The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) published a report on the expenditures of the Contingency Fund of the Government of Georgia during the Pandemic. According to the report, the government spent more than 61 million GEL (61.8 million GEL) from the contingency fund, but only 13% (7.9 million GEL) was spent directly on the fight against the coronavirus.

“In 2020 and the first 6 months of 2021, a total of 67 million GEL was allocated from the Contingency Fund of the Government, of which more than 61 million GEL (61.8 million GEL) was spent.

Among these funds, only 13% (7.9 million GEL) was spent directly on the fight against the coronavirus. The largest amount from the Contingency Fund - 37% (22.7 million GEL) was spent by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia on international arbitration disputes and ongoing proceedings in foreign courts. 10% (6.5 million GEL) was spent on the necessary measures for the second round of elections, 9% (5.6 million GEL) was spent by the Administration of the Georgian Government on the procurement of lobbying consulting services. 23% (14.4 million GEL) was spent on funding the Ministry of Defense of Georgia. The remaining 7% (4.2 million GEL) was spent on various purposes that have nothing to do with pandemic challenges. Additionally, approximately half a million GEL allocated for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has been classified”, the report reads.

It is important to mention that out of the 7.9 million GEL spent from the Contingency Fund of the Government of Georgia for the fight against coronavirus, 4 million GEL was allocated to the Ministry of Health of Georgia. According to the Ministry of Health of Georgia, the largest share of 2.8 million GEL was spent for the purchase of special clothing (overalls, masks, goggles BayMax S1551Q) for fighting COVID infection from Erio Production Ltd. 271 thousand GEL was spent with Made To Make Ltd. for the purchase of special-purpose clothing (bio-chemical overalls, microporous high-necked shoe covers).

“145 thousand GEL was spent on the purchase of hand disinfectant solution for COVID infection based on the purchase made with Pharma Ltd., and 105 thousand GEL was transferred to GEONET EXPO Ltd. for the purchase of visitor coats. 96.6 thousand GEL was transferred to Green Systems Ltd. for the purchase of a CISCO Contact Center System (multi-year) license for the COVID infection hotline and a one-year license for the telephone recording system”, - the report reads.