On June 28, Transparency International Georgia published a report on political donations of 15 political parties in Georgia in 2023. According to the findings, out of the total funds the ruling Georgian Dream party received the most – 62%. The report also underlined the shortcomings of the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s supervision of party finances, criticized changes in Georgian legislation, overviewed the types of political party donors, sand outlined recommendations for both the Bureau and political parties.
TI Georgia emphasized that since the Anti-Corruption Bureau took over the supervision of political parties, it is difficult to obtain information on activities related to the supervision of political finances. The organization stressed: “The process of monitoring cases of direct and indirect financing of political parties by the Anti-Corruption Bureau is not transparent, which raises the risk that the Bureau may apply an unjustifiably broad interpretation of the law and be politically motivated.”
The CSO also noted that in 2023 the Anti-Corruption Bureau sent 12 cases to the court for consideration for administrative violations, out of which in four cases the court reprimanded the political parties, in one case a warning was given, in one case the deliberations were canceled, and in six cases the parties were fined. The total amount of fines paid by the parties was GEL 25,700.
Regarding the legislative changes on party donations in 2023, TI Georgia noted: “It has been prohibited for legal entities to make donations to a party; also, the upper limit of expenses incurred by parties during the year has been reduced. The changes are largely formal in nature and will not eliminate the large financial disparity between the ruling party and other parties.”
Recommendations
In the report, TI Georgia gave its recommendations to improve the current situation regarding the financial monitoring of party finances:
- The Anti-Corruption Bureau of the State Security Service to investigate cases of suspected corrupt scheme, which has been identified from the donations of companies that later win huge procurement contracts and benefits from other budget programs.
- The Anti-Corruption Bureau to strictly ensure its political neutrality, to be guided only by the law, and to ensure that its activities are transparent. “Adherence to these conditions is essential to ensure a fair electoral environment.”
- The Anti-Corruption Bureau should be given the main investigative functions and its head should be chosen by both the ruling and opposition parties to ensure its neutrality.
- The Anti-Corruption Bureau to include an additional form in the financial statement document, where political parties will have to indicate the origin of the “other financial income” they receive.
- Political parties to make more efforts to attract donations through different events and campaigns, which will ensure that they don’t depend on the number of big donors. This could also reduce the risks of corrupt financial dealings.
Funds Received by Political Parties
As for the political funding’s in 2023, TI Georgia found that the 15 parties studied in the report received GEL 26,452,373 (funds from the state budget, donations, bank loans) and spent GEL 14,856,671. Of the total amount, Georgian Dream received 62% – GEL 16,315,610. 48% (12,742,941 GEL) of the total income of political parties came from state financing, and 52% (13,138,636) from private sources (donations, bank loans);
The political parties studied in the report are those that either receive state funding or receive more than GEL 100,000 in donations in a year. The analyzed parties are: Georgian Dream; United National Movement; Lelo; Patriots Alliance of Georgia; European Georgia; Girchi; Republicans; Strategy Aghmashenebeli; Generations for Georgia; European Democrats; Citizens; Law and Justice; Conservative Party; Progress and Freedom; State for People.
Out of the 15 parties, only 6 received more than GEL 1,000 in donations. The whole amount of political donations was GEL 13,138,636, 85% of which was received by the Georgian Dream party (more than GEL 11 million). GD’s political donations in 2023 broke a record of the amount of donations received in a non-electoral year. At the same time, despite receiving the most amount of money, the Georgian Dream spent only GEL 5.2 million.
Who donated?
In 2023, 15 companies, which donated to political parties, won state tenders. Out of the 15, 14 had donated to Georgian Dream and one company had donated to Lelo. The GD donator companies donated all together GEL 1.45 million and won GEL 1.1 million in state tenders.
Wine-making companies increased their donations just before the grape harvest season and donated GEL 1 million. The alcohol producing companies that donated to Georgian Dream in 2023 received GEL 39 million in agricultural credits in 2013-2023 and GEL 30 million in grape harvest subsidies in 2021-2023.
TI Georgia also suspected that there were cases last year when companies donated to GD in a secret way. As for the donations, some of them are made by mechanics, geologists, financial officers and so on. The amount of their donations and their frequency creates the suspicion that they are donating company money and acting in the name of the company secretly, which is illegal.
Examples of alleged fictitious donors were identified by the organization in the cases of RMG Group and Anagi Group. At the same time, LTD Lilo Mall also raised suspicions because the company’s small shareholders donated large amounts of money to Georgian Dream on the same day.
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Amiran Zoidze; Photo: Special unit Tbilisi/Facebook 
