State expenses for vouchers

The Georgian government will continue a policy, began in 2011, of distributing cost-offsetting vouchers to families.

In February of last year, at the request of the President, 20 million GEL was allotted for electricity vouchers. This was followed by vouchers for groceries, worth 31.4 million GEL. In the fall, Tbilisi City Hall distributed five lari transport vouchers, at a cost of 5.2 million GEL. Altogether in 2011, governments spent more than 53 million GEL.

In addition, 24 million GEL worth of vouchers were distributed to the rural, farming population in late December – though this was taken from the 2012 budget.

Just this week, President Mikheil Saakashvili announced that he will provide electricity vouchers to help offset the cost of heating during the recent cold snap across the country. Prime Minister Nika Gilauri confirmed that the vouchers will be worth 20 GEL, and will be distributed this week to approximately 1.2 million families.