The Government’s primary responsibility is to help Georgian citizens and families to keep that social minimum they are used to. Such a statement made today the Prime Minister of Georgia.

Giorgi Gakharia singled out children as the most vulnerable group facing the highest risks today.

“That is why we selected the most suitable target group. This decision was not made overnight or single-handedly. It was done after long discussions with our international partners, and we got where we are now after fairly and prudently distributing our limited resources. Without StopCoV, we would not be able to assist children at this scale.

Our primary task amid a long-term economic crisis is to do our best to help Georgian citizens and families maintain the social level for their children through this year. Trust me, at this pace, we will have to announce another social package at the beginning of the next year. It is only targeted social assistance for our citizens. Let me explain the logic behind it. It is one thing when we spoke about targeted assistance for social groups like tour guides and others involved in tourism, for example. But now we need to help broader social strata.

Families in Georgia pay the highest utility bills in November, December, January, and February, and we must continue providing assistance in this direction-there is nothing new about it. Next, the bulk of expenses will go to support children aged 17 and below, with GEL 200 given to families per child regardless of their number. Families that can afford it can refuse this assistance, of course. We are talking about GEL 200 per child. There are 880,000 children in Georgia, and they must be able to survive economic blows, especially those born to needy families.

They must be prepared for the upcoming academic year. No one in this country can say that this is wrong. I want to look anyone who says otherwise in the eye. After all, we all understand, and all international studies confirm, that children need social assistance more than anyone else. Therefore, this is the decision we have just made”, - concluded the Head of the Government.

According to him, the budget of this social assistance is GEL 410 million. GEL 130 million has been mobilized in the stopcov fund, which is also part of the budget.