On 12 December 2014 during a presentation at the Parliament of Georgia, Minister of Finance of Georgia, Nodar Khaduri, stated that the funding of educational, agricultural and infrastructural projects will increase significantly in 2015.

FactCheck

took interest in this issue and decided to verify it.

Nearly GEL 853 million has been allocated for funding the educational sector in the 2015 draft budget which comprises GEL 83 million more than in 2014.

Table 1: 

Funding of the Educational Sector (GEL million)

Education	2013 Factual	2014 Plan	2015 Draft
	683	769	853

It is noteworthy that according to the functional part of the 2015 budget, general education (primary and secondary general education) will receive funding worth GEL 493.5 million which comprises GEL 53.9 million more as compared to the 2014 budget plan. In 2015, the funding of higher education grew by GEL 14 million and equalled GEL 94 million. As for the funding of professional education, the amount shrank by GEL 2 million as compared to 2014 and equalled GEL 27 million.

Funds allocated for agriculture in the functional part of the 2015 budget decreased by GEL 1.2 million as compared to 2014 and amount to GEL 193.4 million.

According to the information provided by the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, an increase in the funding of the Ministry of Agriculture is planned in the financial assets part of the budget designated for melioration and other activities for improving the agricultural sector. In the financial assets part, the funding of the Ministry of Agriculture has grown by GEL 30 million as compared to the last year.

Table 2: 

Funding of Agriculture (GEL million)

Expenditures and Non-Financial Assets	2013 Factual	2014 Plan	2015 Draft
	176	194.6	193.4
Financial Assets Increase	51.4	68.9	99.5

As for the programmes funded in the agricultural sector, the funding of the Preferential Agro-Credit programme decreased nearly twice as compared to the last year and comprises GEL 30 million. Funding allocated for the development and support of the agricultural sector increased by GEL 22 million as compared to 2014 and is equal to GEL 34 million. The funding of agricultural equipment loan and leasing remains the same and amounts to GEL 50 million. As for a new programme of the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia, Agro-Insurance Provision, GEL 10 million has been allocated for the programme.

The budget of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia has been defined at GEL 1 billion and comprises GEL 125 million more than the 2014 plan.

Table 3: Funding of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure (GEL million)

Infrastructure	2013 Factual	2014 Plan	2015 Draft
	824	875	1,000

As for the funding of the particular projects of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, GEL 645 million has been allocated for road infrastructure improvement activities which comprises GEL 144 million more than the last year’s budget. GEL 226 million is allocated for regional and municipal infrastructure rehabilitation which amounts to GEL 39 million more than the funds allocated in 2014 for the same programme. Funds allocated for water supply recovery and rehabilitation have decreased by GEL 12 million as compared to 2014 and amount to GEL 119 million. Funds for supporting Internally Displaced Persons have significantly decreased in the 2015 budget. Funds allocated for the programme decreased by up to GEL 46 million and equal GEL 3.5 million.

Conclusion

Compared to last year’s plan, the 2015 budget plan envisages an increase of GEL 83 million in the educational sector whilst the 2015 budget of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia surpasses the 2014 plan by GEL 125 million. As for the funds allocated for agriculture, the amount of the 2015 budget exceeds the 2014 plan by GEL 30 million.

Therefore, Mr Khaduri’s statement: “Funding of educational, agricultural and infrastructural projects is increasing significantly,” is TRUE.

Editor’s note: The initial version of this article was published on 6 January 2015. After publishing the article, we were contacted by a representative of the Public Relations Office of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia and told that the data provided in the article were not complete and did not show the real picture. After revising the information and the arguments provided by the representative of the Ministry, it appeared that the information in the initial version of the agricultural sector funding survey was indeed incomplete. Therefore, the article has been corrected and the verdict was accordingly changed from HALF TRUE to TRUE.