2020-08-27
Today's Government meeting at the Administration of the Government was held under the chairmanship of Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. The Cabinet discussed 7 issues on its meeting agenda.
Prime Minister Makes Statements During Session of Government
As you know, we recently announced a social support package for children under the age of 18, which includes assistance in the amount of 200 GEL for every child under the age of 18. There were some possible technical problems associated with this, which we have resolved. We had a meeting with the representatives of the banking sector yesterday. Having spoken with them, we made a joint decision, according to which the social assistance that our citizens, our families will receive will not be used to repay bank loans under any circumstances. This means that in the case of our citizens who have bank loans, this sum cannot and will not be used to repay loans, and banks will not be able to automatically deduct this sum. This also applies to all other enforcement mechanisms and measures, which will not be able to touch this social assistance in accordance with the law, which, of course, is important. Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia made this statement during today's session of the government.
According to him, the state is implementing consistent and effective measures in the fight against the virus, as well as in terms of providing social support to citizens.
"As you know, the state is implementing specific effective measures and taking steps in the fight against the virus, as well as in terms of providing social support to citizens in connection with the development of the crisis situation. This is directly reflected in the management of the risk of the spread of the virus and, additionally, in the social assistance package, which is one of the best in the region and is in line with best practice in general," the Prime Minister stated.
According to the head of the government, as of today, applications for 810,000 children have already been submitted, which means 482,000 families.
"As you know, on the basis of a joint decision and given the epidemiological situation, we have the opportunity to resume classroom learning from 15 September, which is important for children, as well as for our families. Additionally, this program will continue until 1 December; the disbursement of these funds for children will begin from 1 September and, correspondingly, it will continue until the end of the year, or until 1 December, in case of the submission of new applications. What is important is that as of today, applications have been submitted for 810,000 children, which means 482,000 families, and this is also very important. This is one of the most appropriate and effective social assistance packages that we have adopted, by joint decision, which is confirmed by numerous social studies and is primarily aimed at curbing the expected growth of the level of poverty under conditions of the crisis, while also being aimed at supporting the families of our citizens," Giorgi Gakharia stated.
In addition, according to the joint decision of the government and the banking sector, the issuance and, correspondingly, the withdrawal of pensions will take place between the 1st and the 14th of every month, in accordance with the corresponding schedule.
As the Prime Minister noted, pensions for pensioners used to be issued on the 14th of every month, and this has always been the reason for a great deal of inconvenience and long queues in banks, particularly at the branches of Liberty Bank.
"Our meritorious elderly citizens are, of course, a focal point for us. In this case as well, we had a rather productive discussion with the banking sector and we made the following decisions. As you know, our pensioners receive their pensions on the 14th of every month, which has always been the reason for a great deal of inconvenience and long queues in banks, particularly at the branches of Liberty Bank. In addition to being inconvenient, this presents a high risk in terms of the spread of the epidemic under conditions of the pandemic. As you know, the elderly are in the high-risk group. Therefore, we made a decision together with the banking sector, according to which the issuance and, correspondingly, the withdrawal of pensions will take place between the 1st and the 14th of every month, in accordance with the corresponding schedule. Of course, every pensioner will know their schedule - the bank will ensure this. This cannot and will not be associated with any problems or technical delays. Therefore, the main result that we must achieve is the reduction of mobility and queues. Our pensioners must have the opportunity to receive their pensions between the 1st and the 14th of every month, instead of every one of them receiving pensions on the same day throughout Georgia, and to do so consistently, calmly, and, most importantly, in accordance with the recommendations of epidemiologists, in order to ensure that the virus does not spread, especially among pensioners, who are in the high-risk group. This is yet another step that simply expresses our respect and care for our meritorious elderly citizens," the head of the government noted.
In addition, Georgia offers citizens of 95 countries to take part in the Work From Georgia program.
As the Prime Minister noted, this program will allow the remote employees of various global companies that are based in 95 countries to fulfill their work-related responsibilities remotely, from Georgia, for a period of no less than 180 days.
"As you know, under the condition of the global pandemic, an increasing number of transnational corporations and global companies are transitioning to a remote mode of operation, which practically means that a person's geographical location does not matter in terms of exercising one's rights and fulfilling one's responsibilities. Therefore, we are offering the Work From Georgia program to 95 countries. This means converting one of the best results in the region in terms of managing the virus into tangible revenue for our tourism sector. I would like to reiterate that this program will apply to 95 countries, which means that we are inviting the remote employees of various global companies based in these 95 countries to come to Georgia and to fulfill their work-related responsibilities remotely, from Georgia, for a period of no less than 180 days. We will do everything to ensure that their presence in Georgia is safe for their health, while also being comfortable. This program has already been uploaded to StopCoV.ge and everyone can use it," the Prime Minister noted.
Furthermore, the Government of Georgia announced a 100-million-GEL guarantee fund for the purpose of insuring unfinished construction projects in the country.
According to the Prime Minister, the construction projects that remained unfinished since the crises of 2008-2009, and even earlier, negatively affect the appearance of Tbilisi, as well as many other cities, while also posing social problems to citizens.
"This is yet another support program of sectoral assistance. Today, we must announce an auction of 100 million GEL, which means that we will insure unfinished construction projects in the country in every possible way. As you know, after we began stimulating mortgage loans in response to the economic crisis in order to strengthen and support the construction business, we began subsidizing mortgage interest rates to ensure that every Georgian family that had certain savings for the purpose of improving their living conditions was not hindered. However, this is not enough. At the same time, we will put a 100-million-GEL guarantee up for auction to ensure that not a single construction project that was started remains unfinished. We all remember what was taking place after the crises of2008-2009, and to this day, unfinished construction projects that were initiated even earlier are negatively affecting the appearance of Tbilisi, as well as many other cities, while also posing social problems to many of our citizens who have already made down payments for similar construction projects," the Prime Minister noted.
Press Service of the Government Administration