The Ministry of Finances Grabs the Financing for the Defense System Away From the Central Budget and Assigns Its Execution to the Budget of the Autonomous Republic

The Minister of Defense of Georgia, Mr. David Tevzadze has expressed his indignation concerning the yesterday’s decision of the Ministry of Finances.  The Ministry has refused to finance the Batumi (Adjarian Autonomous Republic) military garrisons and has assigned the allocation of mentioned expenditures to the budget of the autonomous republic, from where the salaries have been paid to the garrison soldiers yesterday. 

As Mr. Tevzadze has categorically stated today at the governmental meeting, the mentioned decision of the Ministry of Finances “goes beyond the scopes of the financial policy and intrudes into the military-political arrangement of the country, that at least is the competence of the National Security Council.  This precedent aims at drawing in the military units into the internal political wrangling of the country.  I demand defining the level of political liability to be exposed upon the certain persons having taken this decision.”

As to the abovementioned, the Minister of Finances Mr. Zurab Noghaideli has clarified that during the last two months the Adjarian Autonomous Republic has not transferred 6,7 million Lari to the central budget.  Due to this the Ministry of Finances has decided to use the mentioned sum of money for the expenditures of the central budget.  This was the reason for handing out the salaries to the garrison soldiers from the budget of the Autonomous Republic.

Despite this clarification, the President of Georgia Mr. Edward Shevardnadze has strictly evaluated the mentioned decision of the Ministry of Finances.  “This is a serious political mistake.  The armed forces represent an entire system and they should not be financed from the budgets of the autonomies or cities.  This mistake has to be necessarily rectified,”- stated the President while addressing the Minister of Finances