European Commission body releases figures of EU financial support to Georgian bodies to address “misinterpretation”

The Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission on Monday released figures showing the European Union’s financial support to various state institutions and the Parliament of the country to address “misinterpretation” related to the data.

The Directorate General said the numbers were being published following adoption of the controversial law on transparency of foreign influence, which requires registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.

It said the figures showed the country’s ministries had been allocated over 10 times more support than civil society organisations between 2019-2024.

The breakdown showed the following related bodies had been allocated financial support:

• €111.55 million to the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure/Local Authorities
• €101.40 million - Ministry of Finance
• €62.75 million - Ministry of Defence
• €57 million - Ministry of Environment and Agriculture
• €30.5 million - Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development
• €25.07 million - Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Protection of IDPs from Occupied Territories
• €19 million - Government Commission on Migration Issues
• €12.85 million - Ministry of Education, Science and Youth
• €10.5 million - Ministry of Internal Affairs
• €7.4 million - Government Administration
• €4.8 million - Parliament of Georgia

It also said public bodies had received €517.82 million in aid from the EU, including €75 million in loans during the Covid-19 pandemic, while the civil society organisations had received €46.1 million and the private sector in the country had been granted €6.1 million.