The Agrarian Issues Committee discussed and endorsed the Draft Law on Windbreak (Shelter) Belts, introduced by Nino Tandilashvili, the First Deputy Environmental Protection and Agriculture Minister.

The amendment extends the term for the inventory count of the windbreak belts on the country’s territory. Per her information, the applied legal norms envisage the accomplishment of the inventory count of the windbreak belts by the National Agency for Sustainable Land Management and Land Use Monitoring as of March 1, 2025.

“Despite the intensive inventory count, the process has covered approximately 6,000 hectares so far. In contrast, the total area of the windbreak belts is 17,938.15 hectares. Due to objective grounds, the inventory county has not been completed within the established timeframe. Consequently, as the completion process is anticipated to take longer, it has been deemed expedient to extend the term until January 1, 2027, rather than March 1, 2025”, - she elucidated.

According to Gela Samkharauli, the Chair of the Committee, the windbreak belts are crucial for agricultural development, and the authorities will make every effort to complete the inventory of the belts on time and expedite their development.

“In the past, our Committee took the initiative to draft the Law on Windbreak Belts. This legislation was a significant advancement, as in previous years, during the period of unrest, all windbreak belts had been destroyed, resulting in unfortunate consequences. Regrettably, even today, windbreak belts have been eliminated due to the burning of perennial plants”, - he stated, expressing his hope that the Ministry takes the appeal of the Committee into account and simultaneously start the restoration of the preserved belts.

The Draft Law is submitted for expedited consideration.

The Committee also discussed the Change N1 and the Letter of Refusal to the Financial Agreement between Georgia and EIB of December 22, 2022, (Georgia-Zemo Samgori Irrigation Project) and approved its ratification. The document was introduced by Nino Tandilashvili.