State Spent 722,645 Lari on Ilia II's Funeral

The Administration of the Government of Georgia issued a statement on the expenses related to the funeral of Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia. According to the statement, the total amount of expenses amounted to 722,645 lari.

Under the No. 1 protocol of the State Commission dated March 18, 2026, the agencies responsible for organizing the funeral were determined. Among them was the Ministry of Culture, which was tasked with organizing the funeral ceremony.

By Government Order No. 589 dated March 20, 2026, 3,000,000 lari was allocated from the reserve fund to finance the Ministry of Culture's expenses. By Order No. 953 dated May 8, 2026, this amount was adjusted to 722,645 lari, while 2,277,355 lari was returned to the budget.

The Ministry of Culture signed 26 contracts for organizing the event. The cleaning of the church was carried out free of charge by the companies "Progress Service", "Litex-Service" and "GT Group" (GT GROUP). "Aqua Geo" donated 5,000 bottles of 0.5-liter water free of charge. Several companies provided their services at preferential prices compared to the work performed.

The statement also says that the director and the creative and performing group (singers, chanters and others) involved in organizing the event did not receive any fees.