Delivering food to the highland region of Tusheti cost Georgian budget more than food itself

25 residents of the highland Akhmet district in Tusheti were provided with food costing 50 lari (about $20) as a New Year gift from the local authorities. Delivering it by helicopter demanded 20 times as much – about $500.

“Mtis ambebi” online resource claims, citing the documents, that the food was bought at a tender from a private individual.

A grocery set included sugar (3.5 kg), macaroni (5 kg), caramel (1 kg), sunflower oil, chocolate, coffee. The Tusheti residents receive such a set twice a year – on the New Year eve and Easter. The budget yearly expenditures amount to $970.

Delivery is the most expensive part of the program. On February 21 “Tusheti” company, that delivered the food received $10 000 for it`s services.

Kakheti governor, vice-governor, head of the local council, chief of the police and the MP, representing Telavi, accompanied by the crew from one of the major Georgian TV-channels, flew to Tusheti to deliver food, “Mtis ambebi” reports. “They had good time at the table”.

Non-government Kakheti Information Center in its 2015 “Wasted budget” report stated, that in three years food worth of $3000 was delivered to Tusheti with transportation expenses reaching 13.5 times as much.