In Georgia, top officials' salaries will rise 'to prevent corruption'
Top officials’ salaries rise In Georgia
From 2025, salaries for Georgia‘s prime minister, all ministers, and the president will increase. The ruling party “Georgian Dream” has already introduced a bill for relevant amendments to the law in parliament.
Prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze explained this by saying that “to prevent corruption in public service, salaries must be rational.”
The “Georgian Dream” project proposes specific salary multipliers, significantly increasing top officials’ salaries.
The highest multipliers are set for the president and prime minister.
- Their salaries will be the same: 160,000 GEL (about $28,000) a year.
- The president’s salary will more than double by 75,000 GEL (about $28,000).
- The prime minister’s salary will increase by almost 73%, adding 118,000 GEL (about $45,000) to his annual earnings.
- Ministers’ salaries will on average double by 50,000-70,000 GEL (about $20,000-$26,000), amounting to an average of 136,000 GEL (about $50,000).
This change will not affect the current president Zurabishvili, as the decision will take effect after the elections.
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Prime minister on “combating temptations”
“To lessen a person’s temptations, you have to lower their chances. This means providing fair wages, especially to top officials. There’s always going to be speculation around these issues, but what’s important is that the government sets the right standards to prevent corruption,” stated prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze.
