TI Georgia: Almost Half of Political Donations Went to Georgian Dream
Transparency International Georgia, a local watchdog, released its quarterly newsletter on political donations on May 15, saying that from January 1 to March 31, 2023, all political parties in Georgia received a total of GEL 640,569 in donations, of which almost half, GEL 300,000 went to the ruling party.
The ruling party is followed by Lelo for Georgia with GEL 201,000; European Georgia – GEL 84,299; Conservative Movement – GEL 21,724 and the United National Movement – GEL 7.650.
As for the number of donors, the Labor Party – which has received donations 88 times during the reporting period – is taking the lead, although most of these donations consisted of small amounts.
Georgian Dream donors
According to TI Georgia, during the reporting period, the Georgian Dream party had a total of eight donors who gave large sums of money in favor of the party. Six of the eight donors are businessmen from Batumi; the companies of one of them, the former member of the Batumi City Council, Nukri Dolidze, regularly win public tenders worth millions of Lari.
During the reporting period, companies linked with the donors of the ruling party have won tenders with a total value of up to GEL 45 million, and in the past, they have won tenders with a total value of more than GEL 230 million.
During the same period, companies linked with the donors of the ruling party have obtained direct procurement contracts worth GEL 21,000, and in the past, they have obtained direct procurement contracts with a total value of GEL 2 million.
Tamaz Tamazashvili, the father-in-law of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, has donated GEL 10,000 to the Georgian Dream. “This was the 14th donation made by Tamazashvili in favor of the ruling party; he has donated more than GEL 78,000 in total to the party.”
Reaction by the State Audit Office
TI Georgia said that based on the application of the State Audit Office, the Tbilisi City Court is considering eight cases of administrative offence which concern the failure of a political party to submit financial declarations, information on donations, and financial reports of the electoral period.
In addition, two parties, Tribuna and Change Georgia, received a warning for failure to submit annual declarations, while in the case of the State for the People party, the proceedings were terminated.
Also Read:
- 28/02/2023 – TI Georgia: 50% of Political Donations Went to Georgian Dream
- 17/11/2022 – TI Georgia: Georgian Dream Gets Most Donations
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
