Opposition refuses to vote for law on development of mountainous regions of Georgia

The Georgian Parliament has approved the bill, under which residents of the country's mountainous regions will receive higher pensions; and local enterprises will get taxation preferences. The MPs from the "United National Movement" (UNM) refused to vote.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in July 2014 a decree of the Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili set up a state commission for the development of mountainous territories, which was to draft proposals in support of these areas.

Should the bill be signed by the president Giorgi Margvelashvili, then, starting January 1, 2016, pensions for residents of mountainous regions will be increased by 20%. Teachers will get a surcharge of at least 35% to their salaries.

The bill provides for a monthly payment of 100 laris (about 44 US dollars) to local families for their first or second child; and 200 laris (about 88 US dollars) for the newborns, starting from the third one and up. The bill also provides for taxation privileges for some enterprises of highland settlements, the "Sputnik-Georgia" reports.

The companies, which are engaged in activities that require licensing or which provide trading services, will get no privileges. At the same time, the government will have the right to grant privileges in exceptional circumstances. The MPs from the "United National Movement" (UNM) offered to specify clear criteria for the authorities to be guided in defining such exceptions. Otherwise, in their opinion, the provision of such powers to the government will increase corruption risks, the "Georgia-Online" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.