Almost 9.5 Million Was Donated to Georgian Dream in 3 Months

The donations of the opposition parties are as follows: Lelo for Georgia - 330,305 GEL, United National Movement - 241,091 GEL, Shota Shalelashvili's party Generations for Georgia - 101,789 GEL, For Georgia - 7,665 GEL, European Socialists - 5,450 GEL, For the People - 5300 GEL, Conservative Movement - 2875 GEL, Elene Khoshtaria - Droa - 2504 GEL, Labor Party of Georgia - 2371 GEL, European Georgia - 438 GEL.

Party donations were studied by the non-governmental organization Transparency International - Georgia. It was found that 284 people donated money to Georgian Dream in three months, and 130 to all other parties.

11 companies related to donors of the ruling party won tenders worth more than 200 million GEL in the second half of 2023. Since 2013, these same companies have won tenders worth more than 1.7 billion GEL.

For example, eight persons associated with the construction company Anagi donated a total of 425,000 GEL to Georgian Dream in the fourth quarter of 2023. In the same period, the company won a tender worth more than 3 million GEL. Giorgi Chkonia, the owner of a 100% share of Gza LLC, and Malkhaz Dumbadze, the director of the company, donated a total of 75,000 GEL to "Georgian Dream" on November 13 and 15. During the same period, Gzi won six tenders, the total value of which was 175 million GEL.

In the same period, none of the companies related to the donors of the opposition parties won the tender. As for simplified purchases, three companies related to the Lelo party, Vazisubani Estate LLC, Chokosvi LLC, and Ekolar LLC, had received six contracts with a total value of 14,980 GEL.

From 2017 to 2021, 26 companies related to donors of the Georgian Dream received more than 22 million GEL in funding within the framework of state agricultural programs. In 2021-2022, within the framework of the vintage subsidy program, five companies received up to 18 million GEL.

For example, the alcohol-producing company Kakhuri - Traditional Georgian Winemaking related to Zurab Chkhaidze, received more than 6 million GEL through preferential agro-credit in 2017-2021 and up to 7 million GEL as part of the vintage subsidy. Chkhaidze donated 60,000 GEL to Georgian Dream in 2023, and he donated 240,000 GEL to the ruling party.

Among the beneficial donors of the ruling party, 19 persons employed in the mining company Rich Metal Group (RMG) were identified. They donated a total of 524,000 GEL to Georgian Dream in October-November. Among the donors was the executive director of the company (the executive director of LTD RMG Gold and RMG Copper Jondo Shubitidze), as well as other middle and low-level employees of the companies included in the RMG group.

"Besides the directors and partners of large business groups, often the donors of the ruling party are people employed in such positions in companies, such as financial officer, geologist, mechanic, head of the workshop, etc. This circumstance raises the suspicion that they are fictitious donors, and the real donor is covered up, which is a violation of the law.

Such practices were identified in connection with donors employed by the RMG group, Anagi group, Alliance group, and "Next" group. The suspicion of fictitious donation is also raised by the donations made by one group in a short period, which took place in connection with Lilo-Mall LLC when the small shareholders of the company donated large sums of money to the ruling party on the same day,” states Transparency International - Georgia.

According to legislative amendments in December 2023, it was forbidden for legal entities to make donations to political parties. According to “Transparency International - Georgia,” the change is largely formal and will not eliminate the large financial disparity between the ruling party and other parties.