Project Description
The senior secured loan of up to USD 10,000,000 to JSC Evex Hospitals ("Evex"). Proceeds to finance capital expenditures as well as partially refinance the local currency private bonds which are maturing in July 2022.
Project Objectives
The Project will finance Evex's capital expenditures programme which includes: (i) introduction of additional services across the selected hospitals and (ii) planned upgrade of number of regional hospitals. The Project also entails partial refinancing of the maturing private local currency bonds of Evex which will benefit liquidity position of the company.
Transition Impact
The transition impact of the project is based on the Competitive and Inclusive qualities.
Under the Competitive quality, the project will lead to better quality of healthcare services through significant improvements to practices for the prevention and mitigation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) across all the relevant facilities of the client.
Under the Inclusive quality, the project will improve access to specialist nursing skills among Georgia's healthcare workforce through the development of new, internally certified training programmes on in-hospital care, addressing ongoing and life-threatening skills gaps within the sector. The new training programmes will broaden career opportunities for Georgia's medical professionals while improving standards of care. The project will furthermore establish a public-private partnership platform to bolster and modernise human capital development within Georgia's healthcare workforce in partnership with the Investors' Council, healthcare providers and related public authorities.
Client Information
EVEX HOSPITALS JSC
Evex Hospitals is the largest healthcare service provider in Georgia. Evex Hospitals offers wide-ranging impatient services through a network of 17 referral hospitals in the capital and regions with the total bed capacity of 2,600.
EBRD Finance Summary
USD 10,000,000.00
Total Project Cost
USD 10,000,000.00
Additionality
EBRD's additionality stems from offering financing that is not easily available in the market from commercial sources on comparable terms and conditions and helping the client achieve higher equal opportunities standards as well as higher quality standards in the area of Antimicrobial Resistance.
Environmental and Social Summary
Categorised B (2019ESP). GHG is an existing client with several preceding projects, and their E&S performance has been satisfactory to date. For the most recent project with GHG, ESD reviewed the corporate Environmental & Social Due Diligence (ESDD) Questionnaire in April 2020. In addition, ESD reviewed GHG's annual environmental report in December 2021. The most recent monitoring visit to their hospital and laboratory funded by the Bank was in October 2019 in conjunction with an Antibiotics Resistance (AMR) Risk Management workshop following a technical hospital audit. For this new project, ESDD was carried out by ESD by reviewing the status of the existing Environmental & Social Action Plan (ESAP) associated with the
previous projects with the client. The ESDD shows that GHG has capacities to implement the new project in compliance with PRs. An updated ESAP has been developed which needs to be agreed by the client prior to the Board. GHG is required to ensure that the project complies with EBRD PRs, to implements the updated ESAP as well as continue to submit an annual environmental and social report to the Bank.
The updated comprehensive ESAP reflects healthcare-specific health & safety of the patients and staff, the steady progress of the existing ESAP implementation and the context of the project as well as still required provisions to address the pandemic in the healthcare facility. It comprised of the continuing HR and OHS management, building life & fire safety management, environmental risk management including medical & hazardous waste and effulgent management and monitoring, respect of patient rights and AMR risk management including in-hospital infection prevention & control, antibiotics stewardship, laboratory capacity building and surveillance. On-line monitoring on GHG's engagement with Antimicrobial Resistance ("AMR") issues based on the 2019 AMR audit, and capacity building training is planned in coming months. Any gaps identified in the monitoring will be further supported by an additional e-learning medium-term training scheme. Those have been also incorporated into the ESAP. The Bank will monitor the project by reviewing an annual environmental and social report as well as a visit if deemed necessary.
Company Contact Information
Ketevan Kalandarishvili
kkalandarishvili@ghg.com.ge
+995322550505
+995322550505
www.ghg.com.ge
142 Beliashvili St. Tbilisi 0159, Georgia.
Implementation summary
PSD last updated
23 Jun 2022
Understanding Transition
Further information regarding the EBRD’s approach to measuring transition impact is available here.
Business opportunities
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Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
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General enquiries
Specific enquiries can be made using the EBRD Enquiries form.
Environmental and Social Policy (ESP)
The ESP and the associated Performance Requirements (PRs) set out the ways in which the EBRD implements its commitment to promoting “environmentally sound and sustainable development”. The ESP and the PRs include specific provisions for clients to comply with the applicable requirements of national laws on public information and consultation as well as to establish a grievance mechanism to receive and facilitate resolution of stakeholders’ concerns and grievances, in particular, about environmental and social performance of the client and the project. Proportionate to the nature and scale of a project’s environmental and social risks and impacts, the EBRD additionally requires its clients to disclose information, as appropriate, about the risks and impacts arising from projects or to undertake meaningful consultation with stakeholders and consider and respond to their feedback.
More information on the EBRD’s practices in this regard is set out in the ESP.
Integrity and Compliance
The EBRD's Office of the Chief Compliance Officer (OCCO) promotes good governance and ensures that the highest standards of integrity are applied to all activities of the Bank in accordance with international best practice. Integrity due diligence is conducted on all Bank clients to ensure that projects do not present unacceptable integrity or reputational risks to the Bank. The Bank believes that identifying and resolving issues at the project assessment approval stages is the most effective means of ensuring the integrity of Bank transactions. OCCO plays a key role in these protective efforts, and also helps to monitor integrity risks in projects post-investment.
OCCO is also responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, corruption and misconduct in EBRD-financed projects. Anyone, both within or outside the Bank, who suspects fraud or corruption should submit a written report to the Chief Compliance Officer by email to compliance@ebrd.com. All matters reported will be handled by OCCO for follow-up. All reports, including anonymous ones, will be reviewed. Reports can be made in any language of the Bank or of the Bank's countries of operation. The information provided must be made in good faith.
Access to Information Policy (AIP)
The AIP sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations following its entry into force on 1 January 2020. Please visit the Access to Information Policy page to find out what information is available from the EBRD website.
Specific requests for information can be made using the EBRD Enquiries form.
Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)
If efforts to address environmental, social or public disclosure concerns with the Client or the Bank are unsuccessful (e.g. through the Client’s Project-level grievance mechanism or through direct engagement with Bank management), individuals and organisations may seek to address their concerns through the EBRD’s Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM).
IPAM independently reviews Project issues that are believed to have caused (or to be likely to cause) harm. The purpose of the Mechanism is: to support dialogue between Project stakeholders to resolve environmental, social and public disclosure issues; to determine whether the Bank has complied with its Environmental and Social Policy or Project-specific provisions of its Access to Information Policy; and where applicable, to address any existing non-compliance with these policies, while preventing future non-compliance by the Bank.
Please visit the Independent Project Accountability Mechanism webpage to find out more about IPAM and its mandate; how to submit a Request for review; or contact IPAM via email ipam@ebrd.com to get guidance and more information on IPAM and how to submit a request.
