Economy Minister on bill on transparency of foreign influence: public has “legitimate right” to know sources of funding

Levan Davitashvili, the first Vice Prime Minister and Economy Minister of Georgia, on Thursday said the domestic public had a “legitimate right” to know sources of funding of organisations operating in the country, in comments on the reintroduced controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence.

Davitashvili said making the information available was especially significant in cases where funding “may be linked to particular interests”.

Our team has made very clear explanations regarding the bill on transparency, and I think the public has been provided with comprehensive information on this topic [...] It is very difficult to see any special difficulty or element of conspiracy in this”, he said.

The Minister said similar legislation had been adopted by “many successful western democracies”, and added its approval was “actively discussed” in the European Union.

When the EU talks about adopting such legislation, it serves to strengthen democracy in its member states to make the sources of funding transparent for all organisations [...] We are talking about only one thing - to require very clear reporting [by organisations] regarding [their] financing. There is nothing more - this law does not provide for other types of responsibility”, he noted.

The Minister also cited the country's “economic security” as a basis for the bill, claiming “too many organisations act in accordance with specific interests”, which he said could “often be directed to the detriment of many economic projects”.