Shida Kartli Regional Administration Spent 95 940 Lari on Bonuses and Salary-Adds

Lado Bichashvili, Shida Kartli

This year, 36 employees of the Shida Kartli regional administration received bonuses twice and salary –add once for extra work. Additional payments to the employees amounted to 95 940 lari during 10 months.

On April 16, employees of the regional administration received bonuses for the Easter Holiday and total amount of it made 29 650 lari; on July 16, 17 employees of the regional administration received salary-adds for extra-hour work and the local budget allocated 17 270 lari for the purpose. On August 25, on St. Mariam Holiday, all 36 employees received bonuses and total amount reached 30 700 lari. 

On religious holidays, employees of the regional governor’s office received bonuses equivalent to their monthly salaries; half of employees additionally received same amount of payment for extra work. More precisely, first deputy of regional governor Giorgi Tortladze received 2 360 lari twice as bonus and once as salary add.

Deputy regional governor Guram Macharashvili reiceved 2 250 lari three times together with his salary – twice as bonus and once as salary-add. Bonuses, equal to monthly salaries, were paid to 36 employees of the office. As for salary adds, the regional governor awarded 17 employees with it. 

Founder of the public organization Gori Hall Tamaz Makashvili said the regional governor’s administration does not work properly and motive of paying bonuses and salary-adds to their personnel is obscure. “It is inadmissible for me. I criticized the previous government for similar decisions together with the Georgian Dream. The regional administration works very ineffectively and it is unclear why those people receive such huge bonuses. I hope this tendency will be stopped and the government will finally realize that it must be stopped.”

If employees received bonuses and salary-adds for the successful implementation of concrete projects, why bonuses were paid on religious holidays then – economist Tamar Edisherashvili wonders.

Tamar Edisherashvili: “We received bonuses on religious holidays. In public agencies it is awkward to pay bonuses on religious holidays because person of different religion might work there too. As for the salary-adds for extra-work, this process must be clarified by concrete documents describing concrete extra-works that was performed by the employee. It is impossible that entire personnel implemented the work successfully. Bonuses are topic of endless disputes in Georgia, because there are no strict regulations for it. So, we have some sort of abstract situation. “

Shida Kartli regional deputy governor Guram Macharashvili said bonuses and salary-adds were not paid in contradiction to the law. He said bonuses were paid on July 15 based on the resolution of the Government of Georgia; as for the issue of bonuses paid on religious holidays, everybody received bonuses regardless their religious affiliations.

Guram Macharashvili: “It is almost impossible to list all works performed by ordinary personnel on daily basis, which can become ground for paying salary- adds to them. The law allows leader of public agency to individually decide which employee deserves bonus or salary-add.”

Total expenditure of Shida Kartli regional administration on bonuses, salaries and salary-adds is 389 314 lari throughout 10 months; 293 372 lari was paid as salaries, 60 970 lari as bonuses and 34 970 lari as salary-adds.