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Good practice Imported

Subsidised Advisory Vouchers for SMEs — EBRD's Advice for Small Businesses in Georgia

Georgia · Tbilisi · See the Georgia profile · See the Tbilisi profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 66% 62/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2003, EBRD advisers have run ~1,150 subsidised consulting projects with Georgian SMEs — half outside Tbilisi, a fifth women-led. Case example ASP-GEORGIA: +71% turnover, +90% staff. EU4Business reports ~170 Georgian firms reached via its EBRD credit line since 2016.

~1,150
Subsidised consulting projects completed since 2003 (2003-2026)
~50%
Projects delivered outside Tbilisi (2003-2026)
~20%
Projects with women leading/managing the firm (2003-2026)
+71%
ASP-GEORGIA turnover growth (case study)
+90%
ASP-GEORGIA headcount growth (case study)
55 to 117 employees
Lopota Tour Services employment growth (case study)
~170
Georgian companies supported via EBRD credit-line channel (since 2016)
Subsidised Advisory Vouchers for SMEs — EBRD's Advice for Small Businesses in Georgia

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with EU4Business co-financing
Period
Operating in Georgia since 2016; group-wide client data 2014–2016; EBRD Independent Evaluation Department review published April 2026
Keywords
business advisory services, SME consulting, export readiness, quality certification

Context

Georgian small and medium enterprises historically had limited access to affordable, vetted business consulting on topics such as export readiness, quality certification and financial management.

Objectives

Since 2016, the EBRD's Advice for Small Businesses programme has aimed to close that gap by co-funding fixed-scope consulting assignments delivered by local consultants vetted and matched by EBRD staff in Tbilisi, with EU4Business layering grant incentives and international advisers on top since 2009.

Activities

The EBRD typically co-funds 50-70% of each consulting assignment, drawing on financing from the EU's EU4Business initiative, the Early Transition Countries Fund, Sweden and the EBRD's own Shareholder Special Fund.

Results

Since its 2003 launch the programme has completed around 1,150 subsidised consulting projects with Georgian SMEs, roughly half outside Tbilisi and about a fifth with women leading or managing the enterprise; publicised case studies include ASP-GEORGIA, whose turnover grew 71% and headcount grew 90% after support, and Lopota Tour Services, which grew from 55 to 117 employees, while EU4Business reports close to 170 Georgian companies supported through the EBRD credit-line channel alone since 2016.

Conclusions

EBRD's Independent Evaluation Department published a fresh Small Business Initiative Phase II review in April 2026, but country-disaggregated causal results could not be extracted from it in this round of research, so the programme's typical effect on the broader caseload remains unestablished beyond the publicised case studies.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Individual assignments are fixed-scope and co-funded 50-70% by EBRD/EU4Business financing rather than large capital works.
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Each consulting assignment is a fixed-scope, short engagement; the overall programme has operated continuously in Georgia since 2003, expanded through EU4Business since 2016.
Staffing & skills
EBRD advisers based in Tbilisi who vet and match local consultants, local consulting firms delivering the fixed-scope assignments, EU4Business grant administration

Conditions for success

  • Co-funding (50-70%) lowers the cost barrier for SMEs to engage a vetted consultant
  • EBRD staff match firms to consultants with relevant sector expertise
  • Layered donor financing (EU4Business, Early Transition Countries Fund, Sweden, EBRD Shareholder Special Fund) diversifies funding risk

Common failure modes

  • The model depends on continued EBRD/EU donor co-financing rather than firms' willingness to pay market consulting rates, since subsidy rates run as high as 50-90%
  • Publicised results rely on a small number of case-study firms rather than a full-caseload evaluation

Where it fits

Governance type
donor/development-bank co-financed SME support scheme
Scale
national programme in Georgia, part of a wider ~40-country EBRD model
Income level
upper-middle-income transition economy

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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