EU provides laboratory equipment to Georgia to improve crime investigation

On 20 April, the EU handed over a Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry System (GC-MS) to the Forensic-Criminalistics Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. The total value of the donated equipment is $246,000. This support is provided under the EU’s SAFE programme, in partnership with the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

The GC-MS system identifies different substances within a test sample, and is used in drug detection, fire investigation, environmental analysis, explosives investigation, and identification of unknown samples, and is used by leading laboratories all around the world. The new system allows results in less than an hour. This will significantly improve capacities for speedy and quality forensic examinations.

“This is the part of a wider EU programme, called ‘SAFE’, which started two years ago with an EU contribution of 120 million GEL. The main purpose of SAFE is to strengthen the security sector in Georgia. It includes equipment and training to improve the operational and analytical capacities of law enforcement authorities,” said Sigrid Brettel, Head of the Cooperation Section of the EU Delegation to Georgia.

The EU’s SAFE programme has been implemented since July 2019.

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Press release