GD Faction Leader Says Consensus Reached on Public Broadcaster Funding

The leader of the parliamentary faction of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Mamuka Mdinaradze, said at a press briefing on December 11, that a consensus had been reached on the financing of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB).

According to him, the GPB budget will remain the same for the next two years. From 2026, the annual budget of the Public Broadcaster “will depend on the total number of the employed in Georgia” and will be determined by multiplying the number of employed individuals in Georgia by 64.

“As a result of the consultations we reached a concrete decision – for the next two years the budget of the public broadcaster will be the same as this year. This will allow them to complete a very good project – a new building, a whole infrastructure and the equipment. Exactly after two years, from January 1, 2026, a new rule will be activated, according to which the funding of the Public Broadcaster will depend on the number of people employed in Georgia. More precisely, [the budget] will be determined by multiplying the number of employed people in Georgia by 64. From today’s point of view, considering the number of people employed last year, this absolutely covers the operating costs for the current year,” Mdinaradze said.

On November 15, the Georgian Parliament adopted in first reading a draft law on amendments to the Law on Public Broadcasting, which proposed to change the rule of GPB funding from a fixed percentage of the country’s GDP to an annual allocation that would have to be justified. GPB managers spoke about the threats to their independence that they felt the new draft posed, saying that GPB should not have been required to justify and defend its funding.

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