During an evaluation of the 2025 budget draft, Georgia’s Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili spoke in Parliament. According to him, in 2025, municipalities would get more than 100 million GEL in VAT.
As he noted, modifications to the Budget Code of Georgia are under consideration in Parliament, according to which, instead of 19% of the total volume of value-added tax, 20% will be allocated to municipal budgets.
The current Budget Code summarizes the guiding principles for the development of Georgia’s budgetary system and governs the formation, evaluation, adoption, fulfillment, accounting, and control of national and local self-government budgets as well as republican budgets of Autonomous Republics.
In 2025, up to 8 billion GEL will be allocated to infrastructure development from the combined budget. In 2025, from the combined budget, up to 8 billion GEL will be allocated for infrastructure development, including:
• Up to 1 billion 400 million GEL will be allocated for road infrastructure improvement, including, up to 900 million GEL for the construction of highways;
• 2 billion up to 600 million GEL are provided for the improvement of municipal infrastructure;
• More than 500 million GEL is being directed to improve the water supply and water supply sector, in addition, the United Water Supply Company is applying more than 250 million GEL from existing resources to the same works;
• More than 1 billion GEL will be spent on educational infrastructure;
• More than 150,0 million GEL is provided for improving tourist infrastructure;
• According to the government program, 200 million GEL has been allocated for the construction-rehabilitation of sports infrastructure, including the construction of a new football stadium in Tbilisi.
“With these changes, municipalities will receive more than 100 million GEL in the form of VAT in 2025. The volume of their allocated VAT, in total, will be 2 billion 34 million GEL, which is more than 300 million GEL than the planned index for 2024 “In addition, 580 million GEL is provided as a transfer to the city of Tbilisi, within which the City Hall plans to start new projects,” – stated the Minister of Finance, Lasha Khutsishvili.
According to him, for targeted and special transfers of different municipalities, more than 65 million GEL has been provided, and for the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, 20 million GEL is provided. The volume of the fund of projects to be implemented in the regions is determined by the amount of 760 million GEL. Up to 90 million Gel from this amount is allocated for capital projects of cities – Kutaisi, Rustavi and Poti, which is also one of the directions of the government program.
As Lasha Khutsishvili noted, according to the government program, the 2025 Georgian budget will first consider a new program – a new fund, which will be directed to support civic initiatives, and its volume will amount to 20 million Gel.
