The Meeting of the Government of Georgia was held on 30 August 2006, at which the President of Georgia was also present. The Agenda consisted of 18 items.
At the beginning of the Meeting, Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Noghaideli informed the audience that in line with the new economic initiative of the Government of Georgia, intensive works with the representatives of various economic sectors were continuing. In particular, a pretty interesting meeting with the people of the service sector would be held on 29 August. He said that the interest in the implementation of the on-job training and retraining program was very high and called on all the members of the Government to hold meetings with the society in different areas of the industry to apprise them in detail of the significance of the program.
The Prime Minister of Georgia noted that the economic development trends had manifested vividly. In the following year Georgia would see the creation of approximately 80-85 thousand new jobs that in fact would cut down the unemployment figure by 50% percent. Thus, it was necessary to fill those vacancies with skilled citizens. As for their professional capacity building, the Prime Minister said that 11 professional training and retraining centers would be opened that year, as another important component of the program in question.
The Prime Minister of Georgia stated that it was time to talk about the results of the Unified National Examinations for entry to higher education institutions, and asked the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia to brief the Government members on the situation.
Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Aleksandre Lomaia informed the audience that the results of Unified National Examinations for entry to higher education institutions would be made public that day, in the second half of 30 August. He said that the number of appeals filed that year had accounted for only 0.6% of the total works, marking high public confidence in the National Examinations.
He expressed thanks to the Prime Minister of Georgia, members of the Government, heads of all government agencies, President of Georgia, state attorneys for the coordinated work and unity, that made it possible to organize the Exams so well and gain public confidence.
In turn, the Prime Minister of Georgia congratulated the staff of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, the workers of the entire system, on the successful completion of the National Exams, and expressed appreciation for their effective work, stressing that conducting the National Exams at that level marked the success of the reform in the education sector.
In connection with the information provided by Tbilisi Mayor G. Ugulava, President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili said that the Georgian pension system calls for a conceptual review. He said: we must embark on a savings system, but this requires serious preparations. All sorts of money that we are talking about now cannot ultimately be adequate to the demands of man but today we are talking about what we have - that we have a number of people, whose pension is below the subsistence level. There are two ways to alleviate their plight: one - by increasing the amount of allowance, and the other - by increasing pensions by length of service, which is fairer.
I believe that we must help the poor but at the same time we must increase the amount of pensions by merit and length of service. It is unfair to see that a man who has never worked gets as much in pension as the one who is a labour veteran with over 40 years of length of service, has been awarded orders, received appreciations, and won a number of competitions (we used to have socialist competitions before). That would be ungratefulness on the part of the state. Therefore, increasing pensions by merit and length of service is a triumph of justice.
However, it would be unfair to introduce the measure in Tbilisi only. Next year, local government authorities must make their internal resources available, as has been done by Tbilisi Mayor's Office, and pensions must be similarly increased across the whole territory of Georgia. Deserved people are not only in Tbilisi but also in Kutaisi, Rustavi, Zugdidi, Telavi and other cities.
I am pretty well aware that 48 Lari cannot make one happy but when we came to power, the amount of pension was only 14 Lari and people could not get even that for months. Now the pension has increased 3.5-fold. It is true prices are also growing but much less that pensions are. And this is our primary achievement.
The President of Georgia said that he supported Tbilisi Mayor G. Ugulava's initiative, and expressed hope that in the nearest future by consolidation local government authorities would be able to do the same in regions, in which the central government must help them.
In conclusion, the President of Georgia said that the decision of Tbilisi Mayor's Office must be approved and supported in its entirety. Paying pensions by length of service and merit was right, fair and was a system of the future.
Press Center of the Chancellery of the Government of Georgia