2020-08-20
Today's Government meeting at the Administration of the Government was held under the chairmanship of Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. The Cabinet discussed 8 issues on its meeting agenda.
Prime Minister Makes Statements During Session of Government.
Yesterday, I heard a statement from the Ministry of Healthcare, which made it clear that people have appeared in the country who are trying to derive financial and, in some cases, political benefits by helping children and their parents receive the assistance that they are entitled to from the state. Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia made this statement during today's session of the government.
The head of the government noted that this is primarily a moral problem, adding that there might be a legal problem as well in the case of private individuals, and that the relevant agencies will take care of this issue.
"Of course, we can say unequivocally and with certainty that we do not need mediators with our citizens. Even though this is primarily a moral problem, there might be a legal problem as well in the case of private individuals, and the relevant agencies will take care of this. I would like to state and emphasize for the benefit of our citizens - especially those who still have language barriers and problems - that any state body or structure, social service agency, Liberty Bank, or any institution of the local municipality will help them fill out these applications as quickly as possible, without any financial remuneration," Giorgi Gakharia noted.
According to the Prime Minister, as of today, 600,868 children - 366,000 families - have already been registered.
"As you know, we have been working on a daily basis for several months now, considering that the global pandemic, as well as the deep economic crisis are still ongoing. We must remember that in the case of Georgia, the electoral process is ongoing in parallel, which we must also conduct at the highest level, and this is also the responsibility of the government and the authorities. However, of course, the most important thing for us is the health of our citizens, the retention of jobs, and the provision of social assistance to our citizens - especially the children. As you know, the program on the provision of social support to children that we announced has already been launched and, as of today, 600,868 children have already been registered. This figure represents 366,000 families in the country. Of course, these are impressive numbers. This is one of the most appropriate social programs we have implemented in recent years, which aims to support children and adolescents through the age of 17 - especially now, at a time when the school year is about to begin," the head of the government stated.
According to him, applications for the assistance will be accepted until 1 December, and the disbursement of the assistance will begin in September.
"These applications will be accepted until 1 December, and the disbursement of the corresponding assistance will begin in September. There is one important point here - of course, this assistance will reach every family, every person who thinks that he or she needs it and submits the corresponding application. I hope that we will not encounter similar moral problems, when some people try to convert the benefits intended for children into political dividends," Giorgi Gakharia noted.
In addition, by decision of the government, a new, additional program will be launched within the framework of the Plant the Future program, which will enable Georgian farmers whose seedlings were damaged or destroyed due to disasters to receive new, higher quality varieties in the form of assistance from the state. This program will apply to the grapevine as well.
"In July, disasters struck in several regions. Kakheti and Racha were especially affected by the hail. As you know, the Ministry of Agriculture is actively working in the field of agricultural insurance. However, apart from the fact that our farmers still require encouragement to become more involved and to take advantage of this program, this is not the main issue. The main issue is that this program did not cover seedlings - it covered the risk of losing the harvest. As of today, we have seen that many of our farmers have lost their seedlings as a result of the hail. Therefore, we have decided that a new, additional program will be launched within the framework of this program, which will enable Georgian farmers whose seedlings were damaged or destroyed due to disasters to receive new, higher quality varieties in the form of assistance from the state, in order for them to be able to restore their perennial gardens. Most importantly, this applies to the grapevine as well. With this program, the Ministry of Agriculture will help Georgian farmers and winegrowers replace the varieties of the grapevine that are abundant in the country - such as Rkatsiteli - with more efficient and valuable grapevine varieties, if they wish to do so," Giorgi Gakharia stated.
According to the head of the government, the aforementioned program will begin with the farmers who were affected by disasters after 15 July 2020.
"This is very important because we will be able to gradually replace the grapevine, as well as other perennial crops with other, higher quality varieties. Of course, this will further strengthen our farmers and their efficiency," Giorgi Gakharia stated.
The Prime Minister also responded to the fact that the international rating agency Fitch kept Georgia's rating unchanged, which, in his opinion, confirms the prudence of the economic policy pursued by the Georgian Government and authorities.
"Despite the fact that the country is quite effective in combating the spread of the virus, the economic crisis nonetheless remains a serious component of our daily lives. With regard to the economic crisis, we will need to work and fight together for several years in order to restore the excellent economic indicators with which we concluded 2019 and began 2020," the Prime Minister noted.
Giorgi Gakharia stressed that the macroeconomic stability of the country is the main goal of the government during the implementation of these reforms and anti-crisis plans.
"Combating the crisis is the best opportunity for us to continue implementing structural reforms of the economy. This gives us the opportunity to emerge quickly and to use the crisis as an opportunity for each and every one of our businessmen and entrepreneurs, as well as the Georgian economy. The macroeconomic stability of the country is our main goal during the implementation of these reforms and anti-crisis plans which, fortunately, was noted by international rating agencies. Fitch kept Georgia's rating unchanged under conditions of the global economic crisis. I would like to emphasize that this happened under conditions of the global economic crisis. There are not many such countries. This directly confirms the prudence of the economic policy pursued by the Georgian Government and the authorities, which we developed together with our international partners. Fitch forecasts Georgia's economy to contract by approximately 4.8 percent in 2020, while from 2021, Fitch forecasts positive economic growth of up to 4.5 percent. What is important here is that we truly need to use this crisis as an opportunity. The goal is simple: We must do our best and manage to retain jobs, minimize the damage done to the economy, prepare the economy, and keep it in such shape that will ensure that Georgia has one of the best positions under conditions of post-crisis economic growth. We, all of us, can achieve this together. It is important not to forget to continue implementing structural reforms of the economy together with anti-crisis measures in order to further improve the investment and business environment in the country. The unchanged Fitch rating is a very strong message for the investment environment, according to which the Georgian economy is healthy and has the prospect of swift recovery," the Prime Minister stated.
Additionally, the Government of Georgia is launching a new program, which is entitled The State, Your Partner. It will be presented today in Ambrolauri.
The new program is an opportunity to expand state support programs on a regional scale, and to provide every farmer with comprehensive information on the spot, while also allowing him or her to take part in these state programs.
Giorgi Gakharia thanked the Ministry of Economy, the National Tourism Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Justice for developing this program in a timely manner.
"This is a very important step for every Georgian family that is prepared to take certain risks and to start their own entrepreneurial business. Until now, we had gathered all of these programs in the relevant ministries - the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economy, and the National Tourism Administration - and each of our citizens from the regions had to come to Tbilisi to learn about these programs and to become a beneficiary. Today, with the help of the Ministry of Justice, any citizen of Georgia can visit one of the 80 Community Centers and 24 Justice Houses in more than 100 populated places throughout Georgia to receive precisely the services that were available in the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economy, and the National Tourism Administration in Tbilisi. This is a highly appropriate decision, the quick implementation of which allows us to expand state support programs on a regional scale. It also provides every farmer with the opportunity to receive comprehensive information on the spot, at his or her place of residence, and to take part in these programs, which is very important. We will announce the presentation and the beginning of this program in Ambrolauri today. This is also symbolic because as you know, Ambrolauri is facing some difficulties due to the Racha disaster, and this will be an important step. This will give each of our citizens the opportunity to quickly take part in state support programs and to start their own business, which will lead to the country becoming stronger," the Prime Minister stated.
Furthermore, in order to increase the accessibility of treatment for cancer patents, the list of anti-cancer drugs covered by the Universal Healthcare Program has been expanded and, correspondingly, the annual limit on medicine has been increased by 8,000 GEL. The Government of Georgia made the corresponding decision during today's session of the government.
As Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia stated during the session of the government, this is an additional component that serves to improve the extremely important program presented by the Ministry of Healthcare. It will enable cancer patients to undergo a full course of treatment with state funding.
"Unfortunately, access to healthcare services remains problematic in the country, especially in terms of the treatment of oncological diseases. Until now, the problem was the fourth stage when, in case of tumor detection, our citizens had to fund their treatment out of their own pocket. As of today, this program is increasing by 8,000 GEL, which will practically enable every one of our citizens who is battling this difficult disease to complete a full course of treatment without any out-of-pocket expenses. Unfortunately, 1,972 citizens of Georgia are making use of this program today and this constitutes extremely important support for these people," the Prime Minister noted, adding that this is state support for all those people who are battling this difficult disease, and that they will be able to receive full treatment at the expense of the state.
The new program will affect a total of up to 40,000 citizens of Georgia who are cancer patients.
Press Service of the Government Administration