The then deputies of the Finance and Budget Committee of the Parliament have prepared a new draft law on the changes to the rules of financing the Public Broadcaster.

According to the draft law presented by Paata Kvizhinadze, Zaal Mikeladze, Irakli Zarkua, Gogi Meshveliani, Bezhan Tsakadze, Beka Liluashvili, Irakli Kirtskhalia, Anton Obolashvili and Aleksandre Rakviashvili, the financing norm of the Public Broadcaster, which envisages the financing of the broadcaster by at least 0.14% of the gross domestic product, will be canceled.

According to the draft law, pursuant to the new rule for financing the Public Broadcaster, the Public Broadcaster will be financed by the amount obtained as a result of multiplying the number of employed individuals in the statistical data published by the National Statistics Office and the financing coefficient of the Public Broadcaster budget - 64 GEL, but not less than the total allocations of the budget approved in the previous year.

In addition, reduction of the amount of funding for the Public Broadcaster will be possible only with the approval of the Board of Trustees.

According to the draft law, the mentioned norms will enter into force on January 1, 2026.

The draft also defines transitional provisions for 2024-2025. In particular, in 2024-2025 the Public Broadcaster will be financed in the amount of total allocations approved by the state budget of the previous year.

The amount of funding for Adjara television and radio is also changed by the draft law. In particular, according to the current edition of the law, until January 1, 2026, the Public Broadcaster's Adjara TV and Radio shall be financed by 16% of the Public Broadcaster's budget, and from January 1, 2026 - by 17% of the Public Broadcaster's budget.

According to the draft law submitted to the Parliament, from January 1, 2024 to January 1, 2025, Public Broadcaster's Adjara TV and Radio will be financed by 16% of the Public Broadcaster's budget, from January 1, 2025 to January 1, 2026 by 17% of the Public Broadcaster's budget, and in 2026 by 21% of the budget of the Public Broadcaster.

For almost 15 years, the Public Broadcaster has been financed in the amount of at least 0.14% of the gross domestic product.

In November, the Parliament approved the draft law by which the aforementioned rule of financing was cancelled. Within the framework of the mentioned draft law, it is proposed that, taking into account the specifics of the Broadcaster, it should be financed from the state budget in accordance with the principle of the special financing rule - in particular, the budget of the Public Broadcaster, within the scope stipulated in the article of economic classification of expenses, cannot be less than the corresponding volume of the previous year.

The Public Broadcaster requested to suspend the consideration of the mentioned draft law and to hold consultations on the issue.