Watchdog: Presidential Reserve Funds Misused
After having carried out the financial monitoring of the Georgian President and Government?s Reserve Funds, the Georgian Young Lawyers? Association (GYLA), a human rights watchdog, says the authorities misuse money allocated by the state budget to these funds.
?Money from the President and Government?s Reserve Fund, according to the law, should be spent only for emergency situations, as in case of flooding etc. But very often these funds are used for covering expenses of various cultural events. For example more than 100,000 Lari [about USD 55,000] was spent for organizing pop-concert [on May 26 to celebrate the Independence Day] more than 100,000 Lari was spent for Georgia?s cultural days [events aiming at promotion Georgian culture] in Kiev [Ukraine],? Tamar Khidasheli of GYLA said at a news conference on July 23.
Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli downplayed these accusations. ?It is not up to GYLA to decide the priorities. The government decides how to spend the President?s Reserve Fund,? Nogaideli told reporters on July 23.
