Georgia Mission Director.

It is especially important to create a storage infrastructure in the chain of common values ​​of agriculture, which allows farmers to store products in such a way as to maintain high quality and supply them to the market when needed, Ilia Tamarashvili, Director of the Rural Development Agency said.

According to Mamuka Saghareishvili, the State Representative of Shida Kartli Region, creation of new enterprises in the region is important for the economic strengthening of the region.

"The new refrigeration plant in Tortiza village is the result of joint work of USAID, the Government of Georgia and the private sector. We continue to work on similar programs and work closely with Georgia - said Peter Wiebler, USAID Georgia Mission Director.

Zurab Merebashvili, the farmer has invested 380,000 GEL in total in arranging the refrigeration farm, out of which 300,000 GEL is a preferential agro-credit. With the help of USAID's Agriculture Program, the farmer arranged a cold storage facility on an area of ​​480 square meters. 300 tons of products can be stored in the refrigeration farm. It is intended to sell products in the local market. The farm will employ 5 locals permanently and up to 20 locally seasonally. About 80 small-scale farmers will benefit from the project.

Zurab Merebashvili is also a beneficiary of the state program "Plant the Future". In 2016 and 2020 years the farmer received more than 51,000 GEL state funding for the cultivation of apple, cherry and pear orchards on 5 hectares and the arrangement of an irrigation system, including 45,000 GEL for the purchase of seedlings and more than 6,000 GEL - for the arrangement of a drip system.

The farmer stores the harvest from the orchards planted within the framework of "Plant the Future" in the refrigerator farm.

More than 165 million GEL loan is issued in total under the Preferential Agro Credit project for the development of storage and refrigeration infrastructure, with a co-financing of more than 25,700,000 GEL issued by the Agency.