Civil Service Bureau: 63 % of Georgian officials asset declarations contain violations
The law provides a fine, socially useful labor or deprivation of the right to occupy a position. Photo: shutterstock.
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The Civil Service Bureau of Georgia has published monitoring results of the asset declarations of public officials carried out in 2019, according to which 63 percent of the declarations contained violations due to misstating income and also the undeclared real income of family members.
359 out of 596 declarations had violations, states Civil Service Bureau of Georgia.
There are 29 MPs out of 254 individuals who were fined in accordance of the law, including ruling Georgian Dream MP Dimitri Khundadze, former MP Zakaria Kutsnashvili and Zviad Kvachantiradze, also a former MP.
The law on Conflict of Interests and Corruption in Civil Service reads that a fine of 1,000 GEL ($347) shall be imposed on those who fail to submit asset declarations in a timely manner.
In addition, ‘senior officials will be subjected to criminal liability in case of he/she failing to submit the asset declaration within the period enshrined by the legislation.’
The law makes the act punishable by a fine, community service or deprivation of the right to occupy an official position.
The official data provided by the Civil Service Bureau shows that 80% of Georgian officials were fined in 2017 in 2018.
The Civil Service Bureau of Georgia has fined 66 members of parliament and judges in civil service for irregularities in their annual asset declarations, docking part of their salaries and issuing warnings.
A new report by the Council of Europe has acknowledged considerable progress in reducing corruption in Georgia and improving the country’s standing in related international ratings.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili says steps undertaken by Georgia to eliminate corruption may be considered less than revolutionary but the outcomes are "truly groundbreaking”.
Local news agency Pia.ge revealed the United National Movement (UNM) MP concealed £261,757 (754,700 GEL) at the 2014 Asset Declaration of Public Officials when he was supposed to reveal his assets.
Transparency International (TI) Georgia reports that the public asset declarations of six public officials of the Government of Adjara, subordinate bodies and the Supreme Council were not filed correctly in 2019-2020.