Political Finance Database

In the list of prohibited donations (whether monetary or in kind) there are also donations by foreign entities (legal and natural persons), international organisations, except in relation to lectures, workshops and other public arrangements; 

donations from foreign states are prohibited

donations by state entities, legal persons of public law, state organisations and enterprises, in
which the share of the state is more than 10 percent (except for cases provided by the Law);

Prohibition applies to donations by state entities, legal persons of public law, state organisations and enterprises, in which the share of the state is more than 10 percent (except for cases provided by the Law); 

Prohibition applies to donations by state entities, legal persons of public law, state organisations and enterprises, in which the share of the state is more than 10 percent (except for cases provided by the Law); 

It is prohibited to receive donations from Georgian entrepreneurial legal entities, partially owned by the state;

If a party receives an anonymous donation (i.e. a donation provided by a legal entity without
indication of its name and address or a donation by a natural person without indication of the
name, address, ID-card number of the citizen of Georgia and personal numbers), it is to transfer
this donation immediately to the state budget

On the list of prohibited donations, there are also
- anonymous donations
 

Donations may not be accepted from:  state bodies, state organisations, legal persons under public law, state-owned enterprises, except for the cases set out in this Law;

Donations may not be accepted from:  state bodies, state organisations, legal persons under public law, state-owned enterprises, except for the cases set out in this Law;

See above

See above

The Election Code contains various provisions on use of state resources and official positions, providing inter alia that state buildings, communication means and vehicles can only be used if equal access is given to all subjects, misuse will be subject to fines of 1,000 GEL (approximately €417) and that from the date of announcement of the elections, implementation of projects not previously foreseen in government budget is prohibited. These provisions were introduced into the Election Code after the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections.

1. Any person having the right to participate in canvassing according to Article 45(4) of this Law shall be prohibited from using administrative resources in the course of the election campaign in support of or against any political party, candidate for electoral subject, or electoral subject. In addition, it is prohibited to: a) use premises occupied by state authorities and local self-government bodies, also by organisations funded from the State Budget of Georgia, provided that other political parties, candidates for electoral subject, or electoral subjects are unable to use similar premises under the same conditions; b) use means of communication, information services, and other kinds of equipment designated for state authorities and local self-government bodies, also for organisations funded from the State Budget of Georgia (except for political parties); c) use means of transportation owned by state authorities or local self-government bodies.

There are limits set for both natural and legal persons

 A political party may not receive (monetary or in-kind) donations with a total value of more
than 30,000 GEL (approximately €12,500) from any given natural person (including individual
entrepreneurs) per year or with a total value of more than 100,000 GEL (approximately €41,667)
from a legal person per year. These limits, however, do not apply to membership fees. In this
context, the LPUC explicitly provides that these limits include services provided for the party and
on the party’s behalf (Article 27, paragraph 3 LPUC). Furthermore, monetary donations and 
10
membership fees are to be made via a bank transfer (with the exception of donations by natural
persons of less than 300 GEL / approximately €125 a year). The LPUC explicitly provides that
donations through intermediaries are prohibited

Election campaign funds of political parties and elections blocs, as well as candidates in
the presidential elections, may not receive monetary and in-kind donations of more than 30,000 GEL (approximately €12,500) from any given natural person (including individual entrepreneurs) and not more than 100,000 GEL (approximately €41,667) from a legal person  For election campaign funds of majoritarian candidates in parliamentary elections
and candidates in local self-government bodies (Sakrebulo) the limits are 10,000 GEL
(approximately €4,167) from a natural person and 30,000 GEL (approximately €12,500) from a
legal person. These restrictions however do not apply to the sums given by the party from their
own resources to the election fund of their election subject (Article 47, paragraph 33, Election Code). All donations to the election campaign fund above 300 GEL (approximately €125) must be made via bank transfer (Article 47, paragraph 2, Election Code). Donations through intermediaries are prohibited (Article 47, paragraph 2 Election Code). 

30,000 GEL (approximately €12,500) - natural persons; 100,000 GEL (approximately €41,667) from a legal person  

as mentioned before

30,000 GEL (approximately €12,500) from any given natural person (including individual
entrepreneurs) per year or with a total value of more than 100,000 GEL (approximately €41,667)

the limit of 30,000 GEL (approximately €12,500) applies here as well 

the limits mentioned above apply to in-kind donations as well given from a natural or legal person

the limits mentioned above apply to in-kind donations as well given from a natural or legal person

1. The property of a party can be formed from:
d) the annual income generated from designing and distributing symbols, organising lectures, exhibitions and other public activities, as well as from publishing and other activities pursued according to statutory objectives; such income may not exceed twice the amount of the basic minimum funding.
 

A party may take a loan only from commercial banks operating in Georgia, which shall not exceed GEL 1 million in total over a calendar year.

As long as the loan is reported accordingly, any candidate may benefit from them

Under section 10 LCI, a public servant may not, based on his/her personal interests, purchase property of a public institution entrusted to him/her; enter into transactions with a public institution in which s/he works, apart from the exceptions determined by law; enter into a transaction, as a public servant, with his/her business entity, political party or other public institution; enter into a property transaction with his/her family member or close relative as a public servant. Otherwise, there are no prohibitions or restrictions on entering into contracts with public authorities. Besides, the general legislation on public procurement is fully applicable in this context.

Monetary donations and membership fees are to be made via a bank transfer (with the exception of donations by natural persons of less than 300 GEL / approximately €125 a year).

Political parties may receive direct public funding from the state if they received at least four percent of the votes in the last parliamentary elections or received at least three percent of the votes in the last local elections 

Political parties may receive direct public funding from the state if they received at least four percent of the votes in the last parliamentary elections or received at least three percent of the votes in the last local elections 

A general amount: political parties which in the last parliamentary elections received more than four percent of the votes or which in the last local elections received more than three percent of the votes are provided with 150,000 Georgian Lari (hereafter: GEL) (approximately €62,500) annually (Article 30, paragraph 2 LPUC); political parties or election blocs which in the last parliamentary elections received eight percent of the votes or which in the last local  elections received six percent of the votes are provided with 300,000 GEL (approximately €125,000) annually (Article 30, paragraph 6, LPUC) - an amount per seat: political parties which have obtained seats in parliament are provided with an amount of 7,100 GEL (approximately €2,960) annually per Member of Parliament elected through the proportional representation system, for up to 30 members; if a political party obtains more than 30 seats through proportional representation it is eligible to receive 1,200 GEL (approximately €500) annually per Member of Parliament above the aforementioned 30 seats.- An amount er vote: political parties which satisfy the criteria for receiving public funding (i.e. which during the last parliamentary elections received more than four percent of the vote or which during the last local elections received more than three percent of the vote) may receive 1.5 GEL (approximately €0.63) for every vote they received through the proportional system up to 200,000 votes and 1 GEL (approximately €0.42) for every vote through the proportional system above 200,000.

Public funding (direct funding) may be used only for the regular activities of the parties

In order to provide financial support to the election campaigns of political parties during the year of general parliamentary and local self-government elections, additional funding shall be allocated from the state budget of Georgia to cover TV advertising costs. This funding may be used for TV advertising only, from the date when the respective general elections are called up to election day, and in the case of a repeat vote, a second round of elections or re-run elections, before the day of the respective voting. The funding under this paragraph shall be received only by parties that have become eligible for funding according to the results of the recent general elections. The amount of funding allocated to a party under this paragraph shall be calculated by multiplying the number of votes obtained by the relevant electoral subject in the recent general elections by three and dividing it by the number of political parties within the electoral subject. In addition, the amount of funding allocated to a party and electoral bloc (despite the number of parties in the bloc) participating independently in the elections may not exceed GEL 600,000. At least 15% of the funding allocated to anelectoral subject shall be used for pre election advertising with at least 7 broadcasters, which do not represent national broadcasters.

In the form of broadcasting time, the use of halls and other premises and facilities for putting up campaign posters, is provided. Pursuant to Article 731 , paragraph 11 and 4
1 of the Election Code, so-called ‘qualified election subjects’ are eligible for free broadcasting time.  A “general broadcaster” and a “broadcaster, which allocates time to election advertising”, are required to allocate to each qualified election subject – free of charge and equally – 90 seconds in every 3 hours; a “public broadcaster and a “community broadcaster, which allocates time to election advertising”, are required to allocate to each qualified election subject – free of charge and equally – no less than 60 seconds every hour.10 In addition, Article 74, paragraphs 5 and 6 of the Election Code provides that buildings managed by state or local government bodies are to be provided free of charge to election committees, which – in consultation with the election subjects – makes them available for election subjects for the purpose of organising rallies and other
election-related activities. Finally, municipalities are required to allocate specially placed stands
(hoarding) for election posters.                                       ‘Qualified election subjects’ are:
- political parties which have received at least four percent of the vote in the last parliamentary
elections;
- political parties which have received at least three percent of the vote in the whole country in
the last local elections;
- political parties having participated in the last parliamentary elections as part of an electoral
bloc, which has received at least four percent of the vote;
- political parties having participated in the last local elections as part of an electoral bloc,
which has received at least three percent of the vote in the whole country;
- candidates for presidential elections, who have been nominated by a political party, which
receives funding from the state budget based on the results of the most recent parliamentary
or local elections.

See above

Tax relief for donations to candidates. Premises for campaign meetings. Buildings under the management of the bodies of State or local self-government and government?are provided for campaign purposes (must be on equal conditions

The procedure for drawing up a party list shall be determined by parties and electoral blocs, taking into account that the seats acquired by the party or the electoral bloc on the basis of the election results shall be distributed sequentially from the beginning of the list onwards and shall ensure gender balance with respect to additional funding as envisaged by the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Unions of Citizens

The procedure for drawing up a party list shall be determined by parties and electoral blocs, taking into account that the seats acquired by the party or the electoral bloc on the basis of the election results shall be distributed sequentially from the beginning of the list onwards and shall ensure gender balance with respect to additional funding as envisaged by the Organic Law of Georgia on Political Unions of Citizens

Vote-buying is criminalized in Georgia. SAO is the institution that conducts investigations. New procedures are in place that require the SAO to obtain court approval as well as to receive requested information from other institutions so that the process of investigation is many times delayed.

1. The total amount of expenses incurred by a party or electoral subject during the year may not exceed 0.1% of the gross domestic product of Georgia of the previous year. The given amount shall include expenses incurred by the party or electoral subject and by other persons for the benefit of the party or electoral subject, and which have been determined by the State Audit Office and which have been notified to the party or electoral subject concerned.

0.1% of the gross domestic product of Georgia of the previous year

1.1 . The maximum amount of the annual election expenses of an independent majoritarian candidate shall be determined by the following procedure: the maximum amount of election campaign expenses of a party (0.2% of the gross domestic product of Georgia of the previous year) must be divided by the total number of voters in the country and the given number shall be multiplied by the number of voters registered at the relevant polling district.

0.2% of the gross domestic product of Georgia of the previous year) must be divided by the total number of voters in the country and the given number shall be multiplied by the number of voters registered at the relevant polling district.

Donations made through a third person shall be transferred to the state budget of Georgia and the offender shall be held liable under the legislation of Georgia.

Not regulated

1. In order to get public funds those parties who are eiigible shall submit to the Centre of Electoral Systems Development, Reforms and Training an annual final report on the use of the granted sum for the intended purpose. If a party fails to submit the report in the prescribed manner or to use the sum for the purposes established by this article, the financing of the party from the fund shall be suspended for a year.

2. Before 1 February of each year, parties shall submit to the State Audit Office financial disclosure statements of the previous year along with the auditor’s (auditing firm’s) report. The copies of the financial disclosure statements along with the copies of the auditor’s (auditing firm’s) report shall be sent to the local tax authority according to the legal address of the party. The disclosure statement shall include the annual income of the party (including the amounts of membership fees and donations, the identities of citizens who paid membership fees, information on citizens and legal persons who made donations, sums allocated by the state or those received as a result of publications and other activities of the party); it shall also include the expenditure of the party (incurred for elections, for funding various activities, for remuneration, business trips and other expenses), as well as reports on property ownership (the number and type of owned buildings and vehicles, their total value, the amount of funds in their bank accounts).

An electoral subject, once in three weeks following the registration, shall be obliged to publish information, in the forms defined, about the sources, amounts, and dates of receipt of donations. Electoral subjects shall, not later than one month after the announcement of final results of elections, submit to the State Audit Office a report of funds having been used up to the time of reporting, together with an audit (audit firm) report, specifying the source of funds. The electoral subjects that have received, based on preliminary data, the required number of votes as defined by this Law, shall submit the same to the State Audit Office not later than 18 days after the polling day. Any auditor (audit firm) operating in the territory of Georgia may carry out an audit.

An electoral subject, once in three weeks following the registration, shall be obliged to publish information, in the forms defined, about the sources, amounts, and dates of receipt of donations. 3. Electoral subjects shall, not later than one month after the announcement of final results of elections, submit to the State Audit Office a report of funds having been used up to the time of reporting, together with an audit (audit firm) report, specifying the source of funds. The electoral subjects that have received, based on preliminary data, the required number of votes as defined by this Law, shall submit the same to the State Audit Office not later

Information on the donations received by a party, including the information containing the data specified in paragraph 2 of this article, and the information on the registration place of the donor, shall be publicly available. The State Audit Office shall ensure access to the given information in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia. The State Audit Office shall, on a monthly basis, make the information on the donations received by a party available to the public by publishing the relevant data on the web-site.

An electoral subject, once in three weeks following the registration, shall be obliged to publish information, in the forms defined, about the sources, amounts, and dates of receipt of donations.

After the elections, election subjects are required to submit a report to the relevant election commission on the use of the election campaign fund (which is to be closed within 20 days of the elections) and the source of the donations to the election campaign fund (Article 48, paragraph 6, Election Code) etc. information on individual donations, including the value of each donation, the type of donation (cash, in kind, credit or loan), the date it was donated, as well as the name and address of the legal person or, in case of a natural person, their name, address and identity card number and personal number;

For a political party, the annual income statement must include:

The “annual financial declaration” is to include information on: - the income of the party, including membership fees, amount of donations (both individual donations and the total amount), details of the natural persons and legal entities who provided donations, funding allocated by the state as well as income from publications or other party activities; - expenditure of the party (including on elections – i.e. the amounts the party transfers to the election campaign fund – , financing of various activities, remuneration, official trips and other expenditure); - property of the party (buildings, number and types of vehicles, their total value, the amount of money on bank accounts).

For an electoral subject, the declaration must include:

the period over which the donations were provided; - the total amount of donations; - the total number of donors (i.e. the total number of natural persons and the total number of legal persons); - information on individual donations, including the value of each donation, the type of donation (cash, in kind, credit or loan), the date it was donated, as well as the name and address of the legal person or, in case of a natural person, their name, address and identity card number and personal number; - information on services provided by donors, including the type of service (preview trailers, hoarding, polls, concerts, agreements, etc.), its value, the date of the service order and the period over which it was provided, as well as information identifying the donor (name, address etc.);

Political parties are obliged to include itemized expenditure in the annual income statement:-

-expenditure of the party (including on elections – i.e. the amounts the party transfers to the election campaign fund – , financing of various activities, remuneration, official trips and other expenditure);

Candidadates similarly:

information on expenditure (subdivided into salaries; income tax; business trips; other goods and services; preview trailers – including the cost of their production; advertisements , printed media and on hoarding – including the cost of their production; large public events – public meetings with citizens, rent for venues, organising concerts etc; the production of printed campaign materials; opinion polls, consultations and other election-related research; other costs; capital costs; total expenditures).

In Georgia the state Audit Office is responsible for receiving of both campaign finance reports and annual political parties' reports

 The State Audit Office shall carry out monitoring over the legality and transparency of a party’s financial activities. 2. The State Audit Service may: a) develop the form of an annual financial disclosure statement of a party; b) establish auditing standards for party financing; c) examine the completeness, accuracy and legality of a party’s financial disclosure statement and of the account of the election campaign fund; d) conduct an audit of a party not more than once a year; d 1 ) in the case of a reasonable doubt as to the lawfulness of the activities of a party, apply to a court with a request to conduct an unscheduled financial audit of the party; e) ensure the transparency of a party's funding; f) where necessary, request information on party financing from the party, from administrative bodies and commercial banks; g) where necessary, request, on the basis of a court decision, information on the finances of donors, both natural and legal persons, who make donations to parties and to persons specified in Article 261 of this Law; h) provide consultations on party financing to interested persons; i) respond appropriately to violations of the legislation related to party financing and apply sanctions established by law; j) apply to prosecution authorities where elements of a crime are identified; k) request a financial report from a person if there is a reasonable doubt as to the existence of circumstances specified in Article 261 ; l) make a decision on the application of restrictions set out in Article 261 of this Law to a person through a summary administrative procedure. Upon the request of the party, a copy of this decision shall be made available to the party before 6 p.m. of the following day; m) develop the methodology for monitoring a party’s financial activities; n) exercise other competences established by law. 3. If there is a reasonable doubt as to the violation of the requirements of this Law, relevant state bodies shall notify the State Audit Office. 4. If the State Audit Office applies to a court in accordance with paragraph 2(g) of this article, the court shall render a decision within 48 hours after the receipt of the application. The application of the State Audit Office shall be justified and indicate the grounds and purpose for requesting the information, as well as the period and volume of the requested information. If the court grants the request, the court decision shall indicate the grounds and purpose for requesting the information, as well as the period and volume of the requested information and the validity period of the decision.

1. Acceptance or non-disclosure of donations or membership fees prohibited under the legislation of Georgia by a party or a person specified in Article 261 (1) of this Law shall result in the transfer of the prohibited donations or membership fees to the state budget and the imposition of a fine equal to twice the amount of the prohibited donations or membership fees.

2. If donations or membership fees prohibited under the legislation of Georgia are contributed to a party or a person specified in Article 261 (1) of this Law by a natural or legal person, or by an association of natural or legal persons, or by any other type of organisational entity, where the beneficiary of the donation or membership fee was not or could not have been aware of the violation, the said violation shall result in the imposition of a fine equal to twice the amount of the forbidden donations or membership fees on the person who transferred prohibited donations or membership fees and on the person (if any), who transferred prohibited donations though a third person.

3. Acceptance or non-disclosure by a person of prohibited donations or membership fees for the benefit of a a party or a person specified in Article 261 (1) of this Law shall result in the imposition of a fine on the person equal to twice the amount of the forbidden donation or membership fee.

4. The failure by a party or a person specified in Article 261 (1) and (2) of this Law to fulfil the requirements and obligations under this Law shall result in a fine of GEL 5,000.

5. Failure to fulfil the statutory obligation related to the provision of information specified in this Law upon the request of the State Audit Office shall result in a fine of GEL 500 for a natural person, and GEL 2,000 for legal persons.

6. Violation of the requirements set out in Article 252 of this Law, as well as the receipt of unlawful gifts, income and services for electoral purposes by a natural person, if the cost of the given property (services) or transaction does not exceed GEL 100, shall result in the imposition of a fine on the party, party representative or legal person in question, equal to 10 times the value of the relevant property (services) or transaction, and the imposition of a fine on the natural person in question equal to twice the value of the relevant property (services).

8. Violation of the requirements set out in Article 251 (1) and (11 ) shall result in a fine equal to twice the amount of the expenses incurred in excess of the maximum limit.

9. Any action specified in paragraphs 1 to 8 of this article, committed repeatedly or by one person though different natural or legal persons, shall result in a fine equal to twice the amount of the penalty established under the respective paragraph. 10. Liability under this article may be imposed on a person for up to 6 years after the commission of the relevant act.

11. In the case of an administrative offence specified in this article, an authorised person of the State Audit Office shall draw up an administrative offence report, which shall be promptly submitted to a district (city) court of Georgia for consideration.

12. If there are circumstances that may hinder the execution of statutory penalties applicable to violations, the State Audit Office may, in addition to drawing up an administrative offence report, seize the property (including bank accounts) of a party and/or of a person in proportion to the sanction envisaged for the relevant offence. The seizure shall enter into force immediately and shall be submitted to the court for approval along with the administrative offence report.

13. The court shall, within 15 days after receiving the relevant materials, review the issue of approval of the administrative offence report and render a decision. The court decision may be appealed only once to the Court of Appeals within 10 days after the service of the court decision. The Court of Appeals shall render a decision not later than 15 days after the receipt of the appeal. The decision shall be final and subject to no appeal.

14. During a pre-election period, the court shall review the issue of approval of the administrative offence report specified in paragraph 11 of this article and render a decision within 5 calendar days after the receipt of the relevant materials. The court decision may be appealed only once to the Court of Appeals within 72 hours after the service of the court decision. The decision shall be final and subject to no appeal. The court shall submit the justified decision and case materials to the party not later than 12 p.m. on the day following the day when the decision is rendered.

15. A court shall, not later than 48 hours after the submission of the relevant materials, review the issue of imposing seizure for the administrative violation specified in paragraph 12 of this article and render a decision. The court decision may be appealed only once to the Court of Appeals within 48 hours after the service of the court decision. Appealing a decision shall not suspend the execution of the seizure. The Court of Appeals shall render a decision not later than 48 hours after the receipt of the appeal. The decision shall be final and subject to no appeal. The court shall submit the justified decision and case materials to the party not later than 12 p.m. on the day following the day when the decision is rendered. 16. For the purposes of this Law the following forms of donation or membership fees shall be deemed as prohibited: a) donations/membership fees transferred in violation of the procedures established by this Law; b) the full amount of donations or membership fees transferred by an unauthorised person specified in this Law; c) the amount of donations or membership fees in excess of the maximum limit established under this Law and transferred by an authorised person specified in this Law