On the Approval of the Procedure for Submission of Application for the Investment Plan and Amendments thereto and for its Record Keeping

Order No 2-1187

of the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

3 August 2021

Tbilisi

On the Approval of the Procedure for Submission of Application for the Investment Plan and Amendments thereto and for its Record Keeping

On the basis of Article 4(2) of the Procedure for Submission of the Investment Plan and Making Decision in relation to the Investment Plan approved by the Ordinance No 222 of 18 May 2021 of the Government of Georgia on the Approval of the Procedure for the Submission of the Investment Plan and Making Decision in relation to the Investment Plan, I order:

Article 1

The attached Procedure for Submission of Application for the Investment Plan and Amendments thereto and for its Record Keeping shall be approved.

Article 2

This Order shall enter into force upon promulgation.

Minister of Environmental Protection and                 Levan Davitashvili

Agriculture of Georgia

Procedure for Submission of Application for the Investment Plan and

Amendments thereto and for its Record Keeping

Article 1 General Provisions

1. The Procedure for Submission of Application for the Investment Plan and Amendments thereto and on its Record Keeping (the Procedure) shall determine the procedures for receiving applications for the investment plan and amendments thereto, record keeping, concluding an agreement with the interested person and supervising the implementation of the investment plan of the LEPL National Agency for Sustainable Land Management and Land Use Monitoring (the Agency) operating under the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia (the Ministry).

2. For the purposes of this Procedure, the terms determined by Article 2 of the Procedure for Submission of the Investment Plan and Making Decision in relation to the Investment Plan approved by the Ordinance No 222 of 18 May 2021 of the Government of Georgia on the Approval of the Procedure for Submission of the Investment Plan and Making Decision in relation to the Investment Plan.

Article 2 Submitting an application for the investment plan

1. The interested person shall submit the Application (Application for the Investment Plan - Annex No 1) and the attached documents to the Agency.

2. Together with the Application, the interested person shall submit the following documents to the Agency:

a) the investment plan developed in accordance with Article 7(1) of the Procedure for Submission of the Investment Plan and Making Decision in relation to the Investment Plan approved by the Ordinance N 222 of 18 May 2021 of the Government of Georgia on the Approval of the Procedure for Submission of the Investment Plan and Making Decision in relation to the Investment Plan;

b) properly issued/drawn up documentation on the interested person/partners of the interested person;

c) extract on the plot of agricultural land from the National Agency of Public Registry;

d) duly certified consent of the owner of the plot of agricultural land or a preliminary agreement on the alienation of the plot of land;

e) a document confirming the payment of the service fee.

3. The interested person shall be authorised to submit additional documentation/information not referred to in paragraph 2 of this article, which shall promote a comprehensive review of the investment plan.

4. In accordance with paragraph 1 of this article, the application filled in by the interested person shall be registered by the Agency and shall be assigned the relevant registration number. The application shall be uploaded to the electronic record keeping programme of the Agency.

5. When submitting the documentation, the person shall be authorised to request keeping the confidentiality of the submitted information containing the commercial secret, in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia.

Article 3 Acceptance of an application for the investment plan

1. Within 5 working days after the registration of the Application, the authorised structural unit of the Agency shall verify its compliance with the requirements of the legislation of Georgia and the Ordinance No 222 of 18 May 2021 of the Government of Georgia On the Approval of the Procedure for Submission of the Investment Plan and Making Decision in relation to the Investment Plan, and submit the relevant conclusion to the Chairperson of the Agency, who shall make one of the following decisions:

a) on the acceptance of the application;

b) on establishing a shortcoming in the application;

c) on the refusal to review the application.

2. In case of making a decision on establishing a shortcoming in the application, the interested person shall be given 30 calendar days to eliminate the shortcoming. This period, on the basis of a substantiated written request of the interested person, may be extended for an additional 30 calendar days, on which the Agency shall issue a relevant individual administrative act.

3. If the shortcoming has not been eliminated by the additional documents submitted to the Agency within the period provided for by paragraph 2 of this article, the Agency shall make decision thereon within 3 working days after the submission of the documentation and notify the interested person accordingly. The running of the period of shortcoming shall be suspended from the submission of additional documentation to the Agency to the delivery of the decision to the interested person.

4. In case of failure of an interested person to eliminate the shortcoming within the period provided for by paragraph 2 of this article, the Agency shall make a decision on the refusal to review the application within 5 working days after the expiry of the above period.

5. In case the interested person eliminates the shortcoming within the period established, the Agency shall, within 5 working days after the submission of additional documentation/information, make a decision on the acceptance of the application.

Article 4 Measures to be taken by the Agency in case of accepting an application for the investment plan

1. After accepting the application for the investment plan, the Agency shall:

a) carry out a prior request for information from the relevant municipality;

b) be authorised to send the investment plan, based on its content, for agreement to the relevant institution of the executive authority of Georgia that implements the state policy in the relevant field.

2. Due to the National Security Policy, the Agency shall immediately send the investment plan submitted on the plot(s) of agricultural land located within the border line as defined by the Law of Georgia on the State Border of Georgia to the authorised body within the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.

3. Failure of the agencies provided for by paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article to submit the relevant information to the Agency within the established period shall lead to the results determined by paragraphs 3-5 of Article 6 of the Procedure for Submission of the Investment Plan and Making Decision in relation to the Investment Plan approved by the Ordinance No 222 of 18 May 2021 of the Government of Georgia on the Approval of the Procedure for Submission of the Investment Plan and Making Decision in relation to the Investment Plan.

4. If the information submitted in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article to the Agency by the authorised body within the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia provides for the refusal on consent, the interested person shall be immediately notified accordingly. Within 10 working days, the interested person shall be authorised to ensure the correction of the investment plan and submission of the relevant documentation to the Agency. Before its submission, the running of the period for review of the application for the investment plan shall be suspended. In case of failure to submit the corrected documentation, the Agency shall make a decision on the refusal to review the application.

5. Following the measures provided for by this article, the relevant structural unit of the Agency shall ensure the preparation of the investment plan and the information received/processed for submission to the Investment Plan Review Board.

Article 5 Investment Plan Review Board

1. The Investment Plan Review Board (the Board) is an advisory body established for the purpose of peer review of an application for the investment plan.

2. The Board shall consider both the investment plan and the amendment thereto and the attached documentation in accordance with the rules of operation of the Investment Plan Review Board.

3. The Agency shall submit the minutes of the Board and the investment plan/amendment thereto, together with the attached documentation, to the Minister not later than 5 working days after the review of the issue by the Board.

Article 6 Making a decision on the investment plan

1. The Ministry shall present the investment plan received from the Agency at the session of the Government of Georgia within 2 weeks.

2. The Agency shall immediately notify the interested person of the decision made by the Government of Georgia, but not later than 5 working days after the Agency receives the decision of the Government.

Article 7 Concluding an agreement

1. The interested person shall be obliged to submit an unconditional and irrevocable bank guarantee to the Agency not later than 4 months after the Government of Georgia makes a decision on the approval of the investment plan. Within 10 calendar days after the submission of the above guarantee, the Agency shall conclude an agreement (Agreement between LEPL the National Agency for Sustainable Land Management and Land Use Monitoring and the person implementing the investment plan, Annex No 3).

2. The interested person shall be obliged to submit to the Agency an unconditional and irrevocable bank guarantee in the amount of 2 % of the investment obligation issued by the banking institution or insurance organisation licensed in accordance with the legislation of Georgia. The validity of an unconditional and irrevocable bank guarantee shall be four months longer than the term of fulfilment of the investment obligations provided for by the investment plan.

Article 8 Supervising the implementation of the investment plan

1. The implementation of the investment plan shall be supervised by the Agency, through the relevant authorised structural unit.

2. In order to confirm the fulfilment of the obligations provided for by the investment plan, the person implementing the investment plan shall annually submit to the Agency an interim expert/audit report on the fulfilment of the obligation assumed during the last reporting year, which shall be calculated from the date of registration of the obligation and shall constitute the total 12 months, within not later than 60 days after the end of the reporting year.

3. The person implementing the investment plan shall, within 60 calendar days after the full implementation of the investment plan, submit to the Agency an expert/audit report on the fulfilment of the obligations provided for by the investment plan.

4. The expert/audit report shall be developed by a person included in the Registry maintained by a state subordinate agency called the Service for Accounting, Reporting and Audit Supervision operating within the system of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia.

5. Failure to submit an expert/audit report within the period determined by paragraphs 2 and 3 of this article shall result in the imposition of a fine in the amount of 0.02 % of the investment to be made on the person implementing the investment plan for each overdue day during the reporting period, that shall be calculated from the day following the expiry of the term determined for submitting the expert/audit report and the person shall be obliged to submit to the Agency the relevant expert/audit report within the next 60 calendar days.

6. Failure to submit an expert/audit report within the period provided for by paragraph 5 of this article shall be deemed as a failure to fulfil the investment plan, and the measures established by the legislation of Georgia and this Procedure shall apply to the person making the investment.

7. In case of failure to implement the investment plan, the Agency shall develop a report and, together with the attached documentation, submit it to the Minister for the purpose of making a decision.

8. The Agency shall submit the expert/audit report provided for by paragraph 3 of this article confirming the full implementation of the investment plan to the Minister for the purpose of making a decision on confirmation of fulfilment of the obligations provided for by the investment plan.

9. The decision of the Minister on the confirmation of the implementation of the investment plan shall be submitted to the person making the investment within not later than 1 week after the Agency receives it.

Article 9 Making amendments to the investment plan approved by the Government of Georgia

1. The person implementing the investment plan shall apply to the Agency for making amendments to the investment plan approved by the Government of Georgia and submit a filled in application (Application for making amendments to the investment plan, Annex No 2) accordingly.

2. An amendment to the investment plan shall comply with the requirements for the investment plan.

3. The Agency shall make a decision on acceptance within 5 working days after the registration of the application for making amendment to the investment plan in accordance with the procedure established by Article 3 of this Procedure.

4. Following the acceptance of the application for making amendment to the investment plan, the Agency shall ensure that the amendment to the investment plan and the information received/processed are submitted to the Board for review.