irakli_gharibashvili_02_-_2014-01-16

Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Government ministers in Georgia are to be given bonuses according to their performance.

Government officials receiving high bonuses was a controversial issue during the previous government. The problem is that under Georgian law, only the salaryof an official is made public; the government is not required to publish the amount of bonuses that they receive.

Since the new government came into power in October 2012, information about bonuses has been public, but what has become controversial now is the amount of money officials have been paid; it is a lot higher than minimum wage – USD 80 – and most people are struggling with a difficult economic situation.

A few days ago, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili said at a press conference that the government is introducing rules for what kind of cars government officials can buy according to their rank. This was a response to criticism against the recent purchase of luxury cars, phones and computers.

On Wednesday, Gharibashvili siad he is introducing performance-based bonuses because he thinks rewards should only be given based on results.

He said ministers have a quite high salary; currently at 5000 lari (USD 3000). The PM thinks it is not necessary that ministers receive the same amount of bonuses every month.

Ministers used to receive 6 300 lari (USD 3500) in total every month; they will now get only the salary will 5000 lari – before bonuses.