Yesterday, the parliament of Georgia returned to the 2005 state budget draft, approved with the first hearing. “Opening season” with the second hearing was also attended by Finance Minister Zurab Noghaideli. On the joint session of the parliamentary committees of Foreign Affairs and European Integration no fundamental claims were voiced in regards to next year’s main economic law.

“A normal budget,” states Kote Gabashvili, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

“A positive trend is clear,” Davit Bakradze, chair of the European Integration, agrees with Gabashvili.

Positive evaluations on the part of the MPs should be surprising at first glance: funds allocated for the Foreign Affairs Ministry amount to 31.8 million GEL, which is 400,000 GEL less than in the present budget. But instead of worsening the situation this actually improves the financial state of Georgia’s foreign office. As Noghaideli explains, in 2004, five million GEL was spent on covering the external debts of the MFA and hence in 2005 these funds will be employed for other expenses. So one could say that in fact the ministry will receive five million GEL more compared to 2004.

If everything is crystal-clear in regards to financing Salome Zurabishvili’s agency, it is quite hard for Zurab Noghaideli to define the figures of the 2005 budget for certain law-enforcement bodies. The merger of the Internal Affairs and the Security Ministries placed the issue of amending their budget on the agenda.

“The draft of the 2005 state budget needs to be revised, as the decision over structural changes was made after the budgetary project had been submitted to parliament. If we manage to insert the appropriate changes into the budget we will do this now, otherwise in January,” says the Minister of Finances.

Noghaideli and the executive branch received an ‘A’ grade at the joint session of the two parliamentary committees, despite the fact that the minister was unable to answer some of the MPs’ questions. Namely, it remained nebulous for Ivliane Khaindrava why a “differentiation” of ministers takes place; why the Justice Minister receives 1,900 GEL when the Foreign Affairs Minister gets 1,200 GEL.

“Why there is a difference between ministers? Don’t you pity your minister?” the deputy Foreign Affairs minister, Lasha Zhvania, shrugged beside Noghaideli at these questions from the Republican MP.

The expenditures of the Foreign Service will appreciably reduce in the future if the situation changes and Georgian embassies abroad purchase their residences instead of renting them.

According to Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Zhvania, the Georgian Embassy in Germany is a pioneer in this regard; its building was purchased thanks to Kote Gabashvili’s efforts and now is the property of Georgia. The same fortune awaits the Georgian embassy in Turkey. Gabashvili is perplexed as to why it remains impossible to “redeem” Georgian embassy and consulate buildings in Moscow. According to Zurab Zhvania, flaws in the buildings’ documentation hinder the process in this case.

It was also noted at yesterday’s committee hearing that the network of Georgian embassies will expand in the near future. Georgia will be the last post-Soviet state to open an embassy in the People’s Republic of China. Kakha Sikharulidze, the deputy Foreign Affairs minister, and Kote Gabashvili, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, were “challenging” each other in lauding Mikheil Ukleba, due-to-be Ambassador to China.

“Mikheil Ukleba contributed the lion’s share in forming the foreign office of Georgia and putting it on its own feet” – it is unsurprising that following such assessments the committee members unanimously supported Ukleba.

According to the soon-to-be ambassador, a Georgian official of has not formally visited China since 1993. Present Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was the last of the Georgian politicians to visit the People’s Republic. Then Zhvania occupied the post of parliamentary speaker. Ukleba presumes that Mikheil Saakashvili, president of Georgia, will “rectify” this “flaw” in 2005.