Georgia

Last update: February, 2022

Expenditures allocated by the state in the field of culture shall be determined within the Law on the State Budget of Georgia.

The Law on the State Budget of Georgia for 2021 allocates the funds for culture, art, sport, youth policy and other activities through the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth.

GDP for 2021 is calculated as GEL 53 443 000 000. Public cultural expenditure is GEL 191 997 470.

In 2021, the public cultural expenditure in percentage of GDP is 0.35% respectively.

Table 5: Public cultural expenditure per capita in Georgia, in GEL, 2001, 2010 and 2021

In comparison to other European countries, public cultural expenditure per capita in Georgia is very low:

• GEL 51.99 (or 14.30 EUR) in 2021, respectively, or 0.35 % of GDP in 2021;
• GEL 21.9 (or 8.7 EUR) in 2010, respectively, or 0.46 % of GDP in 2010;
• GEL 6.68 (or 4 EUR) in 2001, respectively, or 0.44 % of GDP in 2001.

An increase in per capita expenditure is related to the general growth of GDP.

The total budget of Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia was:

• In 2018– GEL 149 379 900 (fact)
• In 2019 - GEL 170 378 400 (fact)
• In 2020 - GEL 104 746 400 (target)

However, only GEL 13 243 600 was spent on culture in 2020 (fact)

This was due to the crisis caused by Covid-19, whereupon the budget was significantly reduced.

Noteworthy is that from 2018 to March 2021, the cultural sector was a part of the joint Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia. Information on the funds spent on culture individually is not available. The budget of the newly established Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth of Georgia was defined only for 2021 - GEL 22 454 000 (target) and for 2022- GEL 41 374 000 (target).

Last update: September, 2018

Table 12:  Public cultural expenditure: by level of government, 2010

Source:    Ministry of Finance.
Data for local budgets are not available.

Table 13:  State budget funds earmarked for the programmes to be implemented by spending institutions, in thousand GEL, 2012-2015

Last update: February, 2022

Table 7: Direct state cultural expenditure and transfers (central level)*: by sector, 2021, in 1000 of national currency- GEL

Source: State Budget of Georgia, the Ministry of Finance. https://www.mof.ge/4536
Note: The data for sectors is only available for the national budget; the data for municipalities is not available.
*Archives (within the budget of the Ministry of Justice).
**Libraries (National) (within the budget of the Parliament of Georgia).
***Books (within the budget of the National Centre for Georgian Books)
****TV and Radio (direct financing from state budget).

The figures in the table reflect only the central budget expenditures.

Other information on cultural funding is sporadic; apart from individual large cities, information is not available at the local government level.

Information on cultural transfers by sector is also unavailable.

At the beginning of 2021, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia was divided into two - the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth. The latter has not made its budget public as of December 2021, and information on it is available only from the consolidated state budget.

Therefore, the funds according to the sectors are given mainly according to the consolidated state budget and some programmes announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth.

The data in the table are taken from the Law on the State Budget for 2021 published by the Ministry of Finance.

The ratio by sectors is mostly similar in recent years. The greater amount of funds in the audiovisual sector is due to the growing budget of the state broadcaster.

Last update: February, 2022

Until 2004, the state supported artists through art unions. During the Soviet period, indirect support to artists was available in the form of space for studios and low rent for shops, distribution of tools and materials, etc. This type of indirect support is no longer available.

At the state level, the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection provided funds for competitions for professionals working in several fields (e.g. theatre, cinema, publishing, music, etc), for general cultural actions (reproduction, transmission, etc.) and extra-cultural actions (education, IT, etc.).

Up to 2012, the Presidential National Programme supported folklore, music seasons/events and ballet arts (in 2009 this programme amounted to 25 890 000 GEL).

There are no special programmes to provide pensions or health contributions for freelance artists.

The IV strategic area of the "Culture Strategy 2025", adopted in 2016, is devoted to increasing Funding of Culture.

"Strategic Goals: The sustainability of cultural funding is safeguarded, diverse and transparent funding mechanisms are introduced and employment in cultural sector is attractive.

4.1 Objective: Culture is funded from all budgetary levels; from diversified sources - innovative funding and stimulation measures are introduced, there is greater motivation for the private sector to allocate funds for culture; funds are distributed transparently and efficiently.

4.2 Objective: The State helps the creation of employment opportunities for the specialists of culture and the arts; supports the provision of convenient working conditions for them and, considering the specifics of cultural professions, respectively develops social protection mechanisms"

However, there are still no changes: social safeguarding mechanisms have not been introduced, there is no diversification of financing, and there is no improvement in working conditions. In 2021, the State programme "Reduction of damage from COVID-19" amounted to 3 423 100 GEL.

Last update: February, 2022

Georgia does not have special funds or public procurement programmes for artists.
Other information is currently not available.

Last update: February, 2022

A special programme of state awards in literature, art and architecture, as well as a programme for the support of gifted youth, now operates in Georgia.

Art workers' awards are as follows:

• Order of Honor; and
• Medal of Honor.

These awards are given for exclusive achievements in various fields of culture and art. The candidates are nominated by the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth.

The following awards are given by the Committee for State Awards in literature, art and architecture:

• Shota Rustaveli State Award (once in three years); and
• State Award of Georgia (annually).

Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth gives the following awards in drama and music – for vocal ensembles, opera and Estrada singers and folklorists.

In addition to the State Awards, there are awards given by the Union of Theatre Workers, by the Artists' Union; by the Music Society.

Notable awards instituted by private organizations

• “Saba” - an annual literary award was founded in 2003. The founders of the award are TBC Bank and the Pen Centre. “The winners of the “Saba” prizes are awarded for their special contribution to the development of literature. The award fund amounts to 52 thousand GEL, which is awarded to the winners by TBC Bank.
• “Duruji” – this annual theatre prize was initiated and supported by businessman Lasha Papashvili in 2008. The number of nominations varies.

A special prize is awarded to the best young director by the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth of Georgia. The age nominees must not exceed 35 years.

The legislative basis of the grant support system is the Law on Grants (331. 19-20, 30/07/1996) which regulates economic and legal relations connected to the issue, receipt and use of grants.

Mobility supporting state structures

• Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth has a small travel grant programme for artists.
• Ministry of Education and Science – in 2014 the International Centre for Education was established, which awarded academic scholarships for Georgian citizens willing to study abroad.

Strategic documents supporting entrepreneurship

• “Culture Strategy 2025” - Goal 1.1 in the context of awareness raising and assessment development, as an example of an instrumental approach, envisages 'the elaboration of mechanisms for promotion of the creative industries', such as “creative incubators” and start-ups. Goal 6.2. determined the foundation of the State Promotion Programme “Creative Georgia”, also 'implementing special programmes for development of business skills in the culture sector and creative skills', and in the business sector: support for creation of “creative incubators”, which will offer a special space and relevant services to creative industries, including start-up businesses.

Top National Organizations to support startups are:

• LEPL Creative Georgia established in 2017, a legal entity of public law (LEPL) under the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth.
• LEPL Georgia’s Innovations and Technologies Agency https://gita.gov.ge/, Technology park https://gita.gov.ge/geo/static/45/teknoparki-tbilisi; Founded in 2014. Among other directions it promotes the development of creative industries.

“Startup Georgia” – the Innovative Business Promotion Programme was founded by JSC Partnership Fund in 2016. Its purpose is to support the development of startup businesses in Georgia.

Last update: February, 2022

The Law on Creative Workers and Creative Unions regulates relations between artists' unions and the government, provides governmental subsidies for support of those organizations as legal entities under public law and guarantees their participation in the development of cultural programmes and decision-making. However, it was only until 2000 (prior to the Rose Revolution) that the state budget of Georgia assigned governmental funding to the main cultural unions of national significance – the Artists' Union, Writers' Union, Composers' Union, and Theatre Workers' Union. From 2001 until 2003, governmental funding was assigned to the Writers' Union only and, since 2004, state subsidies to art unions have been stopped. However, the state and municipalities support associations and organizations indirectly by financing events, festivals and exhibitions which are arranged by the unions.

Georgian art unions are:

• Artists' Union of Georgia;
• Designers' Union of Georgia;
• Writers' Union of Georgia;
• Composers' Union of Georgia;
• Architects' Union of Georgia;
• Union of Cinema Workers of Georgia; and
• Union of Theatre Workers of Georgia.

After the Rose Revolution the art unions, which represented a rather powerful authority in the Soviet period, found themselves almost on the level of newly established NGOs, though they still obtain some capital and human resources to maintain and rehabilitate their function of support to artists. Legislative amendments have enabled this once powerful ideological structure to change in order to meet the needs of the contemporary free community. However, these unions need some indirect but effective measures for state support and, through the unions, for support of artists.

Under Georgian law, art unions are trade associations, with the status of a legal entity under public law, which unite at least 5 creative workers in literature or art.

The entrepreneurship aimed at profit-making in concrete cases specified by the law (Law on Nonprofit Organizations) may be subsidiary in the support of the activities of nonprofit organizations. However, this provision is idle and creative unions are suffering a financial crisis.

The legislation in this sphere is adequate however there are some problems in the execution of the acts of legislation and their administration. The Tax Code provides no benefits for art unions.

Recently, Georgian real estate has become the object of active interest from investors. This interest has led the state to sell the assets of some creative unions. In spite of their protests and attempts to restitute their property through the court, the unions have not been successful. One example is the sale, by the Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia, of the holiday home for composers located in the resort-city of Borjomi (reported by the news agency Reuters), with a starting price of 4.5 million USD.

There has been no major change in recent years. Despite the new Culture Strategy 2025, the situation remains the same.