On November 19, incoming prime minister Lado Gurgenidze announced a government action plan that envisages pensions almost doubling by next year.

In a speech the following day, President Mikheil Saakashvili promised to address pensioners’ concerns about rising utility costs and calls for government subsidies on public transport.

Meeting with Saakashvili in the state chancellery on Monday, Gurgenidze unveiled plans to increase the minimum level of pensions from the current monthly sum of GEL 38 to GEL 55 by December, rising again to GEL 76 next year.

“This increase will affect more than 820 000 pensioners. For this purpose GEL 250 million will be allotted from the [state] budget,” Gurgenidze said.

Saakashvili reiterated his support for Gurgenidze, whom he said was ready to enter a “permanent dialogue with different groups of Georgian society.”

Some Georgians are skeptical that the government will follow through on the plan.

One pensioner said that although she welcomed an increase in her monthly benefits, she found it hard to take Saakashvili’s promises at face value, as he had failed to deliver on many occasions in the past.

“Misha [Saakashvili] promises to increase pensions, but when he closes the door he forgets everything,” said Julietta, 66.

In a separate development on November 19, government officials on a visit to the Eliava open market announced that cash registers would no longer be a mandatory requirement for traders.

The law requiring all vendors to use cash registers to record their sales went into force in March 2006 and has been heavily criticized by vendors and the political opposition ever since.

Kartuli Dasi opposition party leader Jondi Baghaturia said the decision represented a victory for the people.

“The entire summer we held protests, as traders all over Georgia were against cash registers, and now we’ve achieved our goal,” he said.