An order from the Minister of Justice of Georgia, Rati Bregadze, established a financial declaration department and the position of its head within the National Public Registry Agency to enforce the Russian law on so-called foreign agents. The structural units of the new agency include the registration and declaration monitoring services.
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The order states that the head of the agency's financial declaration department (executive) is a person authorized by the Ministry in accordance with the Law of Georgia On Transparency of Foreign Influence.
The department's tasks include maintaining the register of organizations acting on behalf of foreign powers and ensuring its publicity, as well as supporting the person authorized by the Ministry in activities provided for by the law On Transparency of Foreign Influence.
According to the Minister's order, the main functions of the department are as follows:
- Maintaining the register of organizations acting on behalf of foreign powers and ensuring its publicity;
- Supporting the person authorized by the Ministry in activities provided for by the Law of Georgia On Transparency of Foreign Influence;
- Reviewing correspondence and preparing appropriate responses within the scope of authority;
- Developing specific proposals of a structural, personnel, normative, and technical nature and presenting them to the agency's leadership at the end of each quarter;
- Preparing activity reports at the established periodic intervals and submitting them to the authorized persons;
- Implementing other powers as provided by the provisions of the National Public Registry Agency and the current legislation of Georgia.
In response to a journalist's question at today's briefing, the Minister of Justice, Rati Bregadze, announced that as of August 1, organizations can register as "carriers of foreign influence."
"Regarding the implementation of the [Russian] law, all deadlines are specified in the law, and from August 1, organizations that meet the criteria can apply... If an organization does not comply with the requirements stipulated by the law, meaning it does not adhere to Georgian legislation, the relevant responsibility is outlined in the law, which includes a fine of 25 000 GEL," said Bregadze.
Despite international partners' calls and thousands of protests, the parliamentary majority of Georgian Dream overcame the president's veto on May 28 and ultimately adopted the Russian law. The law classifies all non-governmental and media organizations receiving more than 20% of their income from international grants as carriers of the interests of a foreign power.
To register in the list of so-called agents, organizations must apply to the National Public Registry Agency by the end of August. Failure to register or submit a financial declaration will result in a fine of 25 000 GEL. Additionally, the law imposes fines of 10 000 and 20 000 GEL for non-compliance with Ministry of Justice requirements.
The Russian Law has been challenged in the Constitutional Court. If the court does not suspend the law's operation, some sanctions will come into effect on September 3.
On this topic:
Turava: Constitutional Lawsuits Against Russian Law to Be Considered Within Reasonable Time
