Elite corruption in Georgia
According to Transparency International Georgia (TI), over the past six years, 271 alleged cases of so-called “elite corruption” have been recorded in Georgia. These cases involve more than 227 current or former high-ranking officials from the ruling Georgian Dream party, including 38 government members, 40 members of parliament, 18 judges, and 72 municipal officials.
Elite corruption is a specific form of corruption occurring at the highest levels of power – that is, among political elites who use their positions and state resources for personal enrichment.
Transparency International reports that
in 2025 alone, 48 new alleged cases of elite corruption have been registered.
Specifically, these include:
- the allocation of large-scale state contracts in favor of officials’ own companies and relatives;
- the distribution of budget funds and state property to businesses linked to the ruling party in exchange for political donations;
- disguising illegal income as gifts from family members;
- obtaining construction permits through corrupt deals;
- pressuring judges or using the courts for corrupt purposes;
and other similar practices.
“The investigative bodies, which for several months have been preoccupied with internal power struggles within Georgian Dream, have not shown interest in any of these cases,” the organization adds.
According to TI, the current corruption situation in Georgia is characterized, on the one hand, by an “impressively low level of petty corruption,” and on the other, by “near-total impunity for high-ranking corrupt officials.”
“Corruption in Georgia has taken an extreme form – that of state capture. The nature and scale of the alleged high-level corruption cases, their number, and their growing trend give grounds to assert that high-level corruption in the country is taking the shape of a kleptocracy.
The bodies responsible for preventing corruption-related crimes (the Prosecutor General’s Office and the State Security Service) fail to respond effectively to alleged cases of high-level corruption, especially when individuals connected to the ruling party are involved,” Transparency International states.
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