State Funding for Four Religious Groups Increases

State funding for four religious communities in Georgia: Muslims, Jews, Roman Catholics, and the Armenian Apostolic Church, will increase by GEL 1 million (around USD 375,000) in 2024, from GEL 5.5 million to GEL 6.5 million, the State Agency for Religious Issues reported on February 2. According to the statement, the Agency will decide on the allocation of the additional GEL 1 million to the four respective groups.

The four religious groups in Georgia have been funded from the state budget since 2014. This was an initiative of the recently resigned Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, which he made during his first term in office.

Funding from the state budget, the Agency emphasizes in the latest statement, is intended to at least partially compensate for the material and moral damage inflicted by the Soviet totalitarian regime. This was the stated goal in 2014, when the decision was made to introduce state funding for these four religious groups.

Meanwhile, the Georgian Orthodox Church, which enjoys a special status and important privileges under the 2002 constitutional agreement with the state, is also funded from the state budget, but to a much greater extent. The 2024 state budget allocates GEL 25 million to the Georgian Orthodox Church.

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