The News in Brief
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Prepared by Messenger Staff
European Parliament Approves Resolution Urging EU Council to Grant Candidate Status to Georgia
The European Parliament approved a resolution calling on the Council of the European Union to grant candidate status to Georgia. Additionally, the European Parliament is urging the Council of the European Union to initiate accession negotiations with Ukraine, Moldova, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The resolution received support from 468 MEPs, while 99 opposed it, and 58 abstained.
"MEPs urge the European Council to decide at its meeting on 14-15 December to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Provided certain reform steps are taken, they say that accession talks should also be opened with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Georgia should be granted candidate status.
MEPs welcome the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans and call on EU leaders to also adopt the negotiating framework without delay, once the relevant requirements related to each of the candidate countries are fulfilled in order to start the accession negotiations swiftly." the resolution reads.
Mayor Kakha Kaladze Reveals Tbilisi's Budget Increase for 2024
According to Kakha Kaladze, the budget of Tbilisi for 2024 will increase to 1,763,354,000 GEL. Kaladze mentioned that this includes a special transfer from the state budget.
Kaladze discussed the 2024 budget at the City Hall government meeting, stating that 31% of the total budget will be allocated to infrastructure.
"The year 2023 has ended, and everyone is wondering about the projects that will be implemented and how the capital's budget for 2024 will be distributed. We will talk about this in detail later and present all the planned projects to the public. First of all, I would like to inform you that the Tbilisi budget is increasing. Compared to the 2023 budget, it will be 130 million more. The volume of the 2024 budget project is 1 billion 763 million 354 thousand GEL. Among them is a special capital transfer from the state budget - 500 million GEL. It is planned to allocate 547 million 486 thousand GEL in the direction of infrastructure, which is 31% of the total budget," said Kaladze.
According to Kaladze, programs worth 507 million and 632 thousand GEL are planned to be implemented in the social and healthcare sectors in 2024.
European Parliament Approves Resolution Urging EU Council to Grant Candidate Status to Georgia
The resolution received support from 468 MEPs, while 99 opposed it, and 58 abstained.
"MEPs urge the European Council to decide at its meeting on 14-15 December to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Provided certain reform steps are taken, they say that accession talks should also be opened with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Georgia should be granted candidate status.
MEPs welcome the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans and call on EU leaders to also adopt the negotiating framework without delay, once the relevant requirements related to each of the candidate countries are fulfilled in order to start the accession negotiations swiftly." the resolution reads.
Mayor Kakha Kaladze Reveals Tbilisi's Budget Increase for 2024
Kaladze discussed the 2024 budget at the City Hall government meeting, stating that 31% of the total budget will be allocated to infrastructure.
"The year 2023 has ended, and everyone is wondering about the projects that will be implemented and how the capital's budget for 2024 will be distributed. We will talk about this in detail later and present all the planned projects to the public. First of all, I would like to inform you that the Tbilisi budget is increasing. Compared to the 2023 budget, it will be 130 million more. The volume of the 2024 budget project is 1 billion 763 million 354 thousand GEL. Among them is a special capital transfer from the state budget - 500 million GEL. It is planned to allocate 547 million 486 thousand GEL in the direction of infrastructure, which is 31% of the total budget," said Kaladze.
According to Kaladze, programs worth 507 million and 632 thousand GEL are planned to be implemented in the social and healthcare sectors in 2024.