Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes the report: Anatomy of Georgian Neo-Nazism. “This report by Transparency International Georgia aims to identify the Neo-Nazi groups and associated persons that have recently expressed aggression and exerted violent behavior towards liberal groups. It is difficult to identify them and come up with an exhaustive list since most of these persons belong to informal and unstructured groups. While it is true that it’s not possible to identify the direct funding source of the Neo-Nazi organizations, individual leaders have a direct connection to the Russian government and local political organizations”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Over the recent period, ISFED has investigated various types of technics designed for spreading disinformation and propaganda in social media. “One of the mentioned tactics includes information-boosting by pro-government and false media outlets, based on backstage sort of information firstly shared as Facebook posts by certain figures positioned as experts. Some media platforms never recheck facts before publishing articles. Along with that, involved agencies and experts often remain unchanged. These tendencies make us suppose that there is a purposive spread of disinformation. Moreover, this process can clearly be linked with an organized scheme, which can itself include other independent actors, that do not work this way on purpose”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) publishes the blogpost: Companies of a member of the Tskaltubo City Council obtain public procurement contracts worth GEL 63 million. The organization revealed that companies of a member of the Tskaltubo City Council, Jeiran Omanadze have received a total of GEL 63 039 857 through 100 tenders and 11 simplified public procurements since 2013. “Jeiran Omanadze is also a political donor – he and his company, Rostverki Ltd, donated GEL 135 000 to the Georgian Dream party in the years 2017-2021. Jeiran Omanidze, who is a majoritarian member of the Tskaltubo City Council from the Gvishtibi community and holds the position of the Deputy Chairperson of the Georgian Dream faction, is also violating the requirements of the Law on Conflict of Interest and Corruption in Public Service”.  Transparency International Georgia calls on and requests: The Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service to study the public procurements of J and J Ltd and Rostverki Ltd and to find out about possible corrupt deals that allegedly took place between the companies and the contracting authorities; The Civil Service Bureau to study the asset declaration of Jeiran Omanadze and to respond in a relevant manner. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Adjara. According to the information of the TI Georgia, from 58 problems advocated by Transparency International Georgia’s Committees of Concerned Citizens (CCCs) to six municipalities (Batumi, Kobuleti, Khelvachauri, Shuakhevi, Khulo) of Adjara region, 31 were resolved. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. According to the information of the IDFI in March 2022, Kosovo joined the Transparent Public Procurement Rating as the 42nd country to be assessed within the framework of IDFI’s international initiative. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Social Justice Center publishes the statement: Georgia falling short of its obligations regarding the judicial reform under the EU Association Agenda. “On March 3, during the numerous protests in Tbilisi, alongside Ukraine the Georgian government issued an official request of membership to the European Union. However, a mere application cannot be a guarantee of success. Among the obligations under the Association Agreement, the thematic direction of the rule of law, in particular the reform of the judiciary has a vital place. Review of the EU membership application is a complex and lengthy process, which examines the state of fulfillment of the country's international obligations and unwavering respect for the core values of the organization. Despite the statement made, the recent developments in EU-Georgia relations show that the Georgian government is not committed to its stated goals of EU membership, which is primarily reflected in the non-fulfillment of the Association Agenda adopted in 2014. The implementation of the Association Agenda is crucial for Georgia's progress in building democracy, strengthening its institutions and integrating with European structures”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Adjara. Transparency International Georgia publishes the blogpost: Monopolistic position of Adjarganateba and Ganateba – companies with links to the ruling party – in the public procurements of the municipalities of Adjara. “TI Georgia revealed the municipal procurements tailored to Adjarganateba and the risks of corruption in 2019. In this study, we noted that in the years 2011-2019, the company had received GEL 26,523,383, including 82% of the amount (GEL 21,744,016) received from non-competitive and simplified procurements. Since the publication of the study, the company has obtained 17 more electronic procurement contracts, including 14 contracts obtained without competition and 1 – by means of disqualification of a competitor by the contracting authority. As a result, the company has received GEL 6,614,077 (more than 90% of this amount – GEL 6,002,006 – without competition and by means of disqualification of competitors)”. The organization calls on the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service to launch an inquiry into those procurements of Batumi, Kobuleti, and Khelvachauri that were won by the companies Adjarganateba and Ganateba without competition and by means of disqualification of competitors and to make the results of the inquiry known to the public in a timely and comprehensive manner. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. According to the information of the Transparency International Georgia, My Town LLC and sole entrepreneur Shorena Tabagari, who are linked to the former Head of the Infrastructure Service of the Borjomi City Hall, have received GEL 4,117,864 from 68 public procurements in the years 2014-2021. Out of this, they received GEL 2,162,992 (52% of the total amount) without competition and by means of disqualification of competitors. “TI Georgia calls on the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service to study the public procurements of My Town LLC and sole entrepreneur Shorena Tabagari and to find out whether or not corrupt deals took place between them and the contracting authorities, as well as to study whether or not the state-owned land plot with an area of 109 sq. m. adjacent to 14 Rustaveli Street in Borjomi was alienated by means of a corrupt deal”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Executive Director of IDFI, Giorgi Kldiashvili, is taking part in the Community of Practice Session III "Leveraging Transparency to Counter Foreign Illiberal Influences: The Role of Legislatures" organized by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Open Government Partnership (OGP).  Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. According to the information of the TI Georgia, notwithstanding five years of its inception, the monitoring mechanism of public officials’ asset declarations, has failed to become a powerful tool for combating corruption. Public officials are massively failing to comply with declaration rules, while the Civil Service Bureau limits itself to imposing fines or issuing warnings, and disregarding most cases of concealment of property as well as cases of conflict of interest and incompatibility of duties. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

The UNCAC Coalition is a global network of anti-corruption organisations committed to human rights and democracy. “We condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a gross violation of international law and human rights. It is an affront to the United Nations Charter principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity and non-intervention in the domestic affairs of other States, which are principles reiterated in the UN Convention against Corruption. In that vein, we call on all countries, and in particular those that host major financial centres, to take swift and concrete steps to stem the flow of stolen money and to trace and freeze illicitly-acquired assets. This should include establishing central public beneficial ownership and company registers, as well as transparency measures, especially in sectors at risk of capture by corrupt interests”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Georgia. With USAID GGI’s support, employees of Ambrolauri, Akhmeta, Lanchkhuti and Tsageri Municipality self-government bodies were trained in the issues of transparency and ethics. All four municipalities recently developed and adopted Building Integrity and Transparency Strategies and Action Plans. Thus, offered trainings are meant to enhance their capacity in this regard. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

The web page EUvsDisinfo publishes the blogpost: The Kremlin’s playbook: fabricating pretext to invade Ukraine – more myths... EUvsDisinfo established in 2015 to better forecast, address, and respond to the Russian Federation’s ongoing disinformation campaigns affecting the European Union, its Member States, and countries in the shared neighbourhood.  “Recently, we examined and debunked seven of the most prevalent and dangerous myths related to Ukraine”. Read more… Source: euvsdisinfo.eu

Tbilisi. On February 25, 2022, the Public Defender presented the 7th Annual Report on the Situation of Equality and Combating and Preventing Discrimination. “The report highlights obstacles faced by women, persons with disabilities, members of religious and ethnic minorities, LGBT+ community and other vulnerable groups in 2021 in terms of realization of their right to equality. The report also assesses the compliance of Covid regulations with the right to equity; shortcomings in the social protection system in terms of the protection of the right to equality and cases of violation of labour rights in civil service due to political opinions during the pre-election period. The report also offers recommendations to the relevant agencies”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. TI Georgia has studied the asset declarations filled out by public officials of the administrations of state representatives in 2021. “Twelve of the 36 current public officials – 33% of the total number – have filled out the asset declarations with shortcomings. Six of the public officials have not transferred the management rights of their stakes in companies to another person. In 5 cases, the public officials failed to indicate the immovable property owned by them and/or their family members in their declarations”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia studied the issue of campaign finances of 2021 municipal elections from August 2 to November 13, 2021. “13 election subjects who either are getting public funding or who received donations of at least GEL 100,000 during the year were selected for the study. Both in terms of total revenues and expenditures (up to GEL 27-28 million each), the ruling party's finances were almost twice as high as the other 12 parties combined, indicating an extremely unequal distribution of finances between the parties, which is detrimental to the electoral environment”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes the survey: Misuse of Administrative Resources during Georgia’s 2021 Municipal Elections. Organization’s observation of the 2021 municipal elections showed that the misuse of administrative resources during elections is still problematic for Georgia. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Imereti. With the support of Local Democracy Agency Georgia in the municipalities of Kharagauli, Baghdati, Samtredia, Vani, Tskaltubo and Khoni has launched an online citizen feedback platform as a pilot. “The purpose of creating this platform is to evaluate the services / programs provided for the citizens by the municipality. In the first stage, social programs are being evaluated. The citizen feedback platform created within the framework of the grant "Increasing the quality of citizen involvement in local self-government", with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government of Georgia”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. On February 9 Rooms Hotels Tbilisi hosted a presentation of the results of the monitoring of the implementation of the April 19 agreement by 4 non-governmental organizations. “We assess that no progress has been made on the distribution of power between parties in the parliament, nor the ruling party has expressed the political will to increase the role of the parliamentary opposition”. Full monitoring report… Source: The TI Georgia’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. According to the information of the IDFI on December 13-17, 2021, the Ninth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption was held in Egypt. “The Georgian delegation did not attend the conference and no statement was made on behalf of Georgia. Georgia's inactivity on the most global anticorruption platform is another proof that anticorruption activities are no longer a priority in the country”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Election (ISFED) prepared the survey: TikTok - Emerging Propaganda Ecosystem. “TikTok channels used for political campaigning appeared in Georgia in 2020, although they became noticeably active in 2021. As a result, attempts to influence voters’ opinions in the pre-election period went beyond the scale of what was seen on Facebook. Due to the activity of politically motivated actors, ISFED examined the pre-election trends and information manipulations on the platform”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

On January 13 and 18, 2022, Building Integrity and Transparency Strategies and Action Plans for 2022-2025 were approved by the ordinances of the City Halls of Ambrolauri and Lanchkhuti municipalities. “The strategic documents aim to improve governance processes at the City Halls, to introduce mechanisms for openness, transparency, public ethics and integrity, as well as effective implementation of civil participation mechanisms at the local level. The documents were prepared with the financial support of the USAID Good Governance Initiative (GGI) in Georgia (USAID GGI), in partnership with the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI)”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge