According to the statement of the Minister of Finance of Georgia, Nodar Khaduri: "The total labour remuneration for ministers in the first nine months of 2015 has dropped by 20% as compared to the first nine months of 2012 and the labour remuneration for deputy ministers has dropped by 10% in the same period."

According to the Labour Code of Georgia, labour remuneration for civil servants includes salary, bonus and salary supplement as envisaged by the law. The bonus is a form of financial incentive in the public service. The salary supplement is given upon the decision of a superior when an employee works overtime or performs additional functions. FactCheck has already written about this topic in an earlier article (see the link). In order to verify the Minister’s statement, FactCheck addressed the ministries and requested information about the labour remuneration for ministers and deputy ministers for the period of 2012-2015 (nine months). Of note is that we have not yet received information from the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Science. In regard to the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection and the Ministry of Agriculture, they provided us with incomplete statistical data (information was not categorised month by month) and, therefore, we could not use the data received from these ministries to include in our research. In the case of the Ministry of Justice, the labour remuneration for the deputy minister in 2012 is not published on the website. Therefore, in order to verify the fact mentioned by the Minister of Finance, FactCheck

verified the data of ten ministries as given in Table 1.

Apart from these ten ministries, FactCheck

also reviewed the data of the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection and the Ministry of Agriculture. In the case of these two ministries, we compared the data on labour remuneration in 2012 to those of 2014. In the case of the Ministry of Justice, we compared the labour remuneration of the Minister for 2012 to the labour remuneration in 2014.

Table 1:

 Labour Remuneration in 2012-2015 (Nine Months) to Ministers and Deputy Ministers (GEL)

	2012				2015
Ministry	Salary	Bonus	Salary Supplement	Total	Salary	Bonus	Salary Supplement	Total	Difference
Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs	31860	31860	0	63720	31860	0	24390	56250	-11.7%
Deputy Ministers	99990	99990	0	199980	78230	8390	66890	153510	-23%
Minister of Finance	31854	32160	26067	90081	31860		24390	56250	-37%
Deputy Ministers	126081	190350	77370	393801	86842	4800	144960	236602	-39%
Minister of Defence	31859	0	9090	40949	35400	0	42322	77722	89.0%
Deputy Ministers	99235	135824	39797	274856	83829	0	91452	175281	-36%
Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs	31859	49960	0	81819	31860		21680	53540	-36%
Deputy Ministers	96306	184573	0	280879	65495	9160	62560	137215	-51%
Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees	31860	33985	0	65845	31860		24390	56250	-14.7%
Deputy Ministers	103985	64640	0	168625	123175		124470	247645	46.8%
Ministry of Energy				85689				56250	-43%
Deputy Ministers				339308				220580	-34.9%
Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development	28159	28320	0	56479	31860		24390	56250	0%
Deputy Ministers	83244	92880	0	176124	70689	12585	69858	153132	-13%
Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources	31897	24300	0	56197	35400		24390	59790	6%
Deputy Ministers	72532	41120	0	113652	85446	1125	84843	171414	50%
Ministry of Corrections	31683	40965	0	72648	35400		24390	59790	-17.6%
Deputy Ministers	70117	110725	0	180842	51600	650	46230	97830	-45.9%
Minister of Foreign Affairs	31860	31860	0	63720	31860		24390	56250	-11.7%
Deputy Ministers	147601	172390	10620	330611	125458	13830	125542	264830	-19.8%

As illustrated in the table, the total labour remuneration of ministers and deputy ministers in the first nine months of 2012 was GEL 3,136,000. This number in the first nine months of 2015 was GEL 2,446,000 which is 21% less as compared to 2012. In regard to bonuses, the amount of bonuses given to ministers and deputy ministers dropped by 96% as compared to 2012. However, the amount of salary supplements increased by 545% as compared to 2012. In total, the amount of bonuses given to ministers and deputy ministers decreased by GEL 1,315,000 whilst the amount of salary supplements increased by GEL 889,000.

If we take the salary, bonus and salary supplement together, we will see that the labour remuneration of ministers dropped by a total of 13% in the first nine months of 2015 and by 24% for deputy ministers. In regard to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection, the amount of labour remuneration for ministers and deputy ministers was GEL 369,000 according to the data for 2012 whilst this number decreased by 21% in 2014. In the case of the Ministry of Justice, labour remuneration for the minister was GEL 42,479 whilst this number doubled and reached GEL 87,500 in 2014.

Of particular note is that there were several amendments enacted in the legislation after 2012 with a view to regulating the giving of bonuses and salary supplements. For instance, the amount of salary supplement for a minister was determined together with the ceiling and the frequency of the bonus (see the link).

Conclusion

According to the data of the aforementioned ten ministries, the amount of labour remuneration in the first nine months of 2012 was GEL 677,000. According to the data for 2015, this number dropped by 13%. In regard to the labour remuneration for deputy ministers, it was GEL 2,458,000 in 2012 whilst it dropped by 24% in 2015.

In the cases of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection, labour remuneration for ministers and deputy ministers dropped by 21% in 2014 as compared to 2012. In regard to the labour remuneration for the Minister of Justice, it increased by 105% in 2014 as compared to 2012.

Even though FactCheck

was unable to obtain information from every ministry (the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Science), we can conclude that the labour remuneration for ministers and deputy ministers decreased in the first nine months of 2015 as compared to the same period in 2012.

Therefore, FactCheck concludes that Nodar Khaduri’s statement is TRUE.