Total Budget of TSU Set as 79 mln GEL

The total budget of Tbilisi State University has been set at 79 million GEL (USD 28.11 million), Giorgi Shervashidze, the university's head, announced at a press conference Saturday.

During the press conference Shervashidze talked about plans for 2017 and the budget.

“We’ve cut down representative expenses by 30 percent and travel expenses by 26 percent. We had to make some painful moves and there are more cutbacks ahead. Management of the budget means crisis management, including making a number of absolutely necessary but naturally unpopular steps,” he said.

Shervashidze added that students' unpaid study fees currently amount to 3 million GEL (USD 1.07 million).

"This is a very large sum of money. With this money, one of the campus buildings can be completely rehabilitated at the university. The structure of the budget is quite heavy, with about 80 percent going to salaries or wages and public spending, which leaves only 20 percent of the budget for infrastructural works,” Shervashidze said.

Natia Liparteliani