Whilst talking about the 2016 Tbilisi City budget, Tbilisi City Council member, Irakli Nadiradze, stated: "The 2016 Tbilisi City budget provides for the construction of two public toilets. The cost of each of these toilets is GEL 50,000. In Varketili, you can buy a flat with two rooms for this price."

verified the accuracy of this statement.

On 16 November 2015, Tbilisi City Council started considering the 2016 Tbilisi City budget. According to the document, a total of GEL 810 million will be allocated for Tbilisi from the state budget which is GEL 7 million more than in 2014. According to the new budget, changes have been made in various fields. For example, an additional GEL 20 million has been allocated for transport infrastructure whilst GEL 29 million less will be spent on the construction of new buildings and the rehabilitation of demolished houses.

The budget project presented by Tbilisi City Hall to Tbilisi City Council allocates a total of GEL 4.5 million for various amenities of which GEL 100,000 will be spent on the construction of two public toilets in Tbilisi. It is currently unknown in which parts of the city the toilets will be located. The costs for this work will be covered from the City Treasury. In his interview with the media, Davit Narmania did say that “there definitely will be two public toilets;” however, he did not provide further details. The Chairman of Tbilisi City Council, on the other hand, stated that he did not have detailed information about the issue. Apart from constructing the toilets, Tbilisi City budget also allocated money for their maintenance. According to the document, a total of GEL 60,000 will be spent in this regard next year.

The discussion on the Tbilisi City budget started in Tbilisi City Council last week and will continue until 25 November 2015. Tbilisi City Hall will have until 10 December to take the suggestions of Tbilisi City Council into account and prepare the final version of the budget.

also reviewed the prices of flats in Tbilisi’s suburbs as set out on the websites of various real estate agencies. It turned out that with the money allocated for the construction of each of the two public toilets (GEL 50,000), it is definitely possible to buy a flat with one or two rooms in the Isani-Samgori district.

The work on the 2016 Tbilisi City budget is still on-going. At this point, the budget project presented by Tbilisi City Hall to Tbilisi City Council indicates that two public toilets will be constructed in Tbilisi next year and the cost of each will equal GEL 50,000.

believes that it is necessary to construct new public toilets in Tbilisi which will have their own independent income covering the costs of maintenance. However, GEL 100,000 (without the appropriate cost-benefit analysis) exceeds the expected resources necessary for the creation of two public toilets and raises the suspicion of unreasonable and irrational spending.