Georgia's Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture and SOCAR have signed an agreement to extend the contract for the implementation of the "Agrodisel" project to support local farmers until 2021

The document was signed by Levan Davitashvili - Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, and Levan Giorgadze - Director of SOCAR Petroleum Georgia. The signing ceremony was attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Georgia Faig Guliyev, Director General of SOCAR Energy Georgia Mahir Mammadov and other officials of the Ministry.
During the meeting before the signing ceremony, Minister Levan Davitashvili greeted the guests, thanked the Azerbaijani government for its support in implementing the "Agrodisel" project to support local farmers during the pandemic, and expressed satisfaction with the current level of cooperation between the ministry and SOCAR. He noted that the program was successfully implemented in 2020 and it is gratifying that this cooperation will continue in 2021. The Minister said that last year the Georgian agricultural sector continued to be supplied with Azerbaijani diesel fuel under this program, and more than 125 farmers benefited from it. As a result of the sale of diesel fuel at discounted prices, local farmers have saved more than 7.0 million lari.
Ambassador Faig Guliyev thanked the other side for the invitation to participate in the signing ceremony, noting that the two countries have established close cooperation in all areas, including agriculture. It was noted that our countries have always stood by each other and supported each other in difficult times. A few years ago, at a time of high agricultural productivity in Georgia, there was a shortage and high demand for equipment, and to meet this need, the Azerbaijani side sent its equipment to Georgia. Today, in the context of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, solidarity and cooperation between our countries continue. In this regard, in order to support local farmers, the "Agrodisel" project was launched last year and an agreement was signed between SOCAR and the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia. The ambassador stressed that this project is another clear example of friendly and fraternal relations between the two countries.
Mahir Mammadov, General Director of SOCAR Energy Georgia, noted that the program was implemented to address the challenges faced by local farmers during the pandemic, and said that the results of the project for 2020 are positive. He thanked the Georgian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture for cooperation in this field and expressed hope that the project will contribute to the development of the agricultural sector in Georgia.