According to the statement of the Minister of Finance of Georgia, Nodar Khaduri: “The wages of the Minister and his deputies in the Ministry of Finance of Georgia have decreased by 40%.”
FactChecktook interest in the accuracy of this statement.
According to the information of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, the remuneration of the Minister of Finance of Georgia kept changing annually from 2011 to the first half of 2016. The largest amount of money given as remuneration to the Minister of Finance was registered in 2012 and amounted to GEL 125,641. It should be noted that this indicator has had a trend of decrease since 2013.
Table 1:
Wages Assigned to the Minister of Finance of Georgia and his Deputies from 2011 to 2016
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 (6 Months) | |
| Minister | 106,198 | 125,641 | 90,165 | 75,000 | 56,250 | 30,000 |
| Wage | 42,318 | 42,634 | 42,480 | 42,480 | 31,860 | 16,992 |
| Bonus | 23,010 | 42,780 | 4,335 | 0 | 0 | |
| Surplus | 40,870 | 40,227 | 43,350 | 32,520 | 24,390 | 13,008 |
| Deputy Minister | 716,882 | 478,515 | 314,646 | 406,737 | 236,602 | 202,320 |
| Wage | 252,895 | 154,915 | 106,256 | 140,587 | 86,842 | 79,440 |
| Bonus | 284,720 | 235,120 | 29,670 | 39,430 | 4,800 | 0 |
| Surplus | 179,267 | 88,480 | 178,720 | 226,720 | 144,960 | 122,880 |
| Overall | 823,080 | 604,156 | 404,811 | 481,737 | 292,852 | 232,320 |
As for the remuneration of the Deputy Ministers, the period from 2012 to 2013 saw a trend of decrease whilst in 2014 the sums increased once again. Unlike the Minister of Finance of Georgia, the Deputy Ministers were able to get bonuses together with their wages up to 2015.
Overall, the remuneration distributed to the Minister of Finance of Georgia and his deputies was on the decrease from 2011 to 2013. It increased by 19% in 2014 and amounted to GEL 481,737. It dropped again by 39% in 2015. The trend of decrease was evident in the first six months of 2016 as the overall remuneration of the Minister and his deputies decreased by 27%. If we compare the 2015 data to those of 2012 it becomes clear that the remuneration has dropped by 51% (GEL 311 million).
Conclusion
According to the information of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, the remuneration of the Minister of Finance of Georgia kept changing annually from 2011 to the first half of 2016. However, the trend of decrease is evident. In 2015, the overall amount of remuneration dropped by 39% as compared to 2014 and by 51% as compared to 2012. This trend has continued in 2016 as well. From January to July 2016, the remuneration of the Minister of Finance of Georgia and his deputies decreased by 27% as compared to the same period of the previous year.
Hence, FactCheck concludes that Nodar Khaduri’s statement is TRUE.
