Press Release
U.S. Government Supports Winter Heating Assistance
December 18,2000
Tbilisi--For the third year, the U.S. Government is providing assistance to approximately 100,000 vulnerable Georgians to pay for electricity during the winter months through the Georgia Winter Heating Assistance Program (GWHAP). Funded by the U.S. Government through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), GWHAP will provide up to three million dollars for heating assistance. The program -- administered by USAID contractor PA Consulting -- will pay for electricity usage of eligible recipients during the months of December, January, and February this winter.
A GWHAP signing ceremony will be held on Monday, December 18 at the Ministry of Energy. Signing for the United States will be U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Kenneth Yalowitz and USAID/Caucasus Mission Director Michael Farbman. Signing for the Georgian side will be Minister of Fuel and Energy David Mirtskhulava, Minister of Finance Zurab Noghaideli, Director of the Georgian Wholesale Electricity Market David Jibgashvili, Georgian National Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Elizbar Eristavi, Minister of Health and Social Welfare Avtendil Jorbenadze, and Minister of Refugees and Accommodation Valerian Vashakidze. PA Consulting Chief of Party Dean White also will attend the signing ceremony.
Last winter, GWHAP aided more than 110,000 households, 200 institutions, including orphanages, schools, kindergartens and hospitals, and 42 collective centers for internally displaced persons. Beneficiaries are selected using an extensive database of vulnerable people developed by the U.S. organization Counterpart International. Information on eligibility for the program will be available by the end of December 2000, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
The signing ceremony will take place on Monday, December 18, 2000 at 2:00 p.m. at the Ministry of Fuel and Energy, 30 Dadiani Avenue. Please call the Ministry of Fuel and Energy at 38-70-71 for more information.