The Strong Georgia coalition has made raising pensions to 1,000 GEL one of the key priorities of their Ilia Road election program. As part of their campaign, Mamuka Khazaradze, the coalition leader, has been engaging with pensioners to explain the proposal.

According to the coalition, the pension increase will be financed through several measures: Raising the tax on casinos and gambling businesses from 15% to 25%, ending exploitative practices related to pension loans and overdrafts, repealing legislative changes made by the ruling party, Georgian Dream, regarding pension fund investments.

“The coalition promises that once in power, they will ensure that pensions are indexed to inflation, with annual increases. They also plan to reinstate proper oversight of pension fund investments, ensuring they are managed safely and without political influence. To fund these increases, Strong Georgia aims to boost property taxes and combat corruption, as well as raise taxes on gambling companies by 25%.

The coalition’s goal is to redirect part of the gambling industry’s revenue towards supporting pensions, much like how similar systems operate in places like Illinois, USA,” the coalition states.