Can Budget Funds Be Spent on Religious Projects?

Nino Mshvidobadze, Guria 

Implementation of religious projects in Guria region in the frame of Village Support Program has become a tendency. For example, about 42 000 lari has been spent on the amenities of seven churches and their surrounding territories in the villages of Lanchkhuti district for the last two years. 

How legal is it to allocate budget funds for religious purpose and why those funds are accumulated for the events related with only one religion – Orthodox Christianity? Part of experts thinks this tendency contains some risk.

In 2011, in the frame of Village Program church yard was fenced in Jikhanjiri village and road to the church was repaired. Sun batteries were purchased for the Jikheti Monastery; outdoor illumination was installed in the road to the Okoni Monastery in Atsana village in the frame of the same program; fence of the Shatiri district church in Mamati village was reconstructed. Church was constructed in Machkhvareti village. Stone fence was built around the under-construction church in Nigoiti village.

Resolutions of the government of Georgia regulate reasonable expenditure of funds in the frame of Village Support Program; the resolutions are issued in accordance to the state budget every year. According to one of the paragraphs from the resolution, reasonability of expenditure of the program funds shall be decided as a result of preliminary consultation with the village population.

Humanrights.ge requested relevant protocols from Lanchkhuti municipal board. In the diagram on polling population in Chohckhati village, people demonstrated their desire to repair the yard of Jikhanjiri village Church with signatures; there we found signatures of the people who live in Batumi, Tbilisi and Poti. 

In the village of Nigoiti only one person – hegumen of Jikheti Monastery, Archimandrite Andria Kbilashvili requested to purchase sun batteries for the monastery at the meeting in March of 2012. Three more villagers spoke about necessity of resolving this problem at the meeting and finally participants agreed to allocate 2 553 lari for the purchase of the sun batteries from the Village Support Program.

Is it legal to allocate funds from Village Support Program on religious events? Chairman of the Georgian Democratic Development Union Levan Khintibidze said the law does not envisage any restrictions with regard to this case. However, the tendency contains some risks. 

On March 27, 2012 only one person N. Dumbadze requested installment of outdoor illumination in the road leading to Okoni Monastery at the meeting in Atsana village. He said it was very important. Nobody opposed him and 6 112 lari was allocated from the program on the purpose.

“Reasonability of the expenditure of Village Support Program funds is regulated by the resolutions of the government of Georgia. In accordance to the 2012 resolution, before relevant decision is made, preliminary consultations shall take place with villagers and funds could have been spent only on the projects they consider to be urgent. In accordance to this resolution, majority of villagers shall benefit from the implemented project for a long term. If religious projects implemented in the frame of Village Support Program do not meet requirements of the aforementioned resolution, we face legal violation. However, we should not forget that principle of law operation shall be equal for all religions. Thus, if one religious group receives funds from any program, other religious communities will also request the same,” said Levan Khintibidze and added that it is somehow risky to allocate funds only on the projects designed for one religious group – Orthodox Church because it might result into discontent of religious minorities.

“We should not forget that other religious confessions also act in Georgia. According to acting law, everybody has right to be registered as a public law legal entity. It means, those religious groups are also able to own movable/immovable property (religious buildings, bank accounts, etc). Simultaneously, nobody will refuse to get funding from state budget. So, I think to use private and personal resources to reinforce our beliefs instead budget funds in order to avoid further misunderstandings,” said Khintibidze.