The Prime Minister of Georgia spoke today about the funds saved through optimization in state-owned enterprises (SOE) and public corporations. As he noted, optimization in state-owned enterprises alone has resulted in savings totalling more than GEL 700 million, which will be directed toward projects aimed at accelerating economic growth.

"As you may well know, very significant steps have been taken in this regard over the past months. This particularly concerns state-owned enterprises operating under the Ministry of Economy. Overall, on an annual basis, savings in state-owned enterprises have exceeded 700 million GEL. This includes both measures already implemented and those planned in the coming weeks. We have also made significant personnel changes, with nearly all heads of public corporations replaced, as well as the curators overseeing these enterprises. Altogether, this has allowed us to implement the necessary changes. This applies to state enterprises in the energy sector, the railway and other state enterprises. Through personnel optimization in state enterprises in the energy sector, we achieved annual savings of 22.6 million GEL, which is an impressive result. Regarding the optimization of other expenses, this includes tenders, reductions in service costs and so on. In this area, total savings amounted to 348.6 million GEL. This demonstrates that with the right personnel and approach, qualitative improvements in cost efficiency are possible. These funds will be reinvested in the economy and will directly support economic development, strengthening the resources of the respective state enterprises. You can judge for yourselves how much this will contribute to the growth of the economy. These savings will be allocated to projects focused on accelerating the pace of economic growth.

In addition to enterprises, optimization was also carried out in ministries.

Reorganization was implemented at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, resulting in total annual savings of 2 641 000 GEL, which is also an impressive outcome considering the overall payroll. Similarly, the Ministry of Defence underwent reorganization and optimization, achieving savings of 6 463 000 GEL-again, an impressive result. This optimization will help ministries further improve the efficiency and quality of their operations.

Additionally, optimization carried out in the Administration of the Government of Georgia resulted in total savings of 2 million GEL. On our initiative, all remunerated advisory positions in state-owned enterprises and public corporations were abolished. These positions had been used to provide certain individuals-who were not few in number-with high salaries for minimal workload, which is not an acceptable practice. Accordingly, we addressed this issue through relevant legislative changes. The mere enactment of this law has allowed us to save several million GEL across state institutions and enterprises.

When we talk about cost optimization and, more broadly, maximizing government efficiency, one more topic should be emphasized-this is the matter of direct privatization. Over the past year and a half, since the formation of new government, we have practically completely refrained from direct privatization of property. We want to formalize all of this at the legal level as well. The law will include relevant amendments that will precisely define the conditions for privatization. Accordingly, the practice that has already been introduced will be consolidated at the level of legislation", - said Irakli Kobakhidze.