PM announces structural changes in government

Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze has announced changes planned for the cabinet as part of his plan to reduce administrative costs in the state bureaucracy.

The 14, currently existing ministries will be reduced to 11: 10 ministries and 1 state minister office. 

The changes are as follows: 

• The Ministry of Culture and Sport will be merged with the Ministry of Education and Science. 
• The Ministry of Corrections will come under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice.
• The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons will be abolished, and integrated into the ministries of regional development and infrastructure, internal affairs and health. 
• The Agency of Religion will be merged with the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality. 
• The spatial development unit under the Ministry of Economy is going to be merged with the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure.

"I am sure that through these changes, we will start implementing the concept of small government which is in the interest of our people. Government spending is going to be diminished alongside the structural changes and step by step reach 3.9 percent of the GDP, which is the ceiling we are aiming for”, PM Bakhtadze said.

The head of the government is going to present parliament with its plan of structural changes today while as for the new faces in the cabinet, Bakhtadze says the consultations on this topic are over but has not made clear who exactly is going to join the new cabinet.